One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961)

One Hundred and One Dalmatians, often written 101 Dalmatians, is a 1961 American animated adventure film produced by Walt Disney Productions and adapted from Dodie Smith's 1956 novel of the same name. It is the 17th animated feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series. It stars Rod Taylor and Cate Bauer as, respectively, the voices of Pongo and Perdita, its canine protagonists, and Betty Lou Gerson as the voice of Cruella de Vil, its antagonist who kidnaps their puppies.

The film was originally released to theaters on January 25, 1961, by Buena Vista Distribution. Upon release, it was a box office hit, successfully pulling the studio out of the financial setbacks caused by Sleeping Beauty, a costlier production released two years prior. Aside from its box office revenue, its commercial success was due to the employment of inexpensive animation techniques—such as using xerography during the process of inking and painting traditional animation cels—that kept production costs down. It was reissued to cinemas four times: in 1969, 1979, 1985 and 1991. The 1991 reissue was the twentieth highest earning film of the year for domestic earnings. It was remade into a live action movie years later.

Synopsis

Songwriter Roger Radcliffe lives in a bachelor flat in London, along with his dalmatian, Pongo. Bored with bachelor life, Pongo decides to find a wife for Roger and a mate for himself. While watching various female dog-human pairs out the window, he spots the perfect one, a woman named Anita and her female dalmatian, Perdita. He quickly gets Roger out of the house and drags him through the park to arrange a meeting. He and Anita fall in love and get married.

Actors