101 Dalmatians: The Series

101 Dalmatians: The Series is an animated television series produced by Walt Disney Television Animation, based on the classic 1961 Disney animated feature of the same name and its 1996 live-action remake.
==Premise==
Set on a farm, the show focuses primarily on three particular puppies: Lucky, TV expert, leader, and unconventional hero; Rolly, his loyal, scholarly, and always-hungry brother; and Cadpig, their sister, runt of the family. The three siblings are often joined by Spot, a chicken who wants to be a dog and a member of the "Bark Brigade." Early promotional material had listed "dictatorial Penny and mischievous Patch" as two other puppy cast members, but the highlighted puppies were whittled down to three.
Other puppies appearing in the show have included the brave, three-legged Tripod; the well-meaning but clueless Dipstick; the constantly urinating Whizzer; the indecisive, fashion-conscious Two-Tone; and the Sheepdog mix, Mooch, who serves as the farm's bully. Penny and Patch also make occasional appearances, though with different personalities than originally promoted. The show seems to be a blending of both the original animated film and the live-action feature.
==Production==
According to a 1995 series pitch, the series was originally planned to be massively different from the one which was ultimately produced.
Originally, the series (titled 101 Dalmatians Plantation) would have been set in England like the films, and revolved around the adventures of Patch, Lucky, Rolly, Freckles & Pepper, as well as Bobby, the ten-year-old son of Roger & Anita. Bobby would be a shy, sensitive child, who connects more to animals than people and is the only human that the puppies talk to. Filled with infinite curiosity, Bobby spends all his time with the Dalmatians, and often sneaks them into school in his backpack.
The antagonist of the series would have been Nastia De Vil, Cruella's niece, who lived on a neighboring estate of the Dalmatian Plantation. She would have had an underpaid butler called Frederick, a nervous nanny called Rosemary, and a conniving cat called Slink. Her Horace & Jasper equivalents would have been two school mates called Ernst & Simon, whom she would convince to work for her via money and free rides in her limo for life. Nastia's plans around the series would have revolved around trying to obtain the Dalmatians from Bobby, be it through purchase, theft or blackmail.
The series would have focused more on the younger characters, rather than the adults. Roger & Anita would have been heard but not seen in the series, and the supporting cast would have included the Colonel and Tibbs, who has been promoted to the rank of captain.
101 Dalmatians: The Series debuted in syndication on September 13, 1997 running new episodes five days a week. Less than two weeks later, the show came to ABC's One Saturday Morning lineup, airing original episodes that could only be seen on the network. Sixty-five episodes were produced: Twelve shows with 21 episodes on ABC and 53 shows containing 84 episodes in syndication. By March 1998 the show played its last episode in syndication.
The show aired on Russia's version of The Disney Afternoon block in 1999.
Reruns continued to play on ABC until 1999. In 1998, the show began airing on Disney Channel and on Toon Disney. On January 30, 2006, Toon Disney aired the show for the final time regularly, while four episodes were shown in March 2007 for the final time. As of that day, 101 Dalmatians: The Series is off the air in most countries with a Disney Channel franchise. It has aired on the United Kingdom channel Sky Movies Disney and was also aired on the Latin American version of Disney Channel during 2008, then on January 2, 2010, Season 2 moved to RTE Two in Ireland. The series aired on Disney Jr. in 2012, however, only several select episodes are shown and some episodes are also abruptly edited for possible time or censor reasons. The show went off the channel in 2013. The show was added to streaming services such as iTunes, Amazon Video, Google Play and YouTube in February 2017 and was added to Disney+ on June 19, 2020.
==Characters==
===Main characters===
*Lucky (voiced primarily by Pamela Adlon and Debi Mae West on occasion): The most adventurous of the puppies and is unique in having his only spots in the shape of a horseshoe on his back.
*Cadpig (voiced by Kath Soucie): Cadpig is the runt of the litter and the smallest of the puppies but quite possibly the most intelligent, if not deluded. She is unique in having long floppy ears, a big head, a kind personality, and she's also quite strong for her size.
