To begin with, this isn't a positive of the
film per se, but it is true for me. When I
was little, I always wanted a dog, specifically
a dalmatian and a doberman. Why? Because my
dad's family had owned both of those breeds
and he told me a lot of wonderful stories
about their pets. Which incidentally is why
I could never be afraid of dobermans the way
other people are, I always just think of the
sweet dog named Attila my dad told me about.
Anyway, because of this, I loved 101 Dalmatians
when I was little. Watching it again is a
lot like playing Crash Bandicoot again, in
the sense that it was a movie I loved when
I was little that I can happily say is still
just as good as I remember now that I'm an
adult.
It's a small thing, but I'm sorry, but the
name of Cruella's house in the country is
Hell Hall?
Goodness I love the music to the opening.
I don't know if that's a clarinet I hear,
but it sounds wonderful. I do wish there was
more visually going on, instead of just spots
and notes and credits for the most part. But
the music works, both in being excellent in
itself and in preparing the audience for the
upcoming movie. This isn't an epic adventure;
it's more of a fun enjoyable story of the
present day, or at least the present day when
it was made.
I like that there is an early recognition
that this won't be a typical epic adventure.
We can have simpler stories that are well
written and enjoyable, and 101 Dalmatians
succeeds in that. If I had to describe the
whole story, I'd call it what happens when
the ordinary meets the epic. There are so
many scenes of domestic comedy, little daily
things made funny, small moments of warmth,
and even scenes that would ruin the tension
in any other movie (Horace and Jasper crashing
through a wall into Cruella after Cruella
notices the Dalmatians' soot disguise) but
that work in this story precisely because
it's not an epic adventure. It's an adventure
story about what happens when a family is
torn apart, and how to piece that family back
together, within a larger gentle family comedy.
Even the villain is just an exaggeration (she's
willing to kill puppies) of a not unrealistic
desire (a fur coat). I suppose if you wanted
an adventure that would keep you on the edge
of your seat, then 101 Dalmatians just won't
do, but if you want something warm and gentle,
with a bit of adventure to go with it, then
this is your movie.
With regard to being a simple story, I like
how well the movie does balance comedy and
warmth in its scenes. It's what makes this
story of a couple and their children so enjoyable.
For instance, the scene when the puppies are
born: there's quite a bit of comedy, with
Pongo and Roger getting scared and then Pongo's
facial expressions when Nanny tells him how
many puppies, and then there's a bit of warmth,
when the puppy almost seems to die. The timing
of puppy reviving, with the clock ticking
and the lightning in the background and Pongo's
gently happy face when he touches noses with
his almost dead but now revived puppy, is
done so right, giving just enough emotional
weight to the scene.
The scene with the puppies watching television
is another good one. I can understand how
people might see it as boring, but for me,
I always smile because of the quiet, gentle
comedy. Little jokes, like the interactions
between the Great Dane and the tiny terrier
during the twilight bark scene, work great.
The sargent and the colonel also work great
together. Between them, as well as Horace
and Jasper, the movie has a lot of comedy
duos that just work together and are fun to
watch interact.
In terms of mistakes in the structure: The
end of the twilight bark scene with the colonel
did seem to go on for too long and outstay
its welcome in terms of comedy, and while
it's not purely comedy, the scene where the
puppies escape from Hell Hall also takes a
bit too long. Though it was great to have
the one puppy that's always next to the television
hold everyone up because he's still next to
the television when they should be escaping.
Another comedic mistake, for me, was the short
scene when Pongo and Perdita arrive at Hell
Hall and we see the colonel slipping on the
ice. I mean, at that moment, the puppies have
been trapped in a room with Horace and Jasper,
who are going to pummel them to death and
skin them, and we cut to a comedic scene with
the colonel slipping on ice? That just ruins
the tension. Also, though the dogs seem to
have a good idea with walking on the river
to avoid leaving tracks, they don't walk on
the river for long. Did the river end up going
in the wrong direction, so they needed to
go back to land? Pongo wipes away their tracks
later, so he's clearly still concerned about
leaving tracks. I just wish this had been
addressed after they made such a big deal
of Horace and Jasper not believing dogs would
be so smart as to walk on the frozen river
to avoid tracks.
I also love how Pongo's voice, which sounds
so serious at times, contrasts with the sillier
events on screen, particularly when he's trying
to get Perdita and Anita to notice him and
Roger. We have Pongo here being a very playful
dog, but the narration contrasts with him
giving these serious explanations of why he
does what he does. And it works really well
to show a human world through a dog's eyes.
It does happen from time to time that we have
couples in movies that just don't seem like
they are in love. For the sake of comedy they're
written to argue so much that oftentimes I
wonder if they do have any affection for each
other. But both of the couples here do show
sincere affection for each other, even if
at times they disagree, like when Perdita
thinks Pongo went insane for diving into the
soot. I also liked how it never seemed to
me that Perdita and Anita's individual authority
was questioned; that is to say, even though
often it was the case that Pongo or Roger
had the initial idea, like when Roger started
singing the Cruella song or when Pongo brought
the couple together, the dynamic of the relationship
seemed to be that if Perdita and Anita did
have the initial idea, they wouldn't let themselves
be shut down by Pongo or Roger. We see this
with Nanny too, who does make decisions on
her own, despite being cast as a servant,
like when she doesn't let Cruella's henchman
inside the house. (Although occasionally Nanny
does fall into the emotional woman stereotype,
and her willingness to take charge is a double
edged sword, since a part of it derives from
stereotypes associated with the working class.)
Perdita and Anita do have their moments, like
when Perdita identifies Cruella as that devil
woman or when Anita tells Roger off for making
fun of Cruella. Their judgment in these moments
is never questioned, and the movie does a
good job of justifying both of their viewpoints
until ultimately Cruella is revealed as the
villain. And later, it's Anita who refuses
to sell the puppy and the one who is braver
in standing up to Cruella. Roger here backs
up Anita's decision, though the movie does
seem to give him the ultimate authority because
it's him that Anita and Nanny congratulate.
