101 Dalmatians (1961)

**101 Dalmatians (1961)** is .

## Plot

Roger Radcliffe is an aspiring songwriter who lives in London, England in a squalid bachelor flat with his dalmatian dog, Pongo, who decides to watch women and their dogs walking in the street until he finds suitable matches for them both. Spotting a woman named Anita and her Dalmatian Perdita, Pongo drags Roger to the park to arrange a meeting. Roger and Anita fall in love and marry, as do Pongo and Perdita. **The family acquires a nanny and moves to Regent's Park. Perdita becomes pregnant with a litter of 15 puppies. Anita's spoiled, fur-obsessed former schoolmate, Cruella de Vil, stops by and annoys the family. In response, Roger writes a jazzy song to make fun of her. When the puppies are born, one puppy appears to be stillborn, but Roger manages to save his life. Cruella barges in again and demands to buy the puppies. Roger finally stands up to her and tells her the puppies are not for sale; furious, Cruella vows revenge.** Some months later, Nanny puts the puppies to bed after an evening of watching TV, while Pongo and Perdita go for a walk with Roger and Anita. Horace and Jasper Baddun, two burglars hired by Cruella, pose as men from the Electric Company and steal the puppies. In response, the Radcliffes enlist Scotland Yard and put advertisements in all the papers. Roger and Scotland Yard suspect Cruella but can find no proof. **The Dalmatians contact Danny the Great Dane, who uses the Twilight Bark gossip chain to forward their request for help to dogs all over England. In Withermarsh, Suffolk, Old Towser the bloodhound passes the word on to the Colonel, a Sheepdog, and his cat friend Sgt. Tibbs. They investigate the nearby "Old De Vil Place," where puppies had been heard barking two nights earlier. Tibbs sneaks inside and is nearly killed by Jasper, but sends word back to London via the Colonel that the puppies are found. Pongo and Perdita leave through a back window and begin a long cross-country journey, crossing a flooded and icy river and running through the snow towards Suffolk.** Meanwhile, Cruella tells the Badduns the police are on their trail. She orders them to kill and skin all the dogs by daybreak. After she leaves, Tibbs helps the puppies escape through a hole in the wall, but the Badduns pursue. The Colonel meets up with Pongo and Perdy and tells them of the trouble. The two Dalmatians attack Jasper and Horace, destroying part of the house and giving the puppies time to flee. Pongo and Perdita reunite with their litter of 15 at Colonel and Tibbs' home farm, only to discover there are 84 more puppies with them. Upon learning from Tibbs that Cruella intended to make Dalmatian fur coats, Pongo and Perdita decide to take all 99 pups home with them. **The Dalmatians start their trek, pursued by the Badduns. All water has turned to ice, so the dogs use the creeks to avoid leaving tracks. They shelter from a blizzard in a dairy farm with a friendly collie and some cows, then make their way to Dinsford, where they meet a Black Labrador, who is waiting for them in a blacksmith's shop. Cruella and the Badduns catch up, so Pongo has his whole family roll in a sooty fireplace to disguise themselves as other Labradors. The Labrador helps them board a moving van bound for London, but melting snow falls on Lucky and exposes his spots. Cruella pursues and tries to ram the moving van. The Badduns, in their truck, attempt the same thing but accidentally smash into Cruella's car instead, which sends both their vehicles into a ditch. The moving van continues to London as Cruella throws a tantrum; Jasper, having had enough, tells her to shut up.** Back in London, a sad Nanny and the Radcliffes try to enjoy Christmas, and the wealth they have acquired from the song about Cruella, which has become a big radio hit. The soot-covered Dalmatians suddenly flood the house. Upon removing the soot and counting the massive family of dogs, Roger decides to use the money from his song to buy a big house in the country, forming a "Dalmatian Plantation." All the dogs of London begin barking, celebrating the return of the Dalmatian puppies.

