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101 Dalmatians: Platinum Edition
R1 - America - Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment Review written by and copyright: Andreas Petersen (21st March 2008). |
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The Film
 "101 Dalmatians" is one of those movies that I only remember having watched it, while not remembering a whole lot about the actual movie. Before watching it again, if asked to give a plot synopsis, it would be along the lines of “I think a Dalmatian has 101 puppies and they get kidnapped or something.” Now, probably 15 years after my last viewing of the movie, I have the pleasure of getting reacquainted. I had forgotten how enjoyable of a movie this is. For those unfortunate enough to be in my forgetful shoes, or just haven’t gotten around to seeing this gem yet, I’ll offer a run through of the plot. Pongo (Rod Taylor), a Dalmatian living in London with his owner (who he calls his pet) Roger (Ben Wright). Pongo wants to find a mate for his pet, and in the process possibly finding one of his own. He spots Anita (Lisa Davis) walking her Dalmatian Perdita (Cate Bauer). One thing leads to another, and both couple get together. Pongo and Perdita have 15 puppies together. Cruella de Vil (Betty Lou Gerson) wants the puppies for a coat, so she kidnaps them, setting Pongo and Perdita on a journey to save their kids. Through all the years I had gone through before seeing this movie again as an adult, I forgot how charming it was. All the good characters are likable, and I despised all the villains. I know in the world there is a blurry line between good and evil, but damn it, I want to hate that mean old lady and her henchmen, and this movie lets me live that sort of child hood simplicity. Also, when I was younger, there are many other aspects to the movie I think I incapable of appreciating. The animation itself just looks amazing. It’s a real shame that you never see any American animated features continue to look this legit, while selling out to an overly developed polished look. 101 Dalmatians just looks great and feels classic. All the backgrounds look like animated works of art rather than cheap imitations of real life. I’m also not sure if I could have appreciated the film’s brilliant music, which carries an amazing vaudevillian quality to it. One thing I did appreciate when I was younger was the film’s humor, and for whatever reason every joke still made me laugh 15 years later. From a hilarious take on 60’s television ads, to good old fashioned slapstick, this film reminded me of how great children’s entertainment doesn’t need to be just for kids. I think this may be one of the reasons Disney cartoons of late (not counting Pixar) have decreased in quality. While modern Disney toons pander to kids and kids alone, their classics appealed to a universal audience, and I can think of no better example of this than in 101 Dalmatians. I honestly don’t think there is anything wrong with this cartoon. It’s written well, the direction is amazing, it looks fantastic, and has amazing lasting power and being nearly 50 years old. Maybe the bigwigs at Disney should sit down and watch this movie to remind them how to make great children’s entertainment once again.
Video
"101 Dalmatians" is offered in a 1.33:1 full screen picture. I wish it was in widescreen, but many animated movies back then were animated in full screen, and had the black bar treatment slapped over the picture, offering less of the whole. The actual transfer is incredible, especially considering that this film is 47-years-old. It is truly a treat to see this movie in such a high quality transfer, considering all we’ve had before is a shoddy VHS transfer. A truly impressive picture for a truly impressive looking film.
Audio
The movie is offered in a “Disney Enhanced Home Theater Mix” with an English Dolby Digital English 5.1 track, as well as a French Dolby Digital 5.1 and Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 track, also for nostalgia's sake the disc also includes the original theatrical soundtrack in English Dolby Digital 1.0 mono. I wouldn’t have expected the sound to work so well with the surround sound, but it really does. Everything seems to come out at just the right places, even though there isn’t a whole lot “going on” in terms of sound effects for most of the film. What is there though is amazingly clear, some of the best sounding audio I have ever heard on an animated movie to be honest, contemporaries included. Optional subtitles are included in English for the hearing impaired, French and Spanish.
Extras
Buena Vista in true 'Platinum Edition' style has packed this set with an impressive amount of extras that includes interactive games, a pop-up trivia track, a music video, alternate/deleted songs, a documentary, two featurettes, serveal theatrical trailers, TV and radio spots, art galleries and Bonus trailers. Below is a closer look at these supplements broken down per disc. DISC ONE: The first disc includes a music video for a pop version of the 'Cruella de Vil song', performed by Selena Gomez. This runs for 3 minutes and 26 seconds. Also, there is the option to turn on a pop-up trivia track to go along with the feature. There are two trivia sets, one for the family and one for the fan. The family one talks about the background of the story, including differences between the cartoon and the source novel. The fan trivia concerns with the most technical side of the film, talking about the voice actors and score. Also, some bonus trailers are on the first disc. And they are for: - "Sleeping Beauty" running at 1 minute and 56 seconds. - "Wall-E" running at 1 minute and 37 seconds. - "The Jungle Book 2" running at 1 minute and 3 seconds. - "Tinker Bell" running at 47 seconds. - "The Little Mermaid: Ariel’s Beginning" running at 1 minute and 22 seconds - "Disney Rewards" promo spot running at 20 seconds. Also there is a short preview of the second disc of the set, which runs for 52 seconds. DISC TWO: The second disc's main attraction is "Redefining the Line: The Making of One Hundred and One Dalmatians". This fascinating look at the process