Cruella De Vil

**Cruella De Vil** is the main antagonist of Disney's 1961 animated feature film *101 Dalmatians*. She is an eccentric, fashion-obsessed heiress who wishes to use the skins of 99 Dalmatian puppies to create a spotted fur coat. Regarded as a "witch" and "devil woman", Cruella's infatuation with furs drives her to murderous insanity. She commits immoral acts to satisfy her mania, such as kidnapping and slaughter. In her mad pursuits, Cruella is typically aided by her henchmen, Jasper and Horace.

Cruella first appeared in the novel, *The Hundred and One Dalmatians* (1956) by Dodie Smith. Perhaps the most famous incarnation of the character was developed for Disney's 1961 animated adaptation *One Hundred and One Dalmatians* by story man Bill Peet and animator Marc Davis. The Disney villainess proved successful and has led to numerous appearances in other media, most notably the *Disney Villains* franchise, of which Cruella is a primary member.

## Background

Cruella is an old school friend of Anita Radcliffe, and a glamor-obsessed heiress who claims that she cannot live without furs. She hires Horace and Jasper Badun, two incompetent crooks, to steal Pongo and Perdita's 15 Dalmatian puppies, and buys 84 more through legitimate means.

Unlike previous Disney villainesses, such as the Evil Queen, Lady Tremaine, the Queen of Hearts, and Maleficent, Cruella is not a schemer nor does she have any powers. Instead, she acts purely on impulse and is thus prone to reckless behavior, particularly tearing through the snowy landscape in her car. Unlike future versions of the character, this version of Cruella was seemingly invincible in the eyes of the Dalmatians, who, though they could just about be able to keep Jasper and Horace Badun at bay, were unable to face "that devil woman". Their only hope was therefore to flee; Cruella's defeat in the film is brought about not through the deeds of the animals, but her own stubborn relentlessness (which, by the end of the film, has seemingly degenerated into a mad fury) and the incompetence of her henchmen.

### Development

Though Cruella's basic appearance inherited several visual traits from Dodie Smith's original novel - her half-black, half-white hair, her black dress, and her enormous mink coat, which swings about her like a cloak - the character's design in the film was developed by Bill Peet, Ken Anderson, and Marc Davis. This version of the character was also completely skeletal, and smoked constantly, leaving a trail of green, foul-smelling cigarette smoke wherever she went. Her physical appearance and general manner were described as a hellish beast or demon, a fact referenced in her name and a song about her. In sketches exploring designs for Cruella, Marc Davis experimented with more youthful-looking versions of the character, possibly for any flashbacks that would have occurred. The juxtaposition of the enormous coat against the rail-thin body was established in these early sketches.

Davis exaggerated the size of the coat to match Cruella's larger-than-life personality and added three big tails to its back to add a "slightly ridiculous" element; the coat's red underlining was intended to allude to the character's somewhat demonic nature (and corresponding name). The messy style of Cruella's hair was inspired by hairdos seen in magazines between the 1940s and 1960s. The long green cigarette holder was modeled on one used by Davis himself.

### Voice

Betty Lou Gerson, who had previously provided her voice as the narrator of the opening scenes of *Cinderella*, was inspired by Tallulah Bankhead when voicing Cruella De Vil. This is interesting as it is said that Dodie Smith originally conceived the character as an evil parody of Bankhead. When performing, Gerson was intimidating even to the other actresses working with her. She was the primary inspiration for Marc Davis when animating Cruella. Davis commented that the vocal performance suggested that "this character was bigger than life, high in energy, and, like a shark, always moving".

### Animation

Marc Davis, the sole animator of Cruella in all her scenes in *101 Dalmatians*, was initially unsure that Cruella would suit the film, worrying that the character was too comic. Indeed, his colleagues criticized him as he worked; Frank Thomas felt that the head was too skull-like, while Milt Kahl demanded to know why Davis had to "make her feet so damn big".

In addition to the voice of Betty Lou Gerson, the animation was inspired by Tallulah Bankhead, Bette Davis in *All About Eve*, and Rosalind Russell in *Auntie Mame*. Davis also worked from live-action footage of character actress Mary Wickes. Wickes' angular physique and sophisticated, smooth movements in this reference footage inspired Davis to incorporate these contrasting aspects in Cruella's animation. However, Davis used the footage sparingly.

Davis wanted Cruella to move "like someone you wouldn't like" and thought of people who do not listen to any voice other than their own and thus dominate a conversation or situation. He made a specific reference in an interview to "one woman I knew who was just a monster. She was tall and thin and talked constantly – you never knew what she was saying, but you couldn't get a word in edgewise".

Though Milt Kahl initially disliked Marc Davis' caricatured approach to the design and animation of the character (complaining in particular about the size of Cruella's feet), he was very impressed by the final product and, thinking Davis to be a better draughtsman, appears to have become rather jealous of his colleagues' success with the character. When Kahl was given the chance to animate his own flamboyant villainess, Madame Medusa in *The Rescuers*, he swore to Davis that he would "blow your Cruella off the screen". A fan letter to Kahl from a young Andreas Deja mistakenly referring to him as Cruella's animator received the reply: "Thank you for all your compliments, but I did not animate Cruella De Vil. She was animated by my friend Marc Davis and, unlike Medusa, was based on live-action."

### Personality

Cruella is known to be mean and rude, frequently barging into other people's homes unannounced and openly disrespecting others. She adores attention but looks down on others, showing no sympathy or concern for anyone's well-being.

She is also greedy and selfish and adores high fashion and art. Her interest in fashion revolves around furs from animals, particularly fur coats, as she is always wearing one. As a result, Cruella often seeks animals to help her with making coats. Upon learning that Perdita has had puppies, Cruella attempted to buy them from Roger, showing no concern for the puppies themselves, having already purchased 84 puppies legally. The reason for her obsession is because the spots will make her fur coats more popular, meaning she'll get more money. Her interest in spots runs so deep she turned to Lars after seeing his painting of spots as a way to substitute her obsession.

Cruella is known to be short-tempered. She gets annoyed with Jasper and Horace's foolishness and throws a tantrum when things don't go her way. Her anger seems to be a problem, as it makes her reckless and impulsive, as she drove her car recklessly after the Dalmatians but ended up crashing her car into a ravine. She may also be bipolar, as she is prone to psychotic fits; her reckless driving is a prime example. This happened again when she tried to capture the puppies in London, only to end up in an institution. However, she did seem to be a slightly reasonable woman, as she attempted twice to convince Anita to sell Cruella her puppies, only choosing to steal them when it became clear it was the only way for her to get the puppies.

### Physical appearance

Cruella is an extremely thin woman that almost appears skeletal around the curves. She has pale skin, red lips, green eyes, and eye shadow. She has shoulder-length hair, the two halves of which are a different color; the right side is black, and the left side is white.

Cruella's usual attire is a simple black dress, red high heel shoes and black stockings, long red opera gloves, large turquoise earrings and ring on her right hand, a cream fur coat with a red lining, and a matching purse with three foxtails. In *102 Dalmatians*, Cruella sometimes wears long black gloves and sometimes white gloves with her suits.