For the first time in nearly a decade, Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment unleashes 101 of the world’s most famous dogs when Walt Disney’s original dog classic, 101 Dalmatians: Platinum Edition comes to DVD Mar. 4, 2008 for a limited time only. 101 Dalmatians is the true Disney Dog classic, considered by critics to be one of the best and most innovative Disney animated films. This all-new two-disc Platinum Edition is a must-own for fans big and small, featuring beloved characters Pongo, Perdita, and their 99 puppies, as well as one of Disney’s most deliciously evil villains of all time–Cruella De Vil (ranked on American Film Institute’s Best Villains of All Time List).
101 Dalmatians: Platinum Edition is brilliantly restored with enhanced picture and sound and includes all-new, never-before-seen bonus features that will have fans of all ages howling with delight: An all-new interactive ”Virtual Dalmatian” game with over 101 possibilities to adopt, train and care for your very own virtual puppy, deleted songs, behind-the-scenes featurettes, an in-depth look at the personal correspondence between Walt Disney and Dodie Smith, (author of the book The Hundred and One Dalmatians), and much more.
One of the most cherished and sought-after Disney classics of all time, 101 Dalmatians is among the last films to bear the personal touch of Walt Disney. This original classic is available for a limited time only before it returns to the Disney vault.
Visual Development Art
Color Stylist & Background Artist Walter Peregoy’s color styling refined the visual approach to 101 Dalmatians, Disney’s first contemporary animated film. The feature employed an unconventional use of color, a strong Peregoy trademark. The artwork in 101 Dalmatians marked a new trend in the realm of animation.
In an attempt to simplify the monumental task of consistency with the countless spots on 101 Dalmatian puppies, Disney turned to the application of Xerox technology. Disney was the first company to use the Xerox Camera.
Xerography was used to transfer the animators’ original drawings to cels. The word “cell” (or “cel,” as it is more commonly spelled today) comes from the original clear sheets of celluloid on which the images were painted. Xerography made animation simpler by copying drawings directly onto cels…instead of them being traced by hand, as in previous films.
Perogoy’s distinctive use of color is accentuated by the simplicity of the line. “I would approach color freely–painting behind the Xerox overlay. This gives the works a free, almost watercolor quality.” A clear example of this can be found in the beginning sequences of the film at the park.[PAGEBREAK]
Cruella Art
These previously unreleased images are early color model cels created by Marc Davis in his development of Cruella DeVil for 101 Dalmatians. These images were utilized to determine the final color styling for Cruella throughout her scenes the film.
Marc Davis, one of Walt Disney’s legendary “nine old men” of animation, was the only artist to work exclusively on Cruella throughout the entire film. This was a first for animation at the Walt Disney Studios. These images are graciously revealed for the very first time by Marc’s widow, Alice Estes Davis, a Disney Legend in her own right.
A fashion-designer friend of Davis unwittingly provided some of inspiration for Cruella’s incendiary temper.[PAGEBREAK]
Fun Trivia
1) Pongo was drawn by Disney top artists Milt Kahl, Frank Thomas, Ollie Johnston, Les Clark, Eric Larson, and John Lounsbery.
2) Roger’s singing voice was provided by Bill Lee. Lee also sang as a card in Alice in Wonderland and in the dog-pound sequence of Lady and the Tramp, plus he would go on to sing for Captain Von Trapp in The Sound of Music.
3) Animator Marc Davis drew Cruella De Vil in every scene of the film–extremely unusual in the collaborative process of animation.
4) A fashion-designer friend of Davis unwittingly provided some of inspiration for Cruella’s incendiary temper.
5) A new process called Xerography was used to transfer the animators’ original drawings to cels. The word “cell” (or “cel,” as it is more commonly spelled today) comes from the original clear sheets of celluloid on which the images were painted. Xerography made animation simpler by copying drawings directly onto cels…instead of them being traced by hand, as in previous films.
6) If you added up all the spots on every drawing or cel of all 99 puppies plus Pongo and Perdita, you’d have a total of 6,469,952 spots. There was a team of artists whose job was just to draw spots on the dogs.
7) The first public showing of 101 Dalmatians was on January 25, 1961. At the time of its release, it was the top-grossing animated feature of all time, so… it follows that it was re-issued theatrically (and successfully) in 1969, 1979, 1985 and 1991.
8) More than 300 artists worked on the film. It is estimated that one artist, working reasonable hours, would need 186 years to draw all the images of this feature.
9) Disney’s animated film, One Hundred and One Dalmatians, is based on a popular children’s book. The book has a slightly different title: The Hundred and One Dalmatians. It was written by an English author named Dodie Smith.
10) The book’s author, Dodie Smith, describes Cruella as having, “dark skin, black eyes with a hint of red in them, and a very pointed nose… Her hair was parted severely down the middle and one half of it was black and the other white–rather unusual.”
11) Lisa Davis, the voice actress of Anita, spent an hour a day for several weeks playing with Dalmatian puppies at the Disney Studio so she could really get into her part. Fun job, huh?
12) A total of 1,218,750 pencils were used in creating the artwork for One Hundred and One Dalmatians.