behind the film is broken up into 7-parts. They are: - "Puppy Dog Tales" runs at 5 minutes and 32 seconds. This section serves to introduce the rest of the making-of. Disney elite such as former animators, historians, and Brad Bird weigh in on why the film so timeless. - "Howling at the Moon" runs at 3 minutes and 36 seconds. This section examines the people behind the film’s brilliant score and songs. Also, the fact that this was the first non-musical Disney animated feature is discussed. - "New Tricks" runs at 5 minutes and 15 seconds, and takes a look at the new animation techniques introduced with the movie, moving on from traditional pen on paper methods, and moving to directly animating on the cell. - "Animation 101" runs at 7 minutes and 50 seconds, and further explores how the new animation techniques changed the way Disney made animated films. - "Drawing All Cars", running for 2 minutes and 18 seconds, shows the interesting techniques used to capture images of cars for the film. - "Seeing Spots" runs at 1 minute and 53 seconds, and examines how difficult it was to add the spots to all the film’s Dalmatians. Also, the title sequence of the film is praised. - "A Dog’s Eye View", running at 7 minutes and 24 seconds, closes the making-of by taking a look at the film’s unique art direction. "Cruella de Vil: Drawn to Be Bad" is a featurette running at 7 minutes and 8 seconds, is a fun little look at every aspect of the film’s iconic villain, including her look, voice, and all around presence. "Sincerely Yours, Walt Disney" is another featurette running for 12 minutes and 36 seconds, is a heart warming re-creation of the letters corresponded between Walt Disney and Dodie Smith, the author of the original book that inspired the movie. This feature really shows the care and passion that went into this project from both sides of the creative spectrum. It really makes me wish more people would correlate with the author’s of the source material this way when adapting a book into a movie. Also Included is a multitude of trailers and TV spots from the film’s multiple releases. They include: The 1961 Original Release: - Teaser trailer running at 42 seconds. - theatrical trailer running at 1 minute and 53 seconds. - TV spot running at 31 seconds. The 1969 Reissue: - Theatrical trailer running at 1 minute and 8 seconds. - TV spot #1 running at 32 seconds. - TV spot #2 running at 32 seconds. - Combined TV spot with "The Swiss Family Robinson" (1960), running at 32 seconds. The 1979 Reissue: - Theatrical trailer running at 1 minute and 35 seconds. - TV spot #1 running at 32 seconds. - TV spot #2 running at 31 seconds. - French Canadian TV spot running at 31 seconds. The 1985 Reissue: - Theatrical trailer running at 1 minute and 23 seconds. Also included are several radio spots from the different releases of the film. They include: The 1961 Original Release: - "60 Second" radio spot running at 58 seconds. - "30 Second" radio spot running at 29 seconds. - "10 Second" radio spot running at 13 seconds. The 1969 Reissue: - "60 Second" radio spot running at 1 minute and 3 seconds. - "60 Second - R&B Version" radio spot running at 1 minute and 3 seconds. - "30 Second" radio spot #1 running at 34 seconds. - "30 Second" radio spot #2 running at 33 seconds. - "20 Second" radio spot running at 24 seconds. - "10 Second" radio spot running at 14 seconds. The 1979 Reissue: - "10 Second - Kids Version" radio spot running at 11 seconds. - "30 Second - Adult Version" radio spot running at 33 seconds. - "30 Second - Adult Version: Detective” radio spot running at 33 seconds. The disc also includes alternate takes/deleted songs from the movie’s soundtrack. They are: - "March of the One Hundred and One", running at 1 minute and 56 seconds. - "Cheerio, Good-Bye, Toodle-oo, Hip Hip!", running at 2 minutes and 31 seconds. - "Don’t Buy a Parrot From a Sailor", running at 2 minutes and 39 seconds. - "Dalmatian Plantation", with a Extended Alternate Version running at 2 minutes and 20 seconds, and a Temp Version running at 3 minutes and 15 seconds. - "Cruella De Vil" is offered in many different versions, including a Spooky Version running at 3 minutes and 55 seconds, Blues Ballad Version running at 2 minutes and 17 seconds, “Roger Composing” #1 by Ben Wright running at 3 minutes and 6 seconds, “Roger Composting” #2 by Bill Lee, running at 5 minutes and 32 seconds, Honkey-Tonk Piano Version running at 4 minutes and 14 seconds, and Radio Hit Alternate Versions #1 running at 1 minute and 14 seconds, #2 running at 2 minutes and 33 seconds, and #3 running at 3 minutes and 33 seconds. - "Kanine Krunchies Jingle" is presented in different takes, and they are British running at 36 seconds, Very Young running at 37 seconds, Young running at 37 seconds, Little Boy running at 38 seconds, Flubbed Take running at 24 seconds, False Start running at 43 seconds, Older English Incomplete running at 35 seconds, Younger British running at 40 seconds, and Eton Boy running at 37 seconds. The disc includes an extensive art gallery with stills in the categories of: - "Visual Development" which includes 61 images. - "Character Design" which includes 22 images. - "Layouts Backgrounds & Overlays" which includes 30 images. - "Storyboard Art" which includes 47 images. - "Live-Action Reference" which includes 27 images. - "Animation Art" which includes 28 images. - "Production Photos" which includes 42 images. The disc comes with a few interactive games as well. When put the disc into your DVD-ROM drive: - You can play "Disney Virtual Dalmatians", in which you chose a puppy to play with and teach tricks. A Set-Top Sampler of this game can be played from your DVD player. - "Puppy Profiler" is an interactive game in which you answer questions about yourself to see which Disney characters you identify with. I identified with Goofy, Dopey, and Tigger. - Lastly, there is "One Hundred and One Dalmatians: Fun With Language Games", which is designed for non-English speaking people, to help them learn words in English.
Packaging
This 2-disc set is packaged in an amaray case housed in a cardboard slip-cover.
Overall
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