101 Dalmatians (1961) [PLATINUM EDITION]

Review By: Rocco Passafuime
RoccoPassafuime@TheCinemaSource.com

At the dawn of the 1960’s, Walt Disney’s animation was still in top form, but had suffered a mild setback with its ambitiously animated, but somewhat lacking Sleeping Beauty. However, Disney continued its great high-water mark stride in animation with one of its most popular and idiosyncratic works of the new decade. It’s none other than the original animated film adaptation of 101 Dalmatians, now available on DVD in an all-new “Platinum Edition”.

In London, England, Pongo is a dashing Dalmatian dog looking for love with his “pet”, a struggling songwriter named Roger Radcliff. He soon spots an alluring female Dalmatian named Perdita with her equally attractive “pet”, Anita.

At the park, Pongo’s attempts to matchmake the two humans are clumsy, but ultimately successful as the two are wed. Pongo and Perdita become the proud parents of fifteen puppies, but their happiness is short-lived when the offspring are suddenly stolen.

The two dogs search for their beloved puppies and discover they have been held captive, along with 84 other Dalmatian pups, by bumbling burglars Horace and Jasper. However, the mastermind behind the abduction is the glamorous, yet ghastly Cruella DeVil, an old classmate of Anita’s, who plans to make fur coats out of the puppies. Now Pongo and Perdita must rescue the now 99 puppies before Cruella makes them the new fashion statement.

Unlike the slightly lacking and over-the-top live-action remake of 1996, it’s the original animated edition that is still superior even today among the pantheon of Disney’s classics. What makes it still one of the best Disney animated works even today is a fun, yet relatively simple and breezy story, guided by gorgeous and highly-detailed and colorful animation. Also a plus, particularly in the latter half of the film, is how the fifteen, despite looking the same, each manage to have their own distinctive personalities.

The DVD picture quality is presented in the original 1:33:1 full-screen aspect ratio, with the sound quality in Dolby Digital 5.1. Surround. This all-new “Platinum Edition” DVD is packed with special features that span over two discs.

On Disc 1, there is 101 Pop-Up Trivia Facts, which shows Pop-Up Video style graphics throughout the film. It appears in either the more simplistic “For The Family” or the more detailed “For The Fan” version, which is delightful and informative in either form.

Rounding out disc one is the typically obligatory and dreadful Disney pop music video. This time out, it’s for “Cruella De Vil”, by Disney Channel actress Selena Gomez.

Disc 2 is chock full of features. In the “For The Humans: Backstage Disney section, the first is the lengthy behind-the-scenes featurette “Redefining The Line: The Making Of One Hundred And One