Disney Facts!

Facts 2041-2070: 101 Dalmatians Themed Page

In honor of this movie being released on Disney Blu-ray for the first time ever (for a limited time), I have dedicated this page to these lovable pups. This fact page has facts that consist of the original movie and its straight to DVD sequel.

Enjoy!

Fact #2041 

The film is based on the 1956 book 'The Hundred and One Dalmatians' by English novelist Dodie Smith.

Fact #2042 

Dodie Smith herself was the proud owner of nine Dalmatians, including one named Pongo.

Fact #2043 

In the book, Pongo and Perdita are not the parents of the puppies. In the book, the couple is Pongo and Missis Pongo; Perdita is a stray, who had her puppies sold away, and she becomes the wet nurse for Missis' 15 pups.

Fact #2044 

One reason Smith wrote the sequel is because Walt Disney kept sending her letters urging her to make more Dalmatian stories they could adapt.

Fact #2045 '

A newspaper gag in the film about Captain Henrik Kurt Carlsen and the Flying Enterprise freighter, which sank into the Atlantic, places the movie's events in 1952.

Fact #2046 

Getting 'Dalmatians' made into a movie was not easy; Disney was undergoing a budget crisis after their previous film, 'Sleeping Beauty,' had been deemed a commercial failure.

Fact #2047 

Prior to the production of this movie, Disney's animation staff had been cut from over 500 to less than 100 animators.

Fact #2048 

All of the moving cars in the movie are based on live-action footage of cars painted black and white. Then they were Xeroxed onto animation cells and re-colored.

Fact #2049 

Animators painted all the Dalmatian spots by treating them as constellations, forming a fixed pattern design.

Fact #2050 

Due to a continuity goof, the final scene of the movie features more than 101 Dalmatians; there's at least 150 animated spotted dogs in the background.

Fact #2051 

Walt Disney hired actors to perform live-action scenes of all the human characters to serve as a reference for the animators and to find out if those scenes were feasible to animate.

Fact #2052 

Cruella De Vil's look and personality was inspired by manic Golden Age actress Tallulah Bankhead.

Fact #2053 

Cruella was ranked 31st on the American Film Institute's List of 100 Greatest On-Screen Heroes and Villains.

Fact #2054 

In Italy, she is known as "Crudelia De Mon" -- a play off the word "demon." In France, she is known as "Cruella D'Enfer" -- meaning "From Hell."

Fact #2055 

Jodi Benson who voiced Ariel in The Little Mermaid was the voice of Anita Radcliffe in the sequel, Patch's London Adventure.

Fact #2056 

The sequel received positive critics. Rotten Tomatoes rating for this film is currently 67% "fresh" based on 6 reviews and with a rating of 5, but without a consensus.

Fact #2057 

The sequel garnered DVDX awards for best animated feature, best director, best editing, and best musical score.

Fact #2058 

Patch's London Adventure was re-released on September 16th 2008.

Fact #2059 

The thunder that claps when Cruella first appears is a sound effect from 'Bambi.'

Fact #2060 

The film was different from previous Disney films in that it featured only three songs, just one of which -- Cruella's theme song -- was performed in its entirety. Several more songs were composed by Mel Leven that have never been heard.

Fact #2061 

Captain the Horse (the equine friend of Tibbs the Cat and Colonel the Sheepdog) is voiced by Thurl Ravenscroft. You might know Thurl as the voice of Tony the Tiger, and as the uncredited singer of 'You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch.'

Fact #2062 

Lady, the Tramp, Jock, Peg and Bull from 1955's 'Lady and the Tramp' all make cameos during the "Twilight Bark" sequence.

Fact #2063 

'101 Dalmatians' was released on Jan. 25, 1961, and premiered at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.

Fact #2064 

The movie maintains a 97 percent "fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Fact #2065 

The movie is officially out of the "Disney Vault" for the time being, but once it returns to its fortified holding cell, it will not be available for sale at any commercial outlets for a minimum of seven years.

Fact #2066 

Selena Gomez performed 'Cruella De Vil' for a bonus music video, included on the Platinum Edition DVD.

Fact #2067 

In 1996, 'Dalmatians' was remade as a live-action modern-day film. The official title this time around, was simply '101 Dalmatians.' In the remake, Jeff Daniels' Roger Dearly is a struggling video-game designer, instead of a struggling jazz songwriter, and the Dalmatians cannot talk.

Fact #2068 

The 1996 version used 20 adult Dalmatians and 230 puppies.

Fact #2069 

One of the characters in '102 Dalmatians' is Oddball, a completely spotless dalmatian. The puppy-actor's spots had to be digitally removed, one by one, by a team of 55 computer artists.

Fact #2070 

A spin-off animated series, '101 Dalmatians: The Series,' was launched in September of 1997, as part of the Disney Afternoon syndicated block, and blends elements of the original novel, the animated feature and the live-action remake. The TV show stars three puppies in the lead: Lucky the leader, Rolly the fat one and New Age-y sister Cadpig. The trio, along with their brothers, sisters and farm animal friends, contend once again with Cruella De Vil, who has now become a corporate villain.

******

I hope you all enjoyed these facts as much as I did!