**Pongo is a Dalmatian that lives in a London bachelor flat with his 'pet' (owner), professional songwriter Roger Radcliffe. Bored with bachelor life, unlike Roger who spends his days writing music, Pongo decides to find a wife for Roger and a mate for himself. While watching various female dog-human pairs out the window, he spots the perfect couple, a woman named Anita and her female Dalmatian, Perdita (or Perdy for short) heading to Regent's Park. He quickly gets Roger out of the house and drags him through the park to arrange a meeting. After an awkward and unusual meeting that goes awry, Pongo's efforts pay off and had accidentally caused both Roger and Anita to fall into a pond, but it works out well as they fall in love. Both couples marry.** Once Roger and Anita (and Pongo and Perdita) get married, Perdita gives birth to a litter of 15 puppies. One appears to be stillborn, but Roger is able to revive it by rubbing it in a towel (because of which, they name it "Lucky"). That same night, they are visited by Cruella De Vil, a psychotic and wealthy social parasite known to Anita from their school years. Having shown interest since a previous visit, she offers to buy the entire litter for a large sum, but Roger asserts that the puppies are not for sale. Weeks later, refusing to take no for an answer, Cruella secretly hires two thieves named Jasper and Horace to dognap them all. The humans try every effort to locate the puppies, but to no avail. When Scotland Yard is unable to find them or prove Cruella stole them, Pongo and Perdita use the "Twilight Bark", normally a canine gossip line, to alert and ask for help from the other dogs in London to locate them. The first two to answer the call are the Great Dane and his terrier friend. Soon, the alert is spread all over England. **The message reaches to the English countryside at Suffolk, where an old hound named Towser receives the message, along with Lucy the goose. Towser then sends the message to the barn, where the Colonel, an old sheepdog, resides, along with his compatriots Captain, a retired gray calvary horse, and Sergeant Tibbs, a tabby cat. The Colonel and Tibbs find the puppies in a place called Hell Hall (aka The De Vil Place), along with others that Cruella had purchased from various dog stores. Tibbs learns they are going to be made into dog-skin fur coats and the Colonel quickly sends word back to London. Upon receiving the message, Pongo and Perdita immediately leave the British capital to retrieve their puppies. Meanwhile, Tibbs overhears Cruella ordering Jasper and Horace to kill and skin them that very night out of fear the police will soon find them. In response, Tibbs attempts to rescue them himself while Jasper and Horace are watching the television, but they finish their show and come for them before Tibbs can get them out of the house. Pongo and Perdita burst through a window just as Jasper and Horace have cornered them and are about to kill them. During a vicious scuffle, Horace is knocked into the fireplace and Jasper gets his pants pulled down by the incensed parents before both cause the ceiling to cave in on them, while Colonel and Tibbs guide the puppies from the house to their barn.** After a happy reunion with their own puppies, Pongo and Perdita realize there are 84 others with them in Cruella's possession. Shocked after learning of her plans, Pongo and Perdita decide to adopt them all, certain that Roger and Anita would never reject them. They begin making their way back to London, aided by other animals along the way; including a Collie and some cows who give them shelter and food. However, Cruella, Jasper, and Horace are in hot pursuit of them and will stop at nothing to catch them. In order to try and fool them, the Dalmatians cover themselves with soot so they appear to be black Labrador retrievers. **The ruse works and the family successfully get inside the van. However, while Pongo and Perdy are loading the last few puppies in, ice drips down and washes off the soot. Cruella spots the disguise and sets off after the van. In a maniacal rage, Jasper and Horace in their truck and Cruella in her car follow the van with the dogs inside. Cruella repeatedly attempts to ram it off the road and a cliff (promptly damaging her car in the process), while Jasper and Horace attempt to cut it off from another direction by crashing into it. Jasper almost succeeds in crashing into the van, but just as he is about to do so, a panicked Horace accidentally rips the steering wheel from the truck's dashboard, causing the vehicle to swerve out of control. Because of this, they end up colliding with Cruella and her car, sending both vehicles crashing into a deep ravine. Comically, they are shown to be well among the wreckage of their demolished vehicles. As Cruella screams in anger and frustration and berates Jasper (who finally stands up to her) and Horace for ruining everything, she begins weeping over the loss of both her car and her dream coat, as the van drives away.** Back in London, Roger and Anita are attempting to celebrate Christmas and Roger's first big hit, a rather unflattering song about Cruella, but they miss their canine friends. Suddenly, barking is heard outside and after their nanny opens the door, the house is filled with dogs. After wiping away more of the soot, they are delighted to realize the Dalmatian clan has returned home. They decide to use the money from the song to buy a large house in the country so they can keep all 101 Dalmatians.

