Welcome to the land of danger and intrigue, where individuals are legion and non-conformity is the norm. Join me as I explore the many facets of humanity and meet the scum of the earth and its angels incarnate.
Welcome to the land of danger and intrigue, where individuals are legion and non-conformity is the norm. Join me as I explore the many facets of humanity and meet the scum of the earth and its angels incarnate.
That said, on to the review!
In case you didn't actually see either movie, here's the general plot. The Pongos have two wonderful human pets, the Dearlys. They also have the advantage of having Nanny Cook and Nanny Butler to help out. Things progress naturally and the Pongos are soon expecting puppies. However, Cruella de Vil, an old school acquaintance of Mrs. Dearly's, takes a fancy to their spotted coats and begins scheming to make dogskin coats: Dalmation dogskin coats. The Dearlys refuse to sell the Pongos' puppies to Cruella, however, and she makes...other arrangements. Soon enough, the puppies disappear, leaving the Pongos, the Dearlys, the Nannies, and Perdita--a sort of foster mother to the puppies--despairing of ever seeing them again. The Pongos set out to find the puppies, but can they do it before Cruella decides to deprive them of their spotted coats? And even if they do, can they hope to rescue them and get them home safely?
Now, what was missing from the movies that should have been in them? Well, Perdita, for one. Now there was a good character that could have helped in shaping the movie. No, not the Perdita in the movies but the one from the book. The "Perdi" in the movies was actually Missis in the book, though you wouldn't know that if you didn't read the book. There was also the old Spaniel that would have made for a nice intermission from the urgency of the Pongos' quest. Then, too, the scene with Sir Charles, the firelight, and the "ghost" dogs was a touching one in the book and would have made a really nice one in the movie. Sigh. So many lost opportunities, including the image of Cruella's absolutely simple white mink coat disappearing into the passage and the vision of Cruella's black-and-white hair turning white-and-green ("a horrid shade" as the Persian cat said).
If you really enjoyed the movies--either the animated one, or the live-action one, or both--then you should really read the book, too. You might think it a children's book, but the live-action movie certainly wasn't exclusively a children's movie, even if it was from Disney. It's really the perfect thing to curl up with when you want to read something relaxing and aesthetically pleasing.
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