*Rolly (voiced by Kath Soucie): Rolly is the very hungry one. Almost all his decisions are based on food and this, at times, gets him and the pups into trouble. He is, however, a loyal and helpful sibling, especially when it comes to his incredible sense of smell.
*Spot (voiced by Tara Strong): Spot is a chicken who wants to become a Dalmatian. She is a voice of reason for the foursome but, more often than not, is ignored. She is easily frightened and is prone to literally bouncing off the walls. She is, however, a good dancer (which has to count for something, according to her) and appears to be good at math. She is also able to fly.
*Roger and Anita Dearly (voiced by Jeff Bennett and Kath Soucie, respectively): Owners of the 101 Dalmatians and Dearly Farm.
*Cruella De Vil (voiced by April Winchell): Once again the main antagonist of this series, Cruella is now a corporate criminal and most of her plans revolve around getting richer, tormenting the Dalmatians, and plotting to steal the Dearly Farm. Unlike her original animated counterpart, this version of Cruella isn't a heavy smoker nor is she obsessed with animal fur.
*Horace and Jasper (voiced by David L. Lander and Michael McKean): Cruella's incompetent henchmen. They are usually hired to perform her plans, usually failing.
===Supporting characters===
*Nanny (voiced by Charlotte Rae): The Dearly's caretaker who always helps Roger and Anita around the Dearly Farm; also helps with feeding the Dalmatians as well.
*Pongo (voiced by Kevin Schon): The father of the Dalmatians, and the husband and mate of Perdita.
*Perdita (voiced by Pam Dawber): The mother of the Dalmatians, and the wife and mate of Pongo.
*Mooch: (voiced by Danny Cooksey): A Sheepdog mix who can be a bully at times, but has a heart of gold.
*Two-Tone (voiced by Tara Strong): One of the Dalmatian puppies and Mooch's on-again, off-again girlfriend. She is depicted as half black with white spots, and half white with black spots.
*Dipstick (voiced by Thom Adcox-Hernandez): A male Dalmatian puppy who can be considered dim-witted; also part of Mooch's gang.
*Whizzer (voiced by Christine Cavanaugh): A male Dalmatian puppy with bladder control issues; also part of Mooch's gang.
*Tripod (voiced by Lane Toran): A male Dalmatian puppy who serves as Lucky's constant rival. He wears a green sweatband and is missing his front left leg.
*Scorch (voiced by Frank Welker): Cruella's pet ferret who has an appetite for Spot.
*The Colonel (voiced by Jim Cummings): An Old English Sheepdog and commanding officer of the "Bark Brigade".
*Sergeant Tibbs (voiced by Jeff Bennett): A tabby cat and close ally to the Colonel.
*Captain (voiced by Frank Welker): A horse on the Dearly Farm who is usually seen helping Nanny.
*Lieutenant Pug (voiced by Jeff Bennett): One of the training officers of the "Bark Brigade". He has a paranoia of a feline invasion and has a strong hatred towards cats.
*Thunderbolt (voiced by Frank Welker): Lucky's favorite superhero.
*Cornelia (voiced by Tress MacNeille): Spot's overbearing mother who wants her to behave like a chicken.
*Lucy (voiced by Paddi Edwards): A female goose who gets annoyed when the Dalmatians play in her pond at Hiccup Hole.
*Swamp Rat (voiced by Jeff Bennett): A rat salesman who lives in the swamp.
*Steven the alligator (voiced by Frank Welker): Swamp Rat's associate who is also fixated on eating Spot.
*Cydne (voiced by Frank Welker): A snake who lives in the swamp and Swamp Rat's other associate.
*Mayor Ed Pig (voiced by Jim Cummings): A pig who is also the mayor of the animals on the Dearly Farm.
*Dumpling (voiced by Christine Cavanaugh): Mayor Ed's daughter who fancies Lucky.