**Pongo is a Dalmatian that lives in a London bachelor flat with his owner Roger, a songwriter. Bored with bachelor life, Pongo decides to find a wife for Roger and a mate for himself. While watching various female dog-human pairs out the window, he spots the perfect couple, a woman named Anita and her female Dalmatian, Perdita. He quickly gets Roger out of the house and drags him through the park to arrange a meeting. Pongo accidentally causes both Roger and Anita to fall into a pond, but it works out well as the couple falls in love. Both the human couple and the dog couple marry.** Later, Perdita gives birth to 15 puppies. One almost dies, but Roger is able to revive it by rubbing it in a towel (because of which, they would name the pup, "Lucky"). That same night, they are visited by Cruella de Vil, a wealthy former schoolmate of Anita's. She offers to buy the entire litter of puppies for a large sum, but Roger says they are not selling any of the puppies. Weeks later, she hires Jasper and Horace to steal all of the puppies. When Scotland Yard is unable to prove she stole them or find the puppies, Pongo and Perdita use the "Twilight Bark", normally a canine gossip line, to ask for help from the other dogs in England. **Colonel, an old sheepdog, along with his compatriots Captain, a gray horse, and Sergeant Tibbs, a tabby cat, find the puppies in a place called Hell Hall (a.k.a. The De Vil Place), along with other Dalmatian puppies that Cruella had purchased from various dog stores. Tibbs learns the puppies are going to be made into dog-skin fur coats and the Colonel uses another Twilight Bark quickly sends word back to London. Pongo and Perdita immediately leave London to retrieve their puppies. They arrive just as Jasper and Horace are about to kill the puppies. While Perdita attacks Horace and Pongo pulls Jasper's pants down, Colonel and Tibbs guide them from the house.** After a happy reunion with their own puppies, the Pongos realize there are 84 other puppies with them. Horrified at Cruella's plans, they decide to adopt all of the puppies, certain that Roger and Anita would never reject them. The dogs begin making their way back to London, aided by other animals along the way, with Cruella and the Baduns giving chase. In one town, they cover themselves with soot so they appear to be labrador retrievers, then pile inside a moving van going back to London. As the van is leaving, melting snow clears off the soot and Cruella sees them. She follows the van in her car and rams it, but the Baduns, trying to cut off the van from above, end up colliding with her. Both vehicles crash into a deep ravine. Cruella yells in frustration as the van drives away. **Back in London, Roger and Anita are attempting to celebrate Christmas and Roger's first big hit, a song about Cruella, but they miss their canine friends. Suddenly barking is heard outside and after their nanny opens the door, the house is filled with dogs. After wiping away more of the soot, the couple is delighted to realize their companions have returned home. They decide to use the money from the song to buy a large house in the country so they can keep all 101 Dalmatians.**

## Voice cast

* Rod Taylor - Pongo
* Cate Bauer - Perdita
* Betty Lou Gerson - Cruella De Vil/Miss Birdwell
* Ben Wright (speaking) and Bill Lee (singing) - Roger Radcliffe
* Lisa Davis - Anita Radcliffe
* Martha Wentworth - Nanny/Queenie/Lucy
* Frederick Worlock - Horace/Inspector Craven
* J. Pat O'Malley - Jasper/Colonel
* Thurl Ravenscroft - Captain
* David Frankham - Sergeant Tibbs
* Barbara Beaird - Rolly
* Mickey Maga - Patch
* Sandra Abbott - Penny
* Mimi Gibson - Lucky
* Tudor Owen - Towser/Percival Faunswater
* Queenie Leonard - Princess
* Marjorie Bennett - Duchess
* George Pelling - Danny
* Tom Conway - Collie/Quizmaster
* Ramsay Hill - Labrador/Television announcer
* Dallas McKennon - Hound barks
* Lisa Daniels
* Paul Wexler - Mechanic Car
* Helene Stanley
* Barbara Luddy - Rover
* Jeanne Bruns - radio singer "Cruella De Vil"
* Mary Wickes - Freckles, Cruella De Vil (model)
* Don Barclay - Nanny (model)
* Sylvia Marriott
* Max Smith - Pongo (barking sound)
* Bob Stevens

