101 Dalmatians (Limited Issue) |  | Directors: Clyde Geronimi, Hamilton Luske, Wolfgang Reitherman
Actors: Rod Taylor, Betty Lou Gerson, Cate Bauer, Lisa Daniels, Ben Wright
Studio: Walt Disney Video
Category: DVD
List Price: $34.99
Buy Used: $5.99
as of 11/25/2009 17:24 CST details
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Rating:  172 reviews
Format: Animated, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, THX, NTSC
Languages: English (Original Language), French (Original Language), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Dubbed)
Rating: G (General Audience)
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
DVD Layers: 1
DVD Sides: 1
Picture Format: Academy Ratio
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 79 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
ISBN: 0788817256
UPC: 717951003973
EAN: 9780788817250
Theatrical Release Date: 1961
Release Date: November 9, 1999
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Amazon.com
Back in 1961, Walt Disney got a little hip with 101 Dalmatians, making use of that flat Saturday morning cartoon style that had become so popular. The result is a kitschy change in animation and story. Pongo and Perdita are two lonely dalmatians who meet cute in a London park and arrange for their pet humans to marry so they can live together and raise a family. They become proud parents of 15 pups, who are stolen by the dastardly Cruella De Vil, who wants to make a fur coat out of them. Cruella has become the most popular villain in all of Disney; she's flamboyantly nasty and lots of fun. But it's the dalmatians who shine in this endearing classic, particularly those precocious pups. Telling the story from the dogs' point of view is a clever conceit, a fundamental flaw of the live-action remake. --Bill Desowitz
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 172
 Spots before your eyes November 14, 2009
Chrijeff (Scranton, PA)
Based upon Dodie Smith's excellent novel The Hundred And One Dalmatians (see my review), this is the story of Pongo and Perdita, a married couple of Dalmatians in London, and their quest for their 15 kidnapped puppies. Though it misses quite a few of the subtleties of the book (which is why I only rate it at four stars), it's still a delightful animal film--one, indeed, of Disney's best--with a large cast of very individual creatures (and humans, such as "my old pet," songwriter Roger Radclyffe, his bride Anita, Nanny (who's "almost canine at times"), and, of course, the over-the-top Cruella deVille and her henchmen Jasper and Horace Baddun). More overtly humorous than Smith's work (doubtless as a bow to the less subtle American sense of what's funny), it's still full of laughs, action, and suspense, and is a film I rewatch regularly. Highly recommended.
 Great entertainment November 10, 2009
Deb (Hemet, CA)
Bought this to view for our "1st Annual Cousin Weekend". We had 5 of our grandkids at the same time and wanted to have a family movie that we could all enjoy, and we did!
this grandmother is pleased! August 22, 2009
R. Dujon (Orlando, FL USA)
The dvd was purchased for my granddaughter and she just loves it! the action, color, and animation is pure innocent entertainment value for little eyes and ears.101 Dalmatians (Two-Disc Platinum Edition)
Too much advertisement August 14, 2009
AlaskaM (Dallas TX)
The movie itself is very good. One problem, it takes 10 minutes to get it started (even if you are skipping forward) because of commercials. We play movies in the car, this one is impossible to start unless you want to spend extra 10 minutes on the parking lot.
Once again, the movie itself is good. We don't get to watch it often though, what a shame.
So 2 stars to Disney, 5 stars to the movie.
Could bring myself to give it 3 star rating, even though this is how I feel.
A true Disney classic August 9, 2009
B. Lindsey
When I watched 101 Dalmatians the other night, I wasn't sure what I'd get. I vaguely recalled liking the movie (and Saturday morning cartoon) as a kid and thinking Cruella was creepy, but that's really all I remembered. (Well, I also remembered Lucky was my favorite puppy, but damned if I knew why or which one he was.)
