![]() ![]() Children will enjoy watching this movie and I can know, since I actually saw this movie back in the cinema, when I was still a child myself. It quite honestly is one of his better works. The fun and perhaps also a bit underrated musical score is done by Michael Kamen. Another fun villain role is played by John Shrapnel who is perhaps best known for his role in "Gladiator". Also good are the more slapstick like, stereotypical villains Jasper and Horace played by Hugh Laurie and Mark Williams. ![]() She also seemed to had lots of fun playing the over-the-top villainous but oh so fun character. She truly is the highlight of the movie and steals the show. Glenn Close is perfectly cast as über-villain Cruella De Vil and portrays a highly memorable character. The humor is simple but it's good and works effective. Of course everything is terribly predictable and nothing that happens in this movie comes as a surprise. The humor is slapstick like at times (especially with the villains Jasper and Horace) which works very effective for a fun children movie like this one. The characters and the humor are similar to his other movies such as the well know movie "Home Alone". John Hughes his writing style is notable in this movie. It's has a fun feeling and atmosphere and some great characters. "101 Dalmatians" is perfectly good clean children entertainment. The only thing I wondered about in the whole film was how many takes it took them to get some of the animal shots, this certainly contradicts the old adage of not working with animals and kids. If you liked the cartoon you'll love this version as well. I never knew animated characters could have real life twins, but Glenn Close was Cruella's, delightfully over the top, with more ham than a bacon butty. Jeff Daniels and Joely Richardson were great, Hugh Laurie and Mark Williams were brilliant as the bumbling lackeys, but the star of the show had to be Glenn Close as Cruella DeVille. I loved it, the Dogs, pongo and Perdy, were outstanding, and even with computer stand ins, and Hensons creature shop, you'd be hard pushed to see the joins, the exceptions being the Wood pecker at the door and the two Racoons giving each other a high five. Seven stars, plus half a star for Close's diabolical work.and a half star more for the donations from the animal world.Īs an animation student, I frequently cringe when they make a live action version of an animated film, as they rarely live up to their cartoon counterparts. I like that, so I liked "101 Dalmatians". You either like it or not, depending on what kind of tolerance you have for kiddie slapstick. This isn't the kind of movie that can be successfully analyzed. Especially Close - complete with claws on her gloves and a different wardrobe for every scene, she not only chews the scenery but nibbles on it with every tooth in her head and savors the taste like a connoisseur. Director Herek brings everything together with assurance and all the actors make sure you know that this is a story that is first and foremost for the kiddies. All of them banding together to bring the dalmatians, all 101 of them, together safely. Not to mention horses, sheep, raccoons, rabbits, chickens, pigs, cows, birds and even a mouse in one instance. And, of course, since Hughes wrote the script, you know this won't be Shakespeare - slapstick malice is at the forefront with cute but noble good guys, ugly and dumb bad guys and lots of adorable animals.īut not just dalmatians, mind you: there are all manner of dogs - sheepdogs, bulldogs, terriers, etc. What's new this time around? The fact that it's all live action, for one, and the formidable assistance of computers helps create the illusion of dogs and other creatures acting with almost human precision, plus the fact that instead of precocious voices for all the animals they act out voiceless against the human baddies, especially Horace and Jasper (Williams and Laurie), as if the animal kingdom were all channeling Macaulay Culkin. You know the basic storyline if you've seen the 1961 Disney animated original - Roger and Anita (Daniels and Richardson) meet and marry then their respective dalmatians Pongo and Perdita have 15 puppies which are coveted by the despicable Cruella DeVil (played con brio by Close) who will have them at any cost to make a puppy fur coat. Mom", "National Lampoon's Vacation"), went on to actual teenagers ("Sixteen Candles", The Breakfast Club"), devolved down to pre-teens ("Home Alone", "Dennis the Menace") and then babies ("Baby's Day Out") and now that he's exhausted all the ages of man (except the elderly - don't give him any ideas) he's moved on to the animal kingdom with "101 Dalmatians". I've noticed something about John Hughes' movies: he started out writing about adults with child-like tendencies ("Mr.
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