### Uncredited

* Paul Frees - Dirty Dawson
* Lucille Bliss - Kanine Krunchies singer
* Basil Ruysdael - Truck Driver
* Junius Matthews - Scottie
* Clarence Nash - Dog barks
* Rickie Sorensen - Spotty

* Rod Taylor as Pongo, Roger's pet, Perdita's mate, and the father of 15 of the 99 puppies.
* Cate Bauer as Perdita, Anita's pet, Pongo's mate, and the mother of 15 of the 99 puppies.
* Betty Lou Gerson as Cruella de Vil, a spoiled heiress who "worships fur" and hates being denied or disobeyed. She drives a burgundy car similar to a Mercedes-Benz 500K Cabriolet.
	+ Gerson also voiced Miss Birdwell, a panelist on the show "What's My Crime?".
* Ben Wright as Roger Radcliffe, Pongo's owner and Anita's husband. He works as a songwriter and later creates a hit song about Cruella de Vil, whom he dislikes and does not trust.
	+ Bill Lee provided Roger's singing voice.
* Lisa Davis as Anita Radcliffe, Perdita's owner and Roger's wife. She is, like Perdy, a gentle person. She feels inclined to give Cruella the benefit of the doubt, as they went to school together.
* Frederick Worlock as Horace Baddun, one of the Baddun brothers. He is short and fat and often shown eating. He is more intelligent than his brother (he figures out all the dogs' plots) but completely cowed by Jasper's overwhelming personality into thinking he is stupid. He loves "What's My Crime?", a spoof of the then-popular TV gameshow *What's My Line?*.
	+ Worlock also voiced Inspector Graves, a panelist on the show "What's My Crime?".
* J. Pat O'Malley as Jasper Baddun, one of the Baddun brothers. He is far taller and thinner than Horace and is a fast talker and aggressive bully who completely disregards the possibility of intelligence in dogs. He also loves "What's My Crime?" and drives a brown van with loose/broken fenders.
	+ O'Malley also voiced the Colonel, an Old English Sheepdog who is part of the Twilight Bark. He, Tibbs, and Captain allow the Dalmatian family to stay in their barn one night and attack the Badduns to buy Pongo and Perdy time to escape.
* Martha Wentworth as Nanny, the Radcliffes' elderly cook and housekeeper. She is very maternal and fussy, detests Cruella, and is very attached to the puppies.
	+ Wentworth also voiced Queenie, one of three cows who allow the puppies to stay in their barn and drink their milk.
* Thurl Ravenscroft as Captain, a gray horse who aids Pongo, Perdy, and Colonel.
* David Frankham as Sergeant Tibbs, a tabby cat who is the first to discover the puppies' whereabouts and masterminds their escape from the Old de Vil Place.
* Mimi Gibson as Lucky, one of Pongo and Perdita's litter, who has a horseshoe of spots on his back. He loves watching TV and struggles the most on the journey home.
* Barbara Beaird as Rolly, a puppy who is always hungry and is shown as pudgier than the rest of the puppies. He even risks stealing food from Horace and is usually in some trouble.
* Mickey Maga as Patch, a puppy who loves Thunderbolt and has a spot on his eye. Patch is often seen barking and growling at threats. He is the main character of *101 Dalmatians II: Patch's London Adventure*.
* Sandra Abbott as Penny, the only puppy not named for her appearance or habits.
* Tudor Owen as Old Towser, a bloodhound who helps spread the news about the stolen puppies.
* George Pelling as Danny, a Great Dane who aids Pongo and Perdita and is one of the first dogs to answer Pongo's Twilight Bark message.
* Junius Matthews as Scottie, Danny's terrier friend.
* Queenie Leonard as Princess, one of the three cows who help the puppies.
* Marjorie Bennett as Duchess, one of the three cows who help the puppies.
* Barbara Luddy as Rover, one of the 84 Dalmatian puppies that Cruella bought.
* Rickie Sorensen as Spotty, one of the 84 Dalmatian puppies that Cruella bought.
* Tom Conway as the Collie, who offers the Dalmatians shelter for the night at a dairy farm.
	+ Conway also voiced the Quizmaster, the host of "What's My Crime?".
* Ramsay Hill as the Labrador Retriever in Dinsford, who helps load the puppies into the moving van.
* Paul Wexler as the Mechanic who fixes the van.
* Basil Ruysdael as the driver of the moving van.
* Paul Frees as Dirty Dawson, the villain in the "Thunderbolt" TV show. Frees has no spoken dialogue in the film, only laughter.
* Lucille Bliss as TV Commercial Singer, who sings the "Kanine Krunchies" jingle.

