101 Dalmatians Review

• Release Date: September 16th, 2008
• Genre: Family, Comedy
• Price: $21.99 on Amazon
• Run Time: 103 Minutes
• Publisher: Walt Disney Video
• Rated: G
• Starring: Glenn Close, Jeff Daniels, Hugh Laurie, Joan Plowright, Joely Richardson
• Special Features: Theatrical Trailer

101 Dalmatians brings the classic animated feature back to life as a live action movie. Gone are the cartoon characters. They have been replaced by real dogs and human actors. For those of you not familiar with the story here is a brief description. Roger and Anita are overjoyed when their dalmatians Pongo and Perdita have 15 puppies. Their joy is short lived when Cruella De Vil decides to kidnap all the dalmatian puppies in London in order to make a fur coat. Pongo and Perdita along with all the other neighborhood dogs try to bring Cruella down once and for all.

When I was a child I remember enjoying the animated version of 101 Dalmatians. After so many years I had almost forgotten everything about the movie. The only thing I actually remembered was the puppies and Creulla De Vil. Since I barely remembered anything from the animated version of the movie I pretty much went into this movie with a clean slate. I would have to say that 101 Dalmatians was a pretty average family movie.

You can tell right off the bat that this movie is more for children and families. At 20 years old I really don’t fit into either of these categories so you need to take this into consideration when you read this review. Even though the movie wasn’t really for me I have always been a fan of family type movies so that helped me get more enjoyment out of the movie.

Since 101 Dalmatians is a classic I am not going to really address the story since most people are pretty familiar with it. From what I can remember the story of the animated 101 Dalmatians and the live action 101 Dalmatians are very, very similar. There are only some minor differences so if you have never seen the live action version of the movie but did like the animated version you should enjoy the live action version as well.

Since this version is live action there are actually actors in this movie. I would say the acting is around what you would expect from a family movie. Glenn Close does a good job as Cruella De Vil but after that none of the performances are very special. One thing I do want to bring up is that it was weird to see Hugh Laurie (House from the TV show “House”) playing one of Cruella De Vil’s henchmen.

If you are looking for special features you will be disappointed since there is only a theatrical trailer included on this DVD. Obviously you aren’t getting much for special features from this movie.

Overall I thought 101 Dalmatians was a pretty average movie. I would have to say that the animated version is better than the live action version. If you are a fan of the 101 Dalmatians or like family movies in general I think you should enjoy 101 Dalmatians quite a bit.