101 Dalmatians (2-Disc Platinum Edition) [DVD] [1961]

Classic children’s animated adventure based on Dodie Smith’s novel. When Roger (voice of Ben Wright) and Anita (Lisa Davis) marry and their dogs Pongo (Rod Taylor) and Perdita (Cate Bauer) produce a litter of 15 Dalmatian puppies, they find themselves receiving unwelcome advances from the evil Cruella de Vil (Betty Lou Gerson). She has plans to turn the pups into a fur coat and when Roger and Anita refuse, she hires two crooks to steal them for her. However, once the theft is revealed, Pongo rallies together a gang of canine friends and sets out on a mission to retrieve his young, discovering them in a lonely mansion, imprisoned along with a further 84 Dalmatian puppies.
Disney may throw around the word ‘classic’ with a little too much abandon when it comes to some of its animated releases, but its take on 101 Dalmatians is very much the real deal. With lively songs, a terrifically-realised story and one of its very best villains, it remains a towering achievement, over four decades since it first appeared.
The story of 101 Dalmatians starts with the two heroes of the tale, Pongo and Perdita. But when their litter of dalamatian puppies is dognapped by the evil Cruella De Vil’s cronies, the pair must spring into action to save their offspring before Cruella gets herself the new coat that she desires.
But while Pongo and Perdita may be the pair you end up rooting for, the undoubted star of 101 Dalmatians is Cruella De Vil. A wonderfully twisted, genuinely nasty villainess, she’s an astounding creation and adds a real menace to the film. That said, it’s not a downbeat or scary tale: toe-tapping musical numbers, plenty of imagination and a good few chuckles make up the rest of the ingredients, and rarely have they all come together quite so well as they do here.
Retold by Disney in live action form in 1996, it’s nonetheless its animated take on 101 Dalmatians that remains the definitive filmed version. And now packed into a special collectors’ DVD set, there’s never been a better reason to treat your family to a copy. Unmissable, and a reminder of why Disney’s reputation in this field is quite so towering. –Simon Brew