* Rod Taylor as Pongo
* Cate Bauer as Perdita
* Betty Lou Gerson as Cruella de Vil; Miss Birdwell
* Ben Wright as Roger
* Lisa Davis as Anita
* Martha Wentworth as Nanny
* Frederick Worlock as Horace Badun; Inspector Craven
* J. Pat O'Malley as Jasper Badun; Colonel
* Tudor Owen as Towser
* Tom Conway as Quizmaster; Collie
* George Pelling as Danny
* Thurl Ravenscroft as Captain
* David Frankham as Sergeant Tibbs; Skye Terrier
* Ramsay Hill as TV Announcer; Labrador
* Queenie Leonard as Princess
* Marjorie Bennett as Duchess
* Barbara Baird as Rolly
* Mickey Maga as Patch
* Sandra Abbott as Penny
* Mimi Gibson as Lucky
* Bill Lee as Roger (singing)
* Dal McKennon as Dalmatian Puppy, Sheepdog & Hound Barks
* Max Smith, Bob Stevens as Chorus
* Paul Wexler as Car Mechanic
* Jeanne Burns as Radio Singer

### Uncredited

* Lucille Bliss as Kanine Krunchie Commercial Singer
* Paul Frees as Dirty Dawson; "Thunderbolt" Announcer
* Junius Matthews as Scottie
* Clarence Nash as Dog Barks
* Rickie Sorenson as Spotty

## Production

The film is a landmark in animation history for many reasons. It is the first Disney animated film to be set in a contemporary setting. It is also the first Disney film created by a single story man (Bill Peet).

### Graphic reproduction

The production of the film also signaled a change in the graphic style of Disney's animation. Ub Iwerks, in charge of special processes at the studio, had been experimenting with Xerox photography to aid in animation. By 1959 he had modified a Xerox camera to transfer drawings by animators directly to cells, eliminating the inking process and preserving the spontaneity of the penciled elements.

The introduction of xerography eased graphic reproduction requirements, but at the price of being unable to deviate from a scratchy outline style because of the new (and time and money saving) technology's limitations. Since the line would not have fit the "round" Disney drawing style used until then (with the exception of *Sleeping Beauty*), a more graphic, angular style was chosen for this and subsequent films. Rotoscoping, a technique formerly used for tracing live action human characters into animated drawings, became less important.

Another reason for its look was that the animators were used to producing sketchy drawings, as the clean-up was done in the process of transferring the drawings to the cells. With the hand inkers gone, the animation remained as the animators drew it. Later it became common to do clean-up on paper before the animation was copied, and with time and experience, the process improved.

According to Chuck Jones, Disney was able to bring the movie in for about half of what it would have cost if they'd had to animate all the dogs and spots. The studio cut its animation department after the failure of the very expensive *Sleeping Beauty*, resulting in a reduction of staff from over 500 to less than 100. Walt Disney, who for some years had spent his attention more towards television and his Disneyland amusement park and less on his animated features, disliked this development. The "sketchy" graphic style would remain the norm at Disney for years until the technology improved prior to the release of *The Rescuers*. In later animated features the Xeroxed lines could be printed in different colors. Unlike previous Walt Disney animated features, *One Hundred and One Dalmatians* features only three songs, with just one, "Cruella De Vil", playing a big part in the film. Even this song isn't sung in one setting (a scene between Cruella and Anita splits it into two parts). The other two songs are "Kanine Krunchies Jingle" (sung by Lucille Bliss, who voiced Anastasia in Disney's 1950 film *Cinderella*), and "Dalmatian Plantation" in which only two lines are sung at the film's closure.

To achieve the spotted Dalmatians, the animators used to think of the spot pattern as a constellation. Once they had one "anchor spot", the next was placed in relation to that one spot, and so on and so on until the full pattern was achieved. All total, *101 Dalmatians* featured 6,469,952 spots, with Pongo sporting 72 spots, Perdita 68, and each puppy having 32.

## Gallery

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