==Episodes==
==Merchandise==
Not much merchandise has been made of this series unlike other Disney series, the only ones being:
*"A Christmas Cruella" VHS (also part of "Disney's Christmas Favorites" DVD)
*"Dalmatian Vacation" Video CD
*"Dalmatian Vacation" VHS and LaserDisc (Japan only)
*"Surf Puppies" CD
*"The Big Dig" (book)
*"Cruella Returns" (book)
*"Springtime Fun" (book)
*"Hide-and-Go-Seek at the Farm" (book)
*"Visit the Farm" (book)
*Rare episode cels
*Car toys for McDonald's Happy Meals (sold from December 1997 to January 1998)
*Curly straws from McDonald's restaurants located in Wal-Mart stores
*Beanbag toys included with Sweethearts candy (Caldor exclusive)
*Disney Channel branded keychains (Japan only)
==Continuity issues==
The series does not take place in the same continuity as the movies; an example of which being the fact that everyone in the series (except Cruella) has American accents while the movie is set in London and its surroundings. The original animated movie is set in 1958, while the live-action films and the series are set in a modern day world (1996 at the time). Also, Roger and Anita's last name is Dearly, just like in the original novel and 1996 film. It is also notable that the movie is more realistic, while the series is very cartoon-like. The series comes closer to the essence of Dodie Smith's book than the movies and is based on everything 101 Dalmatians-related (Cadpig is one character that is not characterized in the movies). Therefore, all three media can be considered canon, even though they are not in the same continuity.
==Trivia==
*The episodes "My Fair Chicken" and "My Fair Moochie" were based on My Fair Lady, a movie based on George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion.
*As mentioned above, there were originally supposed to be five main characters: Lucky, Cadpig, Rolly, Patch, and Penny. Patch was relegated to the role of a minor character, and Penny does not appear in the series at all, as it was feared that there would be too many main characters. Spot was added in later. Despite Penny not being included, Cadpig is renamed Penny in some dubs of the series.
*Most episode titles are based on dog-related puns.
*A running gag throughout the TV series is Cruella calling Roger by a different name.
*Kath Soucie's voices of Rolly and Cadpig are the same as Phil and Lil in .
**Cadpig's voice sounds like a cross between Lil and a non-French Fifi La Fume in (or, as later shown, Cissy in Pepper Ann, Tish in The Weekenders, and/or Jetta in Clifford the Big Red Dog).
*Tara Strong (Spot and Two-Tone) and Christine Cavanaugh (Whizzer) also appeared in Rugrats as Dil Pickles and Chuckie Finster (at first), respectively.
*Jeff Bennett and Kath Soucie voiced two other married couples in Dexter's Laboratory as Dexter's parents, and those of Mandark.
*Kath Soucie would also voice Annie Redfeather and Aurora, with Pamela Adlon as Zach Nichols, Frank Welker as Sock, and Jim Cummings as Ari, in the TV show .
*In the episode "Virtual Lucky", Lucky's name in Roger's video game is known as "Barkio", which is an obvious reference to Nintendo's Mario. The opening of Roger's game featuring Barkio's floating head is also a reference to Nintendo 64's launch title, .
*In "Valentine Daze", Roger says that he's working on a video game called "The Hunchbox of Notre Dame". This is a reference to The Hunchback of Notre Dame, which is a 1996 Disney film.
*The episode "Twelve Angry Pups" is a courtroom drama named after the Reginald Rose drama, . The episode contains allusions to the murder trial, including Mooch escaping on a "white bronco", which in this case is a horse, not a Ford 2-door SUV.
==External links==
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da:101 dalmatinere (serie)
es:101 Dálmatas: La Serie
it:La carica dei 101 - La serie
pl:101 dalmatyńczyków (serial)
pt-br:101 Dálmatas: A Série
ru:101 далматинец (мультсериал)
Category:Disney shows
Category:One Saturday Morning shows
Category:Spin-offs
Category:101 Dalmatians
Category:Disney Jr. shows
Category:Shows based on films
Category:Animated series
Category:1990s television series