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Film Title: 101 Dalmatians

 Best for ages: 5 and up.


Movie Website: Click Here

Year Released: 1961 DVD: 2008

Rated: G (US) G (CANADA)

 

SYNOPSIS


 

  101 Dalmatians is about a two Dalmatian dogs named Pongo and Perdita whom have litter of fifteen Dalmatian puppies. . Cruella De Vil an evil women with a taste for luxuries takes a liking to the pups and offer Pongo and Perdita's owners a large sum of money for them.  She does want them as pets though; she wants to collect all the Dalmatian puppies she can get her hands on to make a fur coat out of them. Knowing better Pongo and Perdita's owners refuse to sell her the puppies. Cruella outraged by this, then goes to extreme measures and hires a group of thugs to kidnap the puppies. Pongo and Perdita, along with some of their doggie friends go on the hunt to rescue their fifteen puppies from Cruella De Vil's mansion. They find their puppies but that also find eight four other Dalmatian puppies as well. They rescue them all, but Cruella and her cronies won't give up and track them down with a vengeance and she won't give up until she has the puppies in her possession.


VIOLENCE/GRAPHIC CONTENT/language


 

   The film has some animated violence, as well as graphic content, both kind of go hand in hand. the film is not really to bad with the content and violence ,but some scenes are unrealistic and some of the animation and situations in the film might be a concern to parents..

 First off I think the fact that Cruella De Vil wants to make a fur coat out of the puppies is pretty sick, and some parents might find that to be something that some younger more sensitive children might have trouble with comprehending. Cruella De Vil's look herself is just as scary and graphic looking as Linda Blair in the Exorcist. Cruella is probably one of the scariest animated females in the history of animation. So some children might be scared by not only her voice, but her looks as well.

   There is a scene that involves a car chase/race in which Cruella's cronies get into a car crash with one another while trying to run down the van full of the dogs. The result is the two cars crashing into a deep ravine, but both come away alright, which we know in the real world would never happen. This was a way of Disney studio's trying to make the film comedic and unrealistic such as cartoons should be. It also gave Cruella another reason to yell and belittle the men.

   Another thing that parent's might want to be concerned about is that Cruella De Vil also smokes cigarettes. But Disney did something on this DVD to make it a point that smoking is bad. At the beginning of the DVD there is a public service announcement against smoking and a link to a website to help people stop.  They also make some references in the film about smoking being bad as Pongo gets turned off by the smell of the smoke as well as a few other characters. Disney also decided to make the smoke a nasty toxic green color that also makes the look of smoking look disgusting. The only thing they failed to do however was have nasty colored smoke come out of Roger pipe, instead they make the smoke white.

   The movie doesn't really have any kind of bad language, except for maybe the few insults that comes out of Cruella's mouth. Which is expected. But other than that 101 Dalmatians is safe.

 


OVERALL VIEWS


 

   101 Dalmatians is a Disney classic and is one of the first films to ever be made using an animation process know as Xerography. It was the first for Disney's animation studio to use this kind of animation, but it made the production cheaper.  101 Dalmatians for it's time was considered one of the cheapest films that Disney made. The film only features three songs, which was unlike any Disney film before it, and some of the songs were actually split up throughout the film.  However the movie did do well for Disney studios at time of it's first release and was the highest grossing film of 1961. It was also released in 1969, 1979, 1985 & 1991. This is the second time the film is being released on DVD and this Platinum Edition DVD is the one you really need to add to your collection. It's the same Disney classic we all grew up watching, and despite the fact that the film does have some violent scenes it's a film that most children seem to enjoy.

   The DVD has many special features including an all new digital picture,  an all-new “Cruella De Vil” Music Video performed by teen Disney Channel star Selena Gomez, Disney’s Virtual Dalmatians, where you can adopt, name, train and care for your very own virtual puppy, a puppy profiler where you can find out what dog you like the most.  There is also a feature where pop up trivia and facts will appear throughout the film while you watch it.  There are also a few documentaries about the making of the film and the animation process, the creation of Cruella De Vil and even a feature of Walt Disney and One Hundred and One Dalmatians author Dodie Smith's discussing the making of the film.  The DVD also includes some songs that were written for the film, but never made the cut.

   As with all Disney Classics this DVD will only be available for a limited time only before it makes it's way back into the Disney Vault. So be sure to pick up or order a copy of this Disney classic before it's gone.  It's a great DVD with plenty of fun features for you and your children to enjoy for years to come.

 

Watch some Clips and Trailers.

Trailer:  Click Here

Bonus Clip:  Click Here

 



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