What I forgot was what made the animated feature a classic in the first place. The story revolves around Pongo and his "pet" Roger's bachelor lifestyle suddenly being changed by the arrival of two female companions. Pongo and Perdita find themselves about to have puppies, and Roger and Anita are constantly bugged by Cruella De Vil as to the price of the future pups. Not wanting to sell them to an obviously evil woman, Roger denies Cruella, and not used to being told no, Cruella devises a plan to dognap the puppies to turn them into a dalmatian puppy coat.
The rest of the film centers around Pongo, Perdita and various other dogs and animals attempting to rescue the puppies from the cruel fate. Much like the more modern Pixar movies, 101 Dalmatians was early in showing us a film focusing on a side of life that we humans don't understand or participate in: the life and culture of dogs. Each of the named dogs and animals in 101 has a distinct personality, and watching the special features with the animators explaining how they created some of these is a great way to see the level of detail that goes into designing a "kids'" movie.
Of course, while the story and characters of 101 are memorable, what really makes this stand out from a film point of view are two things. First, this is the first Disney animated feature to not be adapted from a fairy tale, and arguably the first that wasn't heavily reliant on what we now call "Disney songs." The other first was the fact that 101 is the first Disney feature to use Xerox copying for the cells and line art rather than full hand-drawn images. Disney was looking for a way to make a film cheaper, so the long-standard use of copying the images used in backgrounds and settings was created. Knowing their limits, the cartoonists did a great job of designing the world of 101 around these thick black lines, giving the film a unique look even to this day.
The special features do reveal a sad tale of Disney art director Ken Anderson in regards to this new style of cartoon. Despite the critical success and legendary status of 101 Dalmatians, Disney absolutely hated the new art style, and didn't forgive him for the "poor look" of the film until just before his death in 1993.
Despite the sobering reminder that Disney the company is far different from Disney the cartoons, 101 Dalmatians lets us forget that. With special features offering a look back at how the film was made and how Anderson and others came about pioneering the Xerox method, as well as looks at letters exchanged with the book's original author and Walt himself, it's easy to get caught up in the sheer joy that was working on 101 Dalmatians. The people behind the scenes obviously enjoyed themselves if these special features are any indication, as have the generations of children and adults watching the movie since then.
It may not be as cool to watch 101 Dalmatians as it is to play BioShock or Portal, but do yourself a favor and relive your childhood. There's a reason 101 became a classic, and will become one again for the DVD generation.
CONTENT - 5/5
Sure it's short compared to today's longer movies, but there's a reason 101 Dalmatians became a classic. It's a story people of all ages can enjoy, and you can't go wrong with the Disney features that take the emphasis off song and place it on character.
VIDEO - 3.5/5
Despite boasting new digital transfer, it's almost impossible to detect on a normal, non-HD TV. For the majority of viewers still stuck with an SDTV, it will look the same as it did when it originally came out. The art is fantastic, but you can't help but notice how dated it looks.
AUDIO - 3.5/5
Only two songs in a Disney movie!? Despite that, 101 contains one of the most well-known Disney songs of all, "Cruella De Vil." Factor that in with some great voice work (even if some dogs sound a lot worse than I remembered) and you've got some nice audio. Nothing groundbreaking in terms of today's technical performances, though.
EXTRAS - 5/5
For the art crowd out there, this is by far the most special features I've ever seen dedicated to a style of line art. It's amazing seeing the work that goes into a children's movie, and the interview clips from the people involved really paint a new light on the feature. Unfortunately we get a current music video of someone covering Cruella De Vil, so just skip that.
REPLAY - 3.5/5
If you've got kids or younger children in the house, you can watch this (and probably will have to watch this) over and over again. For those who grew up with this movie or saw it when we were young, it's a nice reminder of simpler times, but it's not something you'll want to watch regularly.
OVERALL - 4.5/5
It may not be the technical mastermind today it was when it first came out, but 101 Dalmatians remains one of the few Disney classics men enjoy just as much as women. There's no princess, there's no sappy love songs, and there's no cutesy fairy tale feeling. What we have is the first of the animated movies that led to the likes of Pixar's Toy Story decades later, and a reminder of how great Disney once was.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 172
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