102 Dalmatians is a 2000 live-action film, produced by Walt Disney Pictures and starring Glenn Close as Cruella de Vil. It is the sequel to 101 Dalmatians, a live-action remake of the 1961 Disney animated feature of the same name. In the film, Cruella de Vil attempts to steal puppies for her "grandest" fur coat yet. Glenn Close and Tim McInnerny were the only actors from the first film to return for the sequel. The film was released on VHS and DVD on April 3, 2001, and re-released on DVD on September 16, 2008.
Plot[]
After three years in prison, Cruella de Vil has been cured of her lust for fur coats through mental therapy under Dr. Pavlov, and is deemed eligible for parole. Cruella is released into the custody of the probation office on the proviso that she will be forced to pay the remainder of her fortune, eight million pounds, to all the dog shelters in the borough of Westminster should she ever repeat her crime again. Cruella redubs herself "Ella", mends her working relationship with her manservant Alonso, and has him lock away all her fur coats, having developed an aversion to fur during the therapy. Cruella's probation officer, Chloe Simon, however, feels uneasy about taking Cruella, believing that someone capable of committing the crimes she did to be incapable of changing. For her part, Chloe is the new owner of the now-adult Dipstick, one of Pongo and Perdita's puppies, having purchased him from Roger and Anita Dearly. Dipstick and his mate, Dottie, have recently given birth to three puppies, one of them, named Oddball, lacking completely in spots.
In order to mend her reputation, Cruella buys the Second Chance Dog shelter, owned by Kevin Shepherd and which is facing financial problems. Cruella quickly becomes a success with the dogs, though Chloe is still skeptical and even confronts Kevin over his decision to allow Cruella near the dogs. Meanwhile, however, Dr. Pavlov discovers a side effect to his therapy: when the subjects are submitted to loud noises or sonics, such as Big Ben's chimes, their brainwaves are affected and they revert to their original states. Dr. Pavlov, however, decides to cover it up rather than warn Kevin.
Inevitably, during a meeting with Chloe, Big Ben rings and Cruella suffers a psychotic break, returning to her ruthless, fur-loving self once again. Now more determined than ever to obtain her spotted dalmatian fur coat, Cruella enlists the help of a renowned but controversial furrier, Jean-Pierre LePelt, to steal one hundred and two dalmatian puppies, the new three to be used for a hood. Meanwhile, Kevin and Chloe begin to develop a romantic relationship. Over dinner, Kevin tells Chloe that if Cruella violates her parole, her entire fortune will go to him, since his dog shelter is the only one in the borough of Westminster. Cruella, however, uses this to her advantage and has Kevin framed for the theft of the puppies, the police using his previous record of dognapping and his being the beneficiary of Cruella's fortune as sufficient evidence to arrest him. Cruella invites the devastated Chloe to dinner at her house with several other guests and their dogs, and she accepts, but while she is away, LePelt breaks into her apartment and steals the three puppies despite trouble with Dottie. Chloe gets wind of this and rushes home, but arrives too late just before Kevin, who also learned of the dognapping and escaped from prison with help from his dogs and talking parrot, Waddlesworth. After finding a ticket for the Orient Express dropped by LePelt, Kevin and Chloe rush to the station but are too late to stop Cruella and LePelt. Oddball escapes from confinement but manages to sneak aboard the train with Waddlesworth's help.
In Paris, Kevin and Chloe follow Cruella and LePelt to the skinning factory and discreetly begin helping the captured puppies escape, but they are seen and locked in the cellar just as the puppies flee. Cruella goes after them alone while Alonso, after being berated once too many times, finally rebels against his employers and defeats LePelt in a heated battle. Alonso frees Kevin and Chloe and they give chase to an abandoned bakery, where the puppies and Kevin's dogs combine their efforts and finally overcome Cruella by trapping her inside a wedding cake and sending her into the street, where she is arrested along with a ranting LePelt.
In the aftermath, Kevin and Chloe are awarded the remnants of Cruella's fortune by Alonso himself, and they celebrate together as they see that Oddball's spots have finally begun to appear.
Cast[]
- Glenn Close as Cruella de Vil
- Ioan Gruffudd as Kevin Shepherd
- Alice Evans as Chloe Simon
- Gérard Depardieu as Jean-Pierre LePelt
- Tim McInnerny as Alonzo
- Eric Idle as the voice of Waddlesworth the Red-and-green macaw. He thinks he's a rottweiler and later a retriever.
- Ben Crompton as Ewan
- Carol MacReady as Agnes Wilford
- Jim Carter as Detective Armstrong
- Ian Richardson as Mr. Torte QC
- David Horovitch as Dr. Pavlov
- Kerry Shale as Le Pelt's Assistant
- Ron Cook as Mr. Button
- Timothy West as Judge
Production[]
The early working title was 101 Dalmatians Returns. Production began in December 1998 and ended in mid-November 1999 without the use of John Hughes who wrote and produced the 1996 film, due to the critical failure of Flubber and the shutdown of Great Oaks Entertainment. The film was set to be released on June 30, 2000, but was pushed back to November 22. The film's teaser was released on the same month the film came out in 1999, and shows stock footage from The Shawshank Redemption. Oxford Prison was used for the scene as Cruella walked out of prison. The teaser appeared in theaters before Toy Story 2 and Stuart Little as well as the home video release of Music of the Heart. 102 Dalmatians was filmed partially in Paris. On November 7, Disney released the soundtrack to the movie, including pre-eminently, a cover of Paul Anka's "Puppy Love" (sung by Myra)[better source needed] and original songs: Mike Himelstein's "What Can a Bird Do?" (voiced by Jeff Bennett), "My Spot in the World" (sung by Lauren Christy) and "Cruella De Vil 2000" (better known as "Cruella De Vil (102 Dalmatians)", sung by Camara Kambon and Mark Campbell of Jack Mack and the Heart Attack, a derivation of "Cruella de Vil").
The film is dedicated in memory of cameraman Mike Roberts, who died before it was released.
Reception[]
Box office[]
The film opened at the third position behind M. Night Shyamalan's Unbreakable and Ron Howard's Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas. The film grossed $67 million in the U.S. and $116.7 million in other territories, bringing its total to $183.6 million worldwide, making less than its predecessor.
Critical response[]
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 31% based on 90 reviews, and an average rating of 4.42/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "This sequel to the live-action 101 Dalmatians is simply more of the same. Critics say it also drags in parts-- potentially boring children-- and that it's too violent for a G-rated movie." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 35 out of 100, based on 24 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.
Roger Ebert gave the film 2.5 out of 4, writing: "Glenn Close does what can be done with the role. Indeed, she does more than can be done; Cruella is almost too big for a live-action film and requires animation to fit her operatic scale."