Movie Musings: Disney and More

Not Quite 101 Facts about Walt Disney’s 101 Dalmatians

Walt Disney’s 101 Dalmatians (1961) is a very special film for the studio, and there are many reasons why that is so. Ever wondered why? First and foremost, it was Disney’s first animated feature that didn’t tell the story of magical fairies or the romance of a Princess and Prince Charming. Instead it was about a family of animals who get kidnapped or “dognapped,” looks after each other, and ultimately find their way back home. In addition to those, I can’t tell you 101 reasons, but I can tell you some reasons. 

• It was released in 1961, which was around the time where the Xerox machine had just been invented. 101 Dalmatians was the very first Disney animated feature to apply drawings to the Xerox machine, instead of just the typical “Ink and Paint,” style.
• Walt was initially displeased with the final cut of the movie. He preferred the typical “Ink and Paint,” style whenever he made an animated movie, which is ironic, because he was always looking to take good ideas a step further, and make it more and more magical. He made his peace with the movie, however, shortly before his death, 5 years after the release of the movie, in 1966.
• Dodie Smith, who was the author of the original “101 Dalmatians,” book, was very pleased with the final cut of 101 Dalmatians (1961). She even wrote to Walt Disney’s Head of the Story Department, Bill Peet, telling him that he had improved on her book.
• When Walt was casting the voice talent of the movie, he brought in an actress named Lisa Davis to read for the role of Cruella De Vil. Lisa Davis had previously done test shots for Alice in Wonderland (1951), but unfortunately did not get cast in that movie. She read for Cruella, but felt that she did not identify with the role, but that she did identify with the role of Anita. She was very anxious about telling Walt that he had made a mistake in considering her for this role, but she politely said, “Excuse me, Mr. Disney. I don’t feel like Cruella De Vil at all. I feel like Anita.” Walt then said, “Well, would you like to read Anita?” She said “Yes, very much.” She read for Anita, and was cast in the role. 
• Walt ultimately cast Betty Lou Gerson in the role of Cruella De Vil. Gerson had previously made her Disney debut in Cinderella (1950), portraying the narrator who opens up the story at the very beginning of the film.
• Betty Lou Gerson, however, did not provide live-action modeling as reference for the animators, because she was a very elegant actress, and did not look a great deal like the ugly Cruella De Vil. That being the case, Disney hired Mary Wickes to provide the live-action modeling. Mary Wickes is still given screen credit as a voice talent in the film, despite not actually having lent her voice to it. Mary Wickes’s very last film role was another Disney animated feature that she did lend her voice to, which was The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996). She played Quasimodo’s female gargoyle friend, Laverne. She unfortunately died the year before the film came out, in 1995, before she had finished recording all of her dialogue. Jane Withers succeeded her in the role, and provided the singing voice for her character as well.
• Ben Wright (who I wrote about in an early blog post) was cast as Roger Ratcliff. Nearly 30 years after 101 Dalmatians (1961), Ben Wright voiced Grimsby, Prince Eric’s elderly guardian, in The Little Mermaid (1989). No one who worked at Disney at the time of The Little Mermaid (1989), knew that he had voiced Roger in 101 Dalmatians until he told them so.
• Bill Lee provided the singing voice of Roger in the film. Bill Lee is best known throughout the world for lending his singing voice to the leading male stars of Hollywood movie-musicals who couldn’t sing in her life, including Christopher Plummer in The Sound of Music (1965). Surprisingly, Ben Wright, who was Roger’s speaking voice, portrayed the evil Herr Zeller in The Sound of Music (1965).
• Marc Davis, who was the supervising animator of Cruella De Vil, as well as the characters of Princess Aurora/Sleeping Beauty, Maleficent, Tinker Bell, Bambi, and Thumper, retired from the studio after 101 Dalmatians (1961) was released. He did however, continue to provide character designs for Disney park attractions, including Pirates of the Caribbean, The Haunted Mansion, The Enchanted Tiki Room, The Jungle Cruise, and Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln. His widow, Alice Davis, who worked as a costume designer for the studio, provided all the costume designs for the characters that he designed.
• 101 Dalmatians was re-adapted for live-action in 1996, with Glenn Close as Cruella De Vil, 35 years after the release of the original cartoon film, and 30 years after Walt Disney’s passing.
• Teen angst film auteur, John Hughes (writer/producer/director of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986), The Breakfast Club (1985), Sixteen Candles (1984)) was one of the producers of the live-action 101 Dalmatians (1996). His specific approach to the movie was “I didn’t want the audience to see this as one of my movies. I wanted the picture to seem as though Walt Disney himself had come up to me and said ‘Ok, I know you can’t draw, but if you were to adapt this for live-action show me how you would do it.’”
• Dodie Smith published the original “101 Dalmatians,” book in 1956, the year after Disneyland first opened, in 1955.
• Dodie Smith’s inspiration for the character of Cruella De Vil, came from when a friend suggested to her, in an non-evil context, “You know, Dalmatians skins would make a nice fur coat.” The statement intimidated her, and the character of Cruella De Vil was born.

101 Dalmatians (1961) is definitely a beloved film for Disney! The studio’s previous animated film, Sleeping Beauty (1959) had been a flop for the studio, and they had to fire several employees as a result of that, but 101 Dalmatians (1961) was a success for the studio both financially and publicly, so it got the company back on it’s feet. It truly is a beautiful story that lives on in the Disney legacy in its own special way. It might be in your top 5 or 10 favorites, and it might not be, but it’s generally impossible to love Disney without loving this movie.