And we have moments where both Roger and Anita
have no idea what to do, like after the puppies
are stolen. That's also a moment when Roger
and Anita argue, and again, they argue from
the point of view of equals. My point in all
of this is to say overall the movie does a
good job in showing caring and well-adapted
adult couples, which is a bit rare to see
nowadays, and in sharing the authority between
the male and female characters. even if there
are some problems, like few female characters
who have as much authority as the villain.
Cruella as a villain. She fits the story well:
it's a simple story and she isn't some undefeatable
force, just a person with too much vanity
to see that her goals are unethical. She also
shows how mundane evil can be. She only wants
a coat. She's not seeking to conquer or destroy
the world here. It's only that she's willing
to go against any sense of morality to get
that coat, and it's only that her mundane
desire for a coat can and almost does rip
apart Perdita and Pongo's family. Did you
hear when she's talking about killing the
puppies to make the coats? She says, "Anyway
you like! Poison them, drown them, bash them
on the head. You got any chloroform?" She's
actually listing off all the ways you could
kill puppies.
Which, admittedly, does make her a bit stereotypical
in terms of being that stereotypical vain
woman, and Disney does have a bad habit of
making evil witch type villains, as if any
woman with authority was automatically evil.
And it is noticeable how much authority Cruella
has over her two henchmen, telling them what
to do, as opposed to how Anita and Perdita
may defer to Pongo and Roger, or Anita and
Perdita will simply not know what to do and
it's Pongo and Roger who decide ultimately.
It just would have been nice to have a not-evil
female character also shown wielding that
level of authority.
And now about Cruella's hair. Can I just mention
all the issues surrounding hair? How Afro
textured hair has historically been demeaned
and wavy hair, that is, hair believed to belong
to European whites, has been historically
portrayed as beautiful. How within our own
communities, like the Latino community, we
still talk of "good" hair, as opposed to "bad"
hair, with good hair associated with whites
and bad hair associated with blacks. In this
context, the constant portrayal of heroes
with brown or blonde or red hair, hair colors
most often associated with Europe, and the
villains with black hair, supports a very
Euro-centric view of who gets to beautiful
and who gets to be the hero.
And that's my short version discussion about
hair.
I would be more upset at Cruella and idea
of a woman with authority being evil if the
movie didn't have a pretty equal treatment
of its female characters. I've already talked
about how the couple in the movie function
well, but it bears repeating in the case of
Perdita. When she and Pongo go to rescue the
puppies, at no point does Pongo act like she
can't handle traveling to take back the puppies
or that she needs to stay back. He worries
for her in the snow, but that's just common
sense that he'd worry at least a little for
her, if in fact he does care. Plus Perdita
herself is involved in the fight against Horace
and Jasper, and both she and Pongo fight just
as well, without any hint of them pretending
Perdita is less of a danger because she's
female. Perdita even tries to throw Horace
into the fireplace! At least the worst Pongo
does is bite them. Perdita is like, forget
that, they tried to hurt my babies, I'm setting
them on fire!
Although the dogs that guide them do tend
to talk to Pongo instead of Perdita, without
at all acknowledge that she's there or that
they're a team, and Perdita always does seem
to be running slower than Pongo.
I like the interactions between the dogs and
humans. The dogs have such distinct personalities
that it is clear that there two worlds here,
human and animal, interacting and living side
by side. We see it early with Pongo, but also
when Perdita reacts to Anita and Roger falling
into the pond by trying to save Anita and
then how upset Pongo looks when his plan failed.
And we see it best during the marriage ceremony.
The twilight bark scene also does a good job
of showing how these two worlds exist side
by side.
Some interactions do ring false, though, like
how Perdita was so angry at Pongo for making
Anita and Roger fall into the pond, but then
Perdita's suddenly happy after Anita and Roger
start laughing, without even a scene to show
if Perdita stopped being upset because she
realized it wasn't a big deal to her owner
Anita or for her own reasons. That's a big
deal because we never see why Perdita and
Pongo fall in love. We see Roger and Anita
fall in love, but not Perdita and Pongo, only
Pongo falling in love but no scene of when
exactly Perdita fell for him, almost as if
it was just Pongo's to decide when Perdita
should fall in love with him. That's a problem
when the main couple in the movie is the dogs,
not the humans, and it's the worst part because
otherwise Pongo and Perdita do work well as
couple.
One thing I did dislike, now as an adult,
was how Pongo goes along judging every woman
and her dog that walks by when he's trying
to find a girlfriend for Roger. I just thought
that entire scene of judging people entirely
by their appearance was wrong. But it did
fit with the character, and it was funny to
see two of the rejected women in the park
and Pongo being like 'Nope, Roger, that's
not the one!' More importantly, the rest of
the film does pretty well with regards to
female representation, so it wasn't a big
thing.
For the most part, I quite enjoy Horace and
Jasper and the comedy that comes from having
the two interact. Like with Nanny, I think
too much of the jokes are about their socioeconomic
class, but overall they work as a comedy duo.
Except, of course, when Horace says of Nanny,
"She's a regular little tartar, ain't she?"
The racism there was particularly annoying,
Tartar being a term for Turkish groups.
Oh, don't think I forgot about you, random
blonde driver at the end who says "Crazy woman
driver!" Don't lump us in all with Cruella,
we're not all trying to make fur coats from
puppies.
Anyway, those are my thoughts on 101 Dalmatians.
Next week, I'll be doing a Video Games Thoughts
video on 102 Dalmatians: Puppies to the Rescue!
The video game, not the film.
