101 Dalmatians (1961)

97% of critics liked it
(37 reviews)
63% of users liked it
(642,871 ratings)

This Disney animated classic is based on the children's story by Dodie Smith. The story involves the canine pets of a struggling composer and his wife: Dalmatians Pongo (male) and Perdita (female). Perdita gives birth to fifteen spotted pups, cuing the entrance of the scheming Cruella De Vil. She… More This Disney animated classic is based on the children's story by Dodie Smith. The story involves the canine pets of a struggling composer and his wife: Dalmatians Pongo (male) and Perdita (female). Perdita gives birth to fifteen spotted pups, cuing the entrance of the scheming Cruella De Vil. She demands that the dogs' owners sell her the pups, but she is shown the door instead. Under cover of night, Cruella arranges for the pups to be stolen. The human police are baffled, but the "dog network" is alerted by Pongo and sent to rescue the pups. It is discovered that Cruella has been rounding up every Dalmatian she can get her hands on, hoping to use their pelts to make one spectacular fur coat. The dogs rescue the 15 pups, plus 86 others stolen by Ms. DeVil. After an eventful escape, the 101 Dalmatians make their way home--whereupon the composer pens a hit tune, "Dalmatian Plantation". 101 Dalmatians represents the Disney animation staff at its very best, and as a bonus introduces the world to Cruella De Vil, one of the greatest movie villains--cartoon or "real"--of all time. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: G, 1 hr. 19 min.
Directed By: Clyde Geronimi, Hamilton Luske
Written By: Bill Peet
Genres: Animation, Kids & Family, Mystery & Suspense, Classics, Comedy

In Theaters: Jan 25, 1961 Wide
On DVD: Mar 4, 2008
Studio: Buena Vista

Critic Reviews

, TIME Magazine
It is the wittiest, most charming, least pretentious cartoon feature Walt Disney has ever made.
Variety Staff, Variety
While not as indelibly enchanting or inspired as some of the studio's most unforgettable animated endeavors, this is nonetheless a painstaking creative effort.
Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader
This was the last Disney animated feature (1961) that Uncle Walt lived to see through personally; it can't be a coincidence that it's also the last Disney animated feature of real depth and emotional authenticity.
Janet Maslin, New York Times
A rather clever idea, if a bit unsettling.
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
If there's one thing that's absolutely first-rate about the film, it's the character of Cruella.
Nell Minow, Common Sense Media
Lovable cartoon classic for all ages.
Christopher Null, Filmcritic.com
good enough to merit repeated viewings. Particularly if you're two.
Felix Gonzalez Jr., DVD Review
Buena Vista's 2-Disc Platinum Edition of 101 Dalmatians stands proudly next to its predecessors in quantity and quality, serving up a feast for both children and adults.
Felix Gonzalez Jr., DVD Review
What has truly kept 101 Dalmatians alive ... is Cruella De Vil herself, one of the most deliciously nasty characters in Disney's oeuvre.
Urban Cinefile Critics, Urban Cinefile
Capturing the essence of Dodie Smith's wonderful children's book, this unforgettable animation. It is one of my favourite animations of all time.
Ryan Cracknell, Movie Views
"Cute and cuddly" pretty much sums up this canine caper - once you get past the idea of a lady looking to make a coat out of dalmatian puppies.
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com
The Platinum Edition (Mar 4, 08) has numerous bonus features, such as Virtual Dalmatians, which allows you to adopt, name, and care your own virtual puppy with 101 possibilities, and Puppy Profiler through which you can find out which do you're most like
, Film4
The definitive telling of an oft-told tale, Disney's family-friendly animated adventure exhibits plenty of energy, wit and style.
, TV Guide's Movie Guide
Three hundred artists worked on this project for three years and came up with one of the best feature cartoons ever produced by Disney Studios.
Kevin Carr, 7M Pictures
For years... "101 Dalmatians" was my favorite. Looking back on it years later, it still is.
Eric Henderson, Slant Magazine
So long as Disney's never made any bones about finding the whole female race either bland or evil, I have no trouble embracing the studio's biggest bitch of them all.
Eric Henderson, Slant Magazine
Cruella De Vil is so much a tour de force that she single-handedly snatches the movie away from any retroactive comparisons to post-classical Disney features whose sloppiness is the is their only saving grace.
John J. Puccio, Movie Metropolis
Cruella De Vil will live on in memory long after any of the other humans or animals in the story have faded from memory. (Platinum Edition)
John J. Puccio, Movie Metropolis
101 Dalmatians holds up well after all these years and continues to provide some rousing good fun.
, Time Out
Brilliant entertainment.

