Anita Radcliffe

Carlos (Adopted Son)

**Anita Radcliffe** (**Anita Dearly** in the live-action version and TV series) is a character from Disney's 1961 animated feature film, *One Hundred and One Dalmatians*. She is the mother of Claire Radcliffe, the Adopted Mother of Carlos, The Owner of Perdita and the wife of Roger Radclife.

### Personality

Anita is beautiful, kind, and intelligent. She also devoted to her husband, Roger Radcliffe, and loving toward Perdita, Pongo and the puppies as well as her daughter. Despite hating Cruella, Anita developed sympathy for Carlos from the moment she first met him and even more so when she found out how Cruella treated him.

## Before Auradon

In the animated film, Anita is spotted by Pongo, while out on a walk with her Dalmatian, Perdita. Pongo, who is looking for potential mates for both him and Roger, attempts to bring the two owners together. Pongo tricks Roger into going to the park and pursues Anita. Eventually, Anita and Roger are both tangled up in Pongo's leash, resulting in the two of them falling into a pond. Anita frets at first, as she was wearing a new suit and hat, but she and Roger begin laughing together.

A time skip shows that Anita marries Roger, and she and Perdita move into a small home with Roger and Pongo. It is also revealed that Pongo and Perdita are expecting puppies. Anita is shown trying to get Roger, who is busy composing, to come down for tea. When he finally does, she playfully teases him on the song that he is writing. Their tea is interrupted by the impromptu visit of Anita's former schoolmate, Cruella De Vil. The name inspires lyrics for the song Roger is writing, and he begins singing in a somewhat mocking tone. Anita tries to shush him, but Roger goes upstairs to work on the song, leaving Anita to entertain her friend.

Cruella walks in, and Anita notes Cruella's new fur coat. Cruella responds with a comment about her love for fur. Cruella then gets down to business and asks where the puppies are. Anita tells Cruella that the puppies are not expected for a few more weeks and that these things cannot be rushed. However, Cruella is now looking at a picture of Pongo and Perdita, murmuring about their coats. Anita invites Cruella for tea, but Cruella cannot stay. Cruella leaves just as quickly as she came, noting that she will be back in three weeks when the puppies are born.

Three weeks later, Perdita gives birth, and Anita, along with Nanny, assist. Anita is shown calling out puppy numbers, as the litter increases from 8 to 11 to 14 to a total of 15. However, one of the puppies apparently dies. However, Roger is able to revive the puppy, much to Anita's relief. Cruella soon comes in, as she had promised. However, Cruella is shown to be disappointed and angry that the puppies are all white. Anita notes that the spots come in a few weeks after the puppies are born. Cruella is relieved and quickly offers to buy the puppies, noting that Anita and Roger cannot possibly afford to keep them all. Anita notes that they couldn't sell the puppies, as Perdita would be heartbroken, and that she and Roger could find a way to get along. Cruella laughs at the idea of Roger's songs supporting the family. This incites Roger to step in; Roger sternly tells Cruella that they have no intention of selling the puppies. Cruella is angered to the point that she ends her friendship with Anita, and storms out vowing revenge. Anita applauds Roger on his bravery.

One night, when the puppies are older, Anita and Roger take Pongo and Perdita to the park. They return to find that the puppies have been stolen. Soon after, Cruella calls, expressing shock over the theft. Roger is shown to believe that Cruella was behind the theft, but Anita isn't convinced only because of her former friendship with Cruella. She admits that Cruella is eccentric, but that she couldn't be a thief. Anita also notes that Cruella's home had been searched, but no evidence had turned up. However, unknown to her, Cruella had hired two henchmen, Jasper and Horace Badun, to steal the puppies, with the intention of turning them into fur coats and hid them in another deserted house.

Anita is not shown again until around Christmastime. She is shown decorating a tree, while Roger is listening to the radio, which is playing the song he wrote. Anita notes that the song was Roger's first hit and that it has brought in a substantial amount of money. Roger agrees but notes that he can't believe that Pongo and Perdita ran away. (Unknown to either of them, Pongo and Perdita had gone to rescue the puppies from Cruella.) Suddenly, a group of "Labradors" bound in through the door. Anita cleans the face of one of the adults and discovers that it is actually Perdita. Anita and Roger notice that the puppies with them are much greater in number than the original 15. Anita, along with Nanny, counts the puppies, while Roger adds up the totals, finding out that there are 101 Dalmatians in total. Anita asks Roger what they should do with the other puppies. Roger decides to keep them, which leads Anita to point out that they have a small house. Roger responds that they can use the money from his song to buy a country home large enough for them all.

Since the DVD commentary and sequel confirms that Cruella was arrested for the theft of the puppies after her failure to ram the truck apart, it is presumed that Anita finally accepted the idea of Cruella being a thief and possibly pressed charges against her.