If there was any other Disney animated film from my childhood that I binged regularly other than 'Hercules' it was '101 Dalmatians'. Yes I do mean the animated version and not the horrible live action remake. More on the remake later.
A great cast and soundtrack...as well as all those adorable little puppies. It was enough to keep my five year old self entertained for an hour. So popular was it with children that it has had several animated spin-offs including a couple of live-action adaptations of Dodie Smith's excellent book (which the animated film was based on).
The film starts off with dalmatian Pongo looking out the window, clearly bored. His owner- up and coming musician Roger Radcliff- is currently working on a song on his piano. Pongo is not impressed with his current life with Roger. "It was clear to see that my pet needed someone" Pongo remarks in the narration.
The dog then watches all the other dogs and their owners (in the world of '101 Dalmatians', the owners are "owned" by their dogs) as he tries to find a suitable companion for Roger. Disappointed on seeing no-one suitable, Pongo is about to go back to his musings when he sees a young woman around Roger's age walking her own dalmatian who is around Pongo's age.
Pongo is delighted at the sight but then hesitates; "Roger doesn't finish work until after five. By then it'll be too late". So he decides to set the clock to make it look like it's after five and barks happily to Roger to alert him of the time.
Roger is surprised at how fast the time has gone and immediately suspects that his watch is slow. Meanwhile, Pongo is trying desperately to get out the door. Once Pongo is out the door, he's walking as fast as he can towards the park, worried that me might've missed the young woman and her dog. That is when eventually he finds them. It is now up to Pongo to bring them together.
'101 Dalmatians' was a instant hit for Disney when it came out, helping them bounce back from their financial troubles a decade earlier because so many of their animated films weren't being very well received at the time. I too have loved the film since I first watched it despite the fact that my favourite Disney animated film is ‘Hercules’. The book by Dodie Smith herself is also excellent as well as its decent sequel ‘The Twilight Bark’ (the only ‘101 Dalmatians’ sequel I like).
As I said earlier, '101 Dalmatians' had numerous animated spin-offs including a couple of live-action remakes. I never liked the live-action remake that they did back in 1996 despite the adorable puppies and Glenn Close's excellent performance as Cruella DeVil (it turned me off Disney live-action remakes for life as a result). I've zero interest in seeing '102 Dalmatians' despite the cast as well as villain-origin film 'Cruella' despite the fact that Emma Stone's performance as Cruella looks good.
No, '101 Dalmatians' is better off as it was; an animated classic loved by everyone- myself included- from both kids and adults alike. It does NOT need a remake of any kind!
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