One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Directors:

Clyde Geronimi
Hamilton Luske
(more)

Writers:

Bill Peet (story)
Dodie Smith (novel)

Release Date:

25 January 1961 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Adventure | Family | Thriller

Tagline:

Walt Disney's new all-cartoon feature

Plot:

When a litter of dalmatian puppies are abducted by the minions of Cruella De Vil, the parents must find them before she uses them for a diabolical fashion statement.

Plot Keywords:

Dalmatian | Puppy | Dog | Cat | Composer

Awards:

Won BAFTA Film Award.

Cast

Rod Taylor	...	Pongo (voice)
J. Pat O'Malley	...	Colonel / Jasper (voice)
Betty Lou Gerson	...	Cruella De Vil / Miss Birdwell (voice)
Martha Wentworth	...	Nanny / Queenie / Lucy (voice)
Ben Wright	...	Roger (voice)
Cate Bauer	...	Perdita (voice)
David Frankham	...	Sgt. Tibs (voice) (as Dave Frankham)
Frederick Worlock	...	Horace / Inspector Craven (voice) (as Fred Worlock)
Lisa Davis	...	Anita (voice)
Tom Conway	...	Quizmaster / Collie (voice)
Tudor Owen	...	Towser (voice)
George Pelling	...	Danny (voice)
Ramsay Hill	...	Television Announcer / Labrador (voice)
Sylvia Marriott	...	(voice)
Queenie Leonard	...	Princess (voice)
Marjorie Bennett	...	Duchess (voice)
Mickey Maga	...	Patch (voice) (as Micky Maga)
Barbara Beaird	...	Rolly (voice)
Mimi Gibson	...	Lucky (voice)
Sandra Abbott	...	Penny (voice)
Thurl Ravenscroft	...	Captain (voice)
Bill Lee	...	Roger (singing voice)
Max Smith	...	(voice)
Bob Stevens	...	(voice)
Paul Wexler	...	(voice)
Mary Wickes	...	(voice)
Barbara Luddy	...	Rover (voice)
Lisa Daniels	...	(voice)
Helene Stanley	...	(voice)
Don Barclay	...	(voice)
Basil Ruysdael	...	(voice)
Dal McKennon	...	(voice)
Jeanne Bruns	...	(voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Lucille Bliss	...	TV Commercial Singer (voice) (uncredited)
Paul Frees	...	Dirty Dawson (voice) (uncredited)
Clarence Nash	...	Additional Voices (voice) (uncredited)
Rickie Sorensen	...	Spotty (voice) (uncredited)

Directed by
Clyde Geronimi
Hamilton Luske		(as Hamilton S. Luske)
Wolfgang Reitherman

Writing credits
Bill Peet		(story)
Dodie Smith		(novel "The One Hundred and One Dalmatians")

Produced by
Walt Disney	....	producer

Original Music by
George Bruns

Film Editing by
Roy M. Brewer Jr.
Donald Halliday

Production Design by
Ken Anderson

Art Direction by
Ken Anderson

Production Management
Ken Peterson	....	production supervisor

Sound Department
Robert O. Cook	....	sound supervisor

Visual Effects by
Jack Boyd	....	effects animator
Jack Buckley	....	effects animator
Ub Iwerks	....	special processes
Eustace Lycett	....	special processes
Dan MacManus	....	effects animator
Ed Parks	....	effects animator
Dorse A. Lanpher	....	effects assistant (uncredited)

Animation Department
Hal Ambro	....	character animator
Ray Aragon	....	layout artist
Dale Barnhart	....	layout artist
Ted Berman	....	character animator
Collin Campbell	....	layout stylist
Les Clark	....	character animator
Eric Cleworth	....	character animator
Basil Davidovich	....	layout artist
Marc Davis	....	directing animator: "Cruella De Vil"
Al Dempster	....	background artist
Vance Gerry	....	layout artist
Blaine Gibson	....	character animator
Don Griffith	....	layout stylist
Victor Haboush	....	layout artist
Joe Hale	....	layout artist
Ralph Hulett	....	background artist
Ollie Johnston	....	directing animator: "Perdita"
Homer Jonas	....	layout artist
Milt Kahl	....	directing animator
Bill Keil	....	character animator
Hal King	....	character animator
Sammie Lanham	....	layout artist (as Sammie June Lanham)
Eric Larson	....	directing animator
Bill Layne	....	background artist
John Lounsbery	....	directing animator
Dick N. Lucas	....	character animator (as Dick Lucas)
Don Lusk	....	character animator
Cliff Nordberg	....	character animator
Ernie Nordli	....	layout stylist (as Erni Nordli)
Tom Oreb	....	character stylist
Amby Paliwoda	....	character animator
Bill Peet	....	character stylist
Walt Peregoy	....	color stylist
Anthony Rizzo	....	background artist
John Sibley	....	character animator
Art Stevens	....	character animator
McLaren Stewart	....	layout artist
Julius Svendsen	....	character animator
Frank Thomas	....	directing animator: "Pongo"
Dick Ung	....	layout artist
Al Zinnen	....	layout artist
Frank Jiromas	....	animation director (uncredited)

