101 Dalmatians: The Series

101 Dalmatians: The Series is an American animated television series produced by Walt Disney Television Animation in association with former production company Jumbo Pictures based on the 1961 Disney animated feature of the same name and its 1996 live-action remake. The show spanned two seasons, with the first episode airing on September 1, 1997, and the last episode airing on March 4, 1998.

## Premise

The show focuses primarily on three particular puppies; Lucky, TV addict leader and unconventional hero, Rolly, his fat cheerful laid-back and always-hungry brother, and Cadpig, their intellectual and fast-talking sister, who is the runt of the family. The three siblings are often joined by Spot, a chicken who wants to be a dog and a member of the Bark Brigade. Early promotional material had listed dictatorial Penny and mischievous Patch as two other puppy cast members, but the highlighted puppies were whittled down to three. The series is set on the Dalmatian Plantation, the farm where the dalmatians relocated after the end of the film; one episode features the dalmatians running away to return to the now-abandoned London flat where they were born, shortly after the events of the film.

Other puppies appearing in the show have included the fearless, three-legged Tripod, the friendly dim-witted Dipstick, the constantly urinating Wizzer, the fashion-conscious diva Two-Tone, and the Sheepdog mix, Mooch, who serves as the farm's bully. Patch also makes occasional appearances, though with a different personality than originally promoted. The show seems to be a blending of both the animated film and the live-action film, so the potential exists for other puppies from the films to appear, especially Freckles, Pepper, Penny, Jewel, and Fidget.

## Release

### Broadcast

The show debuted in syndication on September 1, 1997, running episodes five days a week; this was the second season. Two weeks later, the first season aired on ABC's *One Saturday Morning* lineup. That season was originally going to air on ABC on September 6, 1997 but was delayed a week due to the untimely death of Princess Diana.

In total, 65 half-hour episodes with 105 episode segments were produced. The first season contained 12 episodes: 3 full-length episodes, and 9 that contained 2 segments each. Meanwhile, the second season contained 53 episodes: 22 full-length episodes, and 31 that contained 2 segments each. On March 4, 1998, the show aired its last episode with reruns continuing to play in syndication through August 28, 1998.

Reruns continued to play on ABC until 1999.Template:Citation needed Reruns of the show also aired on Disney Channel from 1998 to 1999 and Toon Disney from September 1998 to January 30, 2006 (with occasional airings in the spring of 2007). As of today, the series has been off the air in most countries. It was syndicated on the United Kingdom channel Disney Cinemagic for quite a few years and was also aired on the Latin American version of Disney Channel during 2008, and then on January 2, 2010, Season 2 moved to RTÉ Two in the Republic of Ireland. The show has aired four times on Fridays at 4 a.m. on the Disney Junior block on the Disney Channel in early 2011.

On March 23, 2012, the show returned to television as a launch title for the Disney Junior channel, but only about half of the episodes aired, and most of the ones that did air were edited down (this was most likely due to scenes that were dubbed inappropriate for preschoolers). On September 3, 2013, the series was removed from Disney Junior's lineup.

### Home media

While the series as a whole never made a true home media release either on VHS or DVD, the episode, "A Christmas Cruella", was released on VHS in 1998, which also contained the episode "Coup De Vil" as a bonus episode. This was also released on DVD in the UK.

The 3-part series finale, "Dalmatian Vacation", was also released on VHS and Laserdisc in Japan, which included two songs that were exclusive to this release and not on the TV broadcasts of the trilogy of episodes.

### Streaming

Currently, all of the episodes are available on the iTunes Store and Amazon Prime Video since June 2017 in HD and SD formats, with the exception of "Alive N' Chicken"/"Prima Doggy", which is still banned at this time.

On May 8, 2020, the entire series became available on Disney+ in Australia, and on the US version of Disney+ on June 19, 2020, with all 65 episodes arranged in mixed order, listed as one season. In addition, "Alive N' Chicken"/"Prima Doggy" is among the episodes available to stream, a rare instance from Disney+ for a television series that is available to purchase digitally elsewhere, but for a particular episode not being available to buy, being available to stream on the platform. It is currently unknown if the series will become available on the service in other regions.

## Merchandise

Not much merchandise has been made of this series unlike other Disney series, the only ones being:

* *A Christmas Cruella* VHS (released October 6, 1998)
* *Dalmatian Vacation* Video CD
* *Dalmatian Vacation* VHS and LaserDisc (Japan only)
* *Surf Puppies* CD
* *The Big Dig* (book)
* *Cruella Returns* (book)
* *Springtime Fun* (book)
* *Visit the Farm* (book)
* *Hide-and-Go-Seek at the Farm* (book)
* Rare episode cels
* Car toys for McDonald's Happy Meals (sold in January 1998)
* Curly straws from McDonald's restaurants located in Wal-Mart stores
* Beanbag toys included with Sweethearts candy (Caldor exclusive)
* Disney Channel branded keychains (Japan only)

1. ↑ Template:Cite book
2. ↑ Template:Cite AV media
3. ↑ Template:Cite AV media
4. ↑ Bevilacqua, Joe (September 9, 1998). Tooning in the 1998 Fall Season.
5. ↑ Drake, Samantha. 101 Dalmatians: Franchise is Puppy-Filled Fun. *Pet360.com*.
6. ↑ Template:Cite press release
7. ↑ Toon Disney Timeline 1998-2003. *Toon Disney*. Archived from the original on December 10, 2003.
8. ↑ 101 Dalmatians, Vol. 1.
9. ↑ 101 Dalmatians - Season 101.
10. ↑ r/DisneyPlus - 101 Dalmatians: The Series is now available.
11. ↑ Everything New You Can Stream on Disney+ in June 2020 (May 15, 2020).
12. ↑ Template:Disney+ series