101 DALMATIANS (1996)

101 DALMATIANS (1996)

Tagline:  Spot Remover.

(Comedy, Crime, Adventure) [G]

With the recent surplus of live-action Disney remakes of their original animated movies, a LOT of people think the first one was CINDERELLA made in 2015. I have seen people assume this in movie groups I’ve been in online. That actually isn’t the case. The first Disney live-action remake of one of their classic animated movies was in 1994 (THE JUNGLE BOOK). 101 DALMATIANS was Disney’s second live-action remake. 

In this one, Roger (played by Jeff Daniels) and Anita (played by Joely Richardson) meet after an incident at a park in London. Pongo and Perdita both Dalmatians hit it off instantly and so do Roger and Anita. They get married like 3 seconds later and Anita’s boss becomes wildly jealous. She wants clothing designed to have a Dalmatian pattern and offers Anita and Roger a bunch of money to buy the dogs as well as their puppies. She’s basically going to use their fur for coats…because that is how damn nuts this plot is. Are the dogs resourceful enough to escape the evil Cruella De Vil? 

I am guessing at some point, probably right around 2016, Disney decided that using actual animals in their live-action movies was either too hard or offending everyone so they turned to CGI. While this works on some level, it’s just not the same as using real animals. 

The Good –Disney used to use live animals. Getting this many dogs and other animals for this movie must have been a monumental task, and they pulled it off to perfection. All the shots are beautifully done and the efforts taken to get this all on film the way it is is super commendable. I think all but a few of the raccoon scenes used live animals. The second strong point was casting Glenn Close. Back in the late ’80s, we all found out that Glenn Close could play one of the craziest chicks to ever hit the screen. She crushes it as Cruella De Vil to the point where I would not be shocked if some people needed therapy after watching her in this role. In the movie, Cruella De Vil is given to henchmen played by Hugh Laurie (from the TV show HOUSE) and Mark Williams (best known for being Ron Weasley’s father in the HARRY POTTER series). I am guessing they were relatively unknown at the time, but it speaks to how great this cast is. 

The Bad – I just have never been a 101 DALMATIANS fan. I thought the animated version pretty much sucked. So for me, this plotline is a bit much. There are also a few scenes I would have definitely left out, but given that this is a movie mostly directed at kids, I can see why they are trying to do a few comical things to lighten up a film centered around a sadistic would-be dog-murderer. There are scenes in this thing that if you changed the soundtrack up a bit would be straight-up horror. 

Given what it was meant to be, this is pretty much perfection. It’s a spot-on brilliant interpretation of the source material The lighting and cinematography are freaking outstanding. It was directed by Stephen Herek, who was behind the director’s chair for CRITTERS, BILL AND TED’S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE, and THE MIGHTY DUCKS among others. The movie also feels a bit "HOME ALONE-ish", likely because both were written by John Hughes.

For me, this is a 4 out of 7. For fans of the original, however, it’s most likely a solid 6 or 7 out of 7. There isn’t much new here where this thing is trying to break some crazy new ground over the source material, but it’s a heck of an effort and visually incredible. 

GRAPHICS ARE THE PROPERTY OF WALT DISNEY PICTURES AND ARE USED FOR REVIEW PURPOSES ONLY. 

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