Music Department
Evelyn Kennedy	....	music editor
Franklyn Marks	....	orchestrator

Production Companies

• Walt Disney Productions

Distributors

• Buena Vista Film Distribution Company (1961) (worldwide) (theatrical)
• Buena Vista Distribution Company (1961) (USA) (theatrical)
• Buena Vista Distribution Company (1991) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Finnkino (1995) (Finland) (theatrical)
• RKO (1962) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Suomi-Filmi (1961) (1979) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Buena Vista Home Entertainment (2008) (Finland) (DVD)
• Gativideo (19??) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Sandrew Metronome Distribution (2000) (Finland) (DVD)
• Walt Disney Home Video (1999) (USA) (DVD)
• Walt Disney Home Video (1999) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Walt Disney Home Video (USA) (VHS)
• Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment (2008) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment (2008) (USA) (DVD)

Also Known As:

101 Dalmatians (USA) (alternative spelling)
Walt Disney's 101 Dalmatians (USA) (alternative title)

Runtime:

79 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

Brazil:Livre | Iceland:L | West Germany:o.Al. | South Korea:All | New Zealand:G | Peru:PT | Australia:G | Argentina:Atp | Chile:TE | Finland:S | Portugal:M/6 | Spain:T | Sweden:Btl | UK:U | USA:G (re-rating) (1969)

Company:

Walt Disney Productions

Trivia:

Quite a few liberties were taken in bringing the book to the screen. In the original story, the two Dalmatians who ran across England to rescue their pups were named Pongo and Missis Pongo, or just plain Missis; Perdita was a stray whose own puppies had been sold, and who was taken into the household to help wet nurse Missis' fifteen puppies. In the film, their owners are named Roger and Anita Radcliffe; in the book, they're Mr. and Mrs. Dearly, no first names given. The book also features two Nannies (Nanny Cook and Nanny Butler) to the film's one; Jasper appears under the same name in both versions, but Saul is changed to Horace for the film; and Tib, the book's heroic gray tabby female, is transformed into an orange-colored tom. However, the film was not the first time the story had undergone changes; "The Hundred and One Dalmatians" first appeared as a serial in Ladies' Home Journal, under the title "The Great Dog Robbery".

Goofs:

Continuity: After the art lady in the attic yells "Prissy, come in here!", she pulls Prissy inside and the window closes. In the next shot when Prissy knocks over the painting as she runs over to the other side of the attic, the window she was at is opened again.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Pongo: My story begins in London, not so very long ago. And yet so much has happened since then, that it seems more like an eternity.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Saturday Night Live: The Best of John Belushi (2005) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Cruella De Vil

A new look

A large part of Disney's triumph cannot be detected by the naked eye. His last animated film had been `Sleeping Beauty', which was the most extravagant and spectacular animated film of all time (excluding `Fantasia'). It wasn't a financial success. `101 Dalmatians', much less extravagant, was. In the two years between `Sleeping Beauty' and its successor there had been a revolution. The entire army of inkers who had carefully translated animators' pencil drawings into smooth, flowing lines were replaced by a machine that simply photocopied. This changed the character of animation so much that `Dalmatians' is almost the precise opposite of `Beauty'. Outlines are rough and black; the entire film looks decidedly drawn rather than painted, even the bits that are in fact painted; and the rich variety of colour of Disney's earlier films has been replaced with the stark white-with-black-spots coat of a dalmatian, with the occasional splash of startling red. The art directors were as determined to get the most out of the new technology as they had been to get the most out of the old technology.

And it has its own quiet extravagance. A title promising over one hundred spotted dogs was (probably still is) the kind of thing liable to make animators feel faint. It couldn't have been done without the photocopier; and even so, getting spots to stay in the right place on a featureless white background is a huge headache. None of this leaps out an audience. We simply see a hundred adorable dogs.

The story is simple, clean, civilised, and warm. It moves slowly but this doesn't matter. Preventing the film from becoming lethargic is Cruella de Vil. She can drive like a maniac through the snow, smoke a cigarette through a holder the length of a sword, wave her arms like a windmill ... yet she handles quiet determination and gritted teeth equally well. Character animation doesn't get any better than this.