101 Dalmatians DVD Review (2024)

Directors: Clyde Geronimi, Hamilton Luske, Wolfgang Reitherman

Voice Cast: Rod Taylor (Pongo), Betty Lou Gerson (Cruella De Vil), Cate Bauer (Perdita), Ben Wright (Roger), Lisa Davis (Anita), Frederick Worlock (Horace/Inspector Craven), Martha Wentworth (Nanny), J. Pat O'Malley (Jasper/Colonel), Tudor Owen (Towser), Thurl Ravenscroft (Captain), David Frankham (Sgt. Tibbs), Tom Conway (Collie)

Songs: "Cruella De Vil", "Dalmatian Plantation"

Tired of living the life of a bachelor, Dalmatian Pongo sees an attractive female Dalmatian outside. By cleverly engineering a meeting between the dogs' owners Roger and Anita, Pongo gets his way. Roger and Anita marry and both the human and canine couples into a new house. To add to the happiness Pongo and his mate, Perdita become the proud parents of 15 puppies.

But their happiness cannot last. An old 'school friend' of Anita, the fearsome Cruella De Vil, has somehow found out about the puppies, and is awfully keen to get her hands on them. But why does Cruella want the puppies so much? Why is she so interested in their coats? And when the puppies are dognapped, does Cruella have anything to do with it? And when the time comes, will Pongo and Perdita be able to meet the unexpected challenge of rescuing 99 Dalmatian puppies?

It's somewhat of a tragedy that 101 Dalmatians is remembered for Cruella De Vil and nothing else. Cruella is a wonderful creation and is written, animated and voiced to perfection, but the film offers so much more.

Like the Pixar films that are so successful today, 101 Dalmatians shows a hidden world that is ignored or simply unknown by most humans. In this case, it's the world of domestic animals, from the Dalmatians of the title to farmyard cats, dogs and livestock. And also like the Pixar films, everything in 101 Dalmatians is about the story, and what a story it is. If it were a live action film, saving real children it would be labelled an epic. Never before or since have Disney parents endured so much to save their children. The story has it all, humour, character, thrills and heart. Another home run for Disney!

DVD Details 1.33:1 Original Aspect Ratio Dolby Surround 2.0 (English, French, Spanish) Subtitles: English Closed Captioned Release Date: November 9, 1999 Single-sided, single-layered disc (DVD-5) Out of Print White Keepcase

VIDEO and AUDIO

The feature is presented in the full screen aspect ratio of the original animation, although it is debatable how this was originally shown in all cinemas; it is the opinion of some that the film was to be matted to an approximate 1.85:1 ratio for theatrical projection. However I doubt this is the case, as none of the shots on the DVD seem to suffer from an abundance empty space at the top or bottom of the picture.

The transfer used for the DVD seems to have been taken off one of the film's theatrical re-releases. This is suggested by the presence of the blue Walt Disney Pictures "Castle" Logo at the film's opening and conclusion. It certainly makes sense for Disney copy a newer print of the film to DVD.

The colours in the film can be somewhat muted - after all the main characters are simply black and white, while the backgrounds favour either a deliberately low-key pastel colour scheme or a dull brown and grey for the London buildings and streets. But when colours are shown, they leap off the screen. The sunset sky when Pongo and Perdita set out on their quest looks absolutely stunning. Black levels are solid, but I detected bright halos around dark objects on lighter backgrounds at several points while watching the movie.

The Audio is presented in Dolby Digital 2.0. It would be unfair to criticise the audio, it meets my expectations for an early 1960's soundtrack, and the dialogue and music are clear at all times. The lack of a 5.1 remix shows Disney's initial reluctance to take advantage of the opportunities offered by the DVD format. French and Spanish language tracks are available, also in Dolby Digital 2.0.

EXTRAS

As with all of Disney's initial Limited Issue releases, the supplements on this disc are somewhat lacking. Included is a theatrical trailer that runs for approximately two and a half minutes. I would guess this is from the 1991 re-release. If so then the quality of the trailer is appalling considering its relatively modern origins. The re-release trailer is certainly fun and more than welcome, but surely Disney had an example of the original trailers in their 'vaults' somewhere?

The only other supplement is a couple of screens of 'Film Recommendations'. It would appear Disney recommend any other film by Disney and don't really consider the content either the film you've just watched, or the films they recommend. Recommendations on this disc are for Hercules Limited Issue, Mulan Limited Issue, The Lion King II: Simba's Pride Limited Issue, A Bug's Life, 101 Dalmatians (Live Action) and Mary Poppins. This so-called-feature will only interest those who are obsessive about cover art, as that's all that's shown. There are no sneak peek trailers or even text screens telling us the features for each recommended DVD.

CLOSING THOUGHTS

Like all of Disney's Limited Issue DVDs, 101 Dalmatians was both overpriced and underwhelming. As a result, many people opted not to pick up the discs when they were readily available.

The film is scheduled to be re-released as an extensive 2-disc Platinum Edition in the future, although the exact release date is nothing but speculation at this point. For this reason, I cannot recommend the Limited Issue as a worthwhile purchase (especially given the extortionate prices out of print Disney titles sell for on eBay), even though the film is one of my favourites.