102 Dalmatians

**102 Dalmatians** is a 2000 American film directed by Kevin Lima. It is the sequel to the 1996 film 101 Dalmatians. The film was released on November 22, 2000.

## Plot

After three years in prison, Cruella de Vil has been cured of her desire for fur coats by Dr. Pavlov. She is released on probation, but warned that if she breaks parole she will be immediately sent back to prison, as well as be forced to pay the remainder of her fortune, some eight million pounds to all the dog shelters in Westminster. Cruella therefore mends her working relationship with her valet Alonzo and has him lock away all her fur coats. Cruella's probation officer, Chloe Simon, is the owner of Dipstick (one of the original 101, bought from the Dalmatian Plantation of Roger and Anita Dearly) and suspects Cruella will strike again.

Dipstick's mate, Dottie, gives birth to three puppies: Domino, Little Dipper and Oddball, who appears to be an albino and begins to feel self-conscious about her lack of spots as she grows up. Cruella buys the Second Chance Dog shelter, owned by Kevin Shepherd, and saves it from insolvency, to restore her reputation. Meanwhile, Dr. Pavlov discovers that when his therapy's subjects are subjected to loud noises, they revert to their original states, but conceals this discovery. Inevitably, when Big Ben rings in her presence, Cruella reverts to her former personality. She enlists the help of French furrier Jean-Pierre LePelt to steal Dalmatian puppies for a new fur coat with a hood, specifically modifying the original design to use Dipstick's children.

During a night-time date together, Kevin tells Chloe that, if Cruella violates her parole, her entire fortune will go to him, since his dog shelter is the only one currently operating in Westminster. Knowing this, Cruella has Kevin framed for the theft of the first ninety-nine puppies Le Pelt takes, also exploiting the fact that Kevin has a prior record of dognapping. She invites Chloe and Dipstick to her house for a dinner party, to decoy them away while LePelt steals Dottie and her three puppies. Dipstick hurries back to the apartment and hides in LePelt's truck but is later captured at the train station. Chloe rushes home to save her pets but arrives too late. She is joined by Kevin, who has escaped from prison with help from his dogs and talking scarlet macaw, Waddlesworth (who thinks he is a Rottweiler and later, a retriever). Kevin explains that his earlier conviction was for breaking animals out of a lab, where they were being used for experiments.

Upon finding a ticket for the Venice-Simplon Orient Express to Paris dropped by LePelt, Kevin and Chloe attempt and fail to stop Cruella and LePelt before they get on the train. Oddball and Waddlesworth manage to get on board the train, and Kevin and Chloe follow to Paris, where they free the dogs before being discovered and locked in a cellar. Cruella goes after the puppies alone, while Alonzo, having been scolded beyond his patience, defeats LePelt and frees Kevin and Chloe. They pursue Cruella to a bakery, and find that the puppies, led by Oddball, have tricked Cruella into being baked in an enormous cake. Cruella survives, then she and LePelt are both arrested.

Chloe and Kevin, exonerated from the theft accusation, return to London and are personally awarded the remnants of Cruella's fortune by Alonzo himself. Oddball's coat finally develops a few small spots, much to everyone's surprise.

## Cast

* Glenn Close as Cruella de Vil
* Gérard Depardieu as Jean-Pierre LePelt
* Ioan Gruffudd as Kevin Shepherd
* Alice Evans as Chloe Simon
* Tim McInnerny as Alonzo
* Eric Idle as Waddlesworth the Scarlet Macaw
* Ben Crompton as Ewan
* Carol MacReady as Agnes Wilford
* Ian Richardson as Mr. Torte QC
* David Horovitch as Dr. Pavlov
* Kerry Shale as LePelt's Assistant
* Ron Cook as Mr. Button

## Production

The early working title was 101 Dalmatians Returns. Production began in December 1998 and ended in mid-November 1999 without the use of John Hughes who wrote and produced the 1996 film, due to the critical failure of Flubber and the shutdown of Great Oaks Entertainment. The film was set to be released on June 30, 2000, but was pushed back to November 22. The film's teaser was released on the same month the film came out in 1999, and shows stock footage from The Shawshank Redemption. Oxford Prison was used for the scene as Cruella walked out of prison. The teaser appeared in theatres before Toy Story 2 and Stuart Little. 102 Dalmatians was filmed partially in Paris. On November 7, Disney released the soundtrack to the movie, including pre-eminently, a cover of Paul Anka's "Puppy Love" (sung by Myra) and original songs: Mike Himelstein's "What Can a Bird Do?" (voiced by Jeff Bennett), "My Spot in the World" (sung by Lauren Christy) and "Cruella De Vil 2000" (better known as "Cruella De Vil (102 Dalmatians)", sung by Camara Kambon and Mark Campbell of Jack Mack and the Heart Attack, a derivation of "Cruella de Vil").

## Release

On November 24, 1999, a teaser trailer was released with Disney/Pixar's Toy Story 2. On May 19, 2000, a second trailer was released with Dinosaur.

### Home Media

102 Dalmatians was released on VHS and DVD on April 3, 2001. It was re-released on DVD on September 16, 2008.

## Reception

### Critical Response

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 31% based on 90 reviews, and an average rating of 4.42 out 10. The website's critics consensus reads: "This sequel to the live-action 101 Dalmatians is simply more of the same. Critics say it also drags in parts-- potentially boring children-- and that it's too violent for a G-rated movie." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 35 out of 100, based on 24 critics, indicating "generally unfavourable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.

Roger Ebert gave the film 2.5 out of 4, writing: "Glenn Close does what can be done with the role. Indeed, she does more than can be done; Cruella is almost too big for a live-action film and requires animation to fit her operatic scale."

### Box Office

The film opened at the third position behind M. Night Shyamalan's Unbreakable and Ron Howard's Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas. The film did well at the box office, earning $67 million in the U.S. and $116.7 million in other territories, bringing its total to $183.6 million worldwide. Despite this, it grossed less than its predecessor.

## Merchandise

### Video Game

A video game loosely based on the film, that was entitled Disney's 102 Dalmatians: Puppies to the Rescue, was released in 2000, with Frankie Muniz as the voice of Domino, Molly Marlette as the voice of Oddball and Susanne Blakeslee as the voice of Cruella de Vil. Horace and Jasper also appeared in the game despite not being present in the film.