“They were totally irresistible... Unbelievably precious... And had a style all their own… Which is all Cruella de Vil ever wanted… The battle is on!”

In 1961 Dodie Smith’s novel was adapted into the animated hit One Hundred And One Dalmatians and then in 1996 the live-action remake was released as 101 Dalmatians. Not a single animal spoke in the movie but this endeavor was a charming take on the classic tale. The fact is, not a single animal needs to talk in the live-action comedy. The humans do that and the animals do the rest.

Set in present-day London, Roger Dearly is an American designer of computer games who shares his home with his pet Dalmatian, Pongo. One day after an unsuccessful business meeting, with Pongo tied to his bike, Roger is set on a rollercoaster of a ride on his two-wheeler as Pongo pulls him like a sleigh throughout London. The curious Dalmatian sets his eyes on a beautiful female Dalmatian named Perdy. Perdy likes Pongo as much as he likes her, and thankfully Perdy's owner, fashion designer Anita Campbell-Green, is quite taken with Roger and they two things in common right off the leash. They both have Dalmations and they both plummet into a park pond within the same timeframe. Romance blossoms between the human and canine couples, and Roger and Anita soon tie the knot.

As bad luck would have it, Anita works for Cruella de Vil, a cruel fashion maven with a great love for fur. Inspired by her dog, Anita finds herself working up a design for a fur coat made with spotted fur, and Cruella leaps on the idea of making garments out of real Dalmatians. To obtain the fur, Cruella sends her two nasty but not especially intelligent henchmen, Jasper and Horace, on a mission to round up Dalmatians, and when they fall a bit short of their goal at number 84, it comes to Cruella's attention that Perdy has just given birth to a litter of fifteen Dalmatian puppies. She hastily offers the couple a decent price for the newborn puppies, but the couple refuses to take it. Flying into a maniacal rage, she fires Anita and vows to get even. She gets Jasper and Horace to steal the puppies, which are taken to a reclusive property out in the country, where they are meant to wait for a ruthless old man named Mister Skinner who does the dirty work between life and coat.

With the help of the other dogs and animals scattered throughout London, the puppies must manage to outwit Jasper and Horace and escape. As easy as that is, shortly after, Cruella de Vil is not far behind to finish them all with an obstacle course of torture and falls at the hooves and claws of farm animals ready to do battle. It’s such an unfair fight. She’s only human, barely at that.

There are three shining spots in this film and they respectively belong to Glenn Close’s adaptation of the animated character Cruella de Vil, Stephen Herek’ directing known for such movies as Disney’s The Mighty Ducks, The Three Musketeers, Mr. Holland’s Opus and Rock Star, and of course, the puppies! A smart thing early on was to create this magical world within the parameters of the real world. Yes, the animals do outlandish stunts but they don’t talk and give long monologues. This way it seems that no one went into production with the aim of completely outdoing the classic animated film to destroy all record of its existence. Rather, as the original timeless classic was adapted from the novel, this live-action movie is an adaptation of the animated feature. John Hughes of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Breakfast Club, and Uncle Buck writing, producing and directing fame takes a step back with only writing and producing credits this time around. How the titan has fallen. It brings a tear to my eye. The story is severely lacking as the movie seems to jump from introduction and setup to climax and finale in less then two wags of a dog tail. Everyone wants more from this movie. Everyone wishes it was longer because it’s worth the extra time. Length aside, there are quite a few heartfelt and funny moments that make you warm inside, granted, with more slapstick than genuine laughs. But this is a kid’s movie after all; we can’t ruin their lives with extended drama quite yet.

Without a doubt, Glenn Close proves once again since her roles in Dangerous Liaisons and Fatal Attraction, she is the icon of evil psychotics. On a scale of 10 she is 101 on her own. She performs her role so professionally that this is a villainess that could very well be in a more adult-oriented film. Her flashing eyes, angular features work well with the costume and production designs to recreate one of the most indelible animated characters in history and at the same time one of the most historically accurate live-action villains ever. Jeff Daniels and Joely Richardson are cute as the caring owners of their family members. The elderly Joan Plowright as the nanny is just the type of person you would want taking care of you and baking you cookies and pie. Hugh Laurie and Mark Williams also play the lower-level criminals quite well indeed. Overall, the acting doesn’t disappear as much as it usually does in other animalistic movies and a nice mixture is created. The canines are adorable and it’s wondrous to see the Dalmatians strut their stuff on screen. It’s like watching the silent actors of the early 20^th century. There was and is just something appealing about focusing in on the action rather than the words while still feeling the emotions. At moments you don’t even want to tell yourself they were trained. I’m still convinced they weren’t and live at Disney World. Critiques aside, your kids will love it.

The new DVD for Disney’s 101 Dalmatians is what those in the animal control and veterinarian services like to call, bare-bones. Nothing changed since the original DVD was released when the technology was really just hitting mainstream shelves back in 2000. The only real special features are the specifications. That’s right; you can enjoy this movie in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and in 2:35:1 widescreen. I know: impressive. This new DVD is a good movie but its re-release is more to go along with the release of the Platinum Edition DVD of the classic animated version that came out earlier in May of 2008.

So get barking for one title, two sides, three henchmen and, and, I lost count . . . 101 Dalmatians on Disney DVD. Woof!

Film Rating: 3.5/5

Special Features: Dog ate them