101 Dalmatians (1961)

**101 Dalmatians (1961)** is .

## Plot

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, including having accidentally caused both Roger and Anita to fall into a pond, but Pongo's plan pays off as they fall in love. **Six months after Roger and Anita (and Pongo and Perdita) get married, Perdita gives birth to an unexpectedly large 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 firmly 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 of Hampstead. 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 legally purchased from various dog stores. The word about the stolen puppies is quickly sent back to London. Upon receiving the message, Pongo and Perdita immediately leave the British capital to retrieve their puppies. Meanwhile, Tibbs overhears Cruella's plan to have the puppies be made into dog-skin fur coats and her 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 lit 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. The Dalmatians arrive in Dinsford where they are assisted by a black Labrador retriever. However, before the Dalmatians can get sneak into a van that is bound for London, Cruella, Jasper, and Horace arrive searching or 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. Jasper and Horace in their truck and Cruella in her car, and in a maniacal rage, 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 - Countess
* Max Smith - Pongo (barking sound)
* Bob Stevens - Narrator