Read all 20 critic reviews

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Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

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Featured Audience Ratings

John M

Good Disney stuff
Jeff "

101 Dalmatians is a stunning, engaging animation film that is fun for the entire family. Of all the films that Disney has produced, 101 Dalmatians is probably the film I watched the most. This film is lots of fun from start to finish, has great characters, a very memorable villain and… More
101 Dalmatians is a stunning, engaging animation film that is fun for the entire family. Of all the films that Disney has produced, 101 Dalmatians is probably the film I watched the most. This film is lots of fun from start to finish, has great characters, a very memorable villain and with great animation as always. This is a great film to watch with the entire family. The film has just the right amount of drama, comedy and adventure to make this a stellar film to watch. The film is well written, and directed. This is yet another Disney classic that will appeal to people of all ages. The film is great entertainment from start to finish. This is a charming film that will appeal to the child in all of us. This is a fun film that is along with The Jungle Book and The Rescuers to be among the best and final animated features that Disney would release. This has definitely stood the test of time and if you've never seen a Disney film, 101 Dalmatians is one of the many ground breaking classics to start with. 101Dalmatians is a stunning film that is a definite must see. As a kid this was probably the film I watched the most. This film stayed with me, and it had everything you'd expect from a classic Disney flick. A must see for fans of animated films.
Eric A

Classic in every aspect with a wonderful script and memorable characters, all equaling one of Disney's best animated films.
Brad W

A classic animated film, a great movie.
Directors C

the animation is superb and they actually give character to pretty much every dalmatian. Cruella is a great villian and probably one of the most memeorable since its 1961 release.
Alexander D

Great
Bethany M

A childhood favourite and a classic!
Jennifer X

Oh man, though the first few minutes - up until the Twilight Bark - were nothing short of incredible (especially the first scene, Pongo the matchmaker), I really didn't need to watch half an hour of 101 dogs traipsing the English countryside dying themselves black and drinking… More
Oh man, though the first few minutes - up until the Twilight Bark - were nothing short of incredible (especially the first scene, Pongo the matchmaker), I really didn't need to watch half an hour of 101 dogs traipsing the English countryside dying themselves black and drinking milk from a cow.
Michael E

heartwarming, funny, entertaining, breathtaking animation, and great characters
AJ V

This is the original Disney classic of 101 Dalmatians, which I recommend seeing over the new remakes of it. This movie is exciting and dramatic as well as cute and fun. It's a really great movie.
Michael G

Most Disney movies of yesteryear I've seen lately have been nowhere nearly as good as I remember but 101 Dalmatians had the opposite effect on me as its actually better than I remember. Any movie that's got animals whose names begin with military ranks is doing something… More
Most Disney movies of yesteryear I've seen lately have been nowhere nearly as good as I remember but 101 Dalmatians had the opposite effect on me as its actually better than I remember. Any movie that's got animals whose names begin with military ranks is doing something seriously right. The music was kept to a minimum ("Cruella DeVille" is actually a great song) and I know this is going to come off as odd when describing a classic kids movie, but I loved the bleakness of the color schemes. The animation was pretty classy too.
KJ P

Films that revolve around dogs are very uninteresting to me, however, I love 101 dalmatians, and I truely believe they failed on nothing. It was a little short, but it was extremely great for the length that it was. This is an amazing disney film, and I wish I could say the same about… More
Films that revolve around dogs are very uninteresting to me, however, I love 101 dalmatians, and I truely believe they failed on nothing. It was a little short, but it was extremely great for the length that it was. This is an amazing disney film, and I wish I could say the same about them all.
Conner R

An interesting movie, not the best but certainly not far from it. The main intrigue for me is the fact that Cruella wanted to slaughter a bunch of puppies and wear their fur as a trophy, too bad she never succeeded. I really love the change in animation style and an extremely large… More
An interesting movie, not the best but certainly not far from it. The main intrigue for me is the fact that Cruella wanted to slaughter a bunch of puppies and wear their fur as a trophy, too bad she never succeeded. I really love the change in animation style and an extremely large range of characters, this is a really fun movie and worthy of its fame and reputation.
erika b

good plot
Jennifer D

So cute. Loved it as a child and now.
Anthony L

I have my issues with Disney films but I do like this cartoon!
Jason O

Most Disney movies will stick with you for the rest of your life after you see them, and you will never forget them. "101 Dalamatians" is one of those. When the dalmatians, Pongo and Perdita, find out that they have 15 dalmatian pups, they think that nothing can go wrong.… More
Most Disney movies will stick with you for the rest of your life after you see them, and you will never forget them. "101 Dalamatians" is one of those. When the dalmatians, Pongo and Perdita, find out that they have 15 dalmatian pups, they think that nothing can go wrong. That is, until Cruella De Vil shows up and they find out that she is evil and that she wants to steal their puppies. Cruella hires Horace and Jasper to steal the puppies for her. Pongo and Perdita have to find a way to get their puppies back from these wretched enemies. With the help of some other dogs such as Colonel and using the 'Twilight Bark,' they just might have a chance. I grew up watching "101 Dalmatians," and it's still a good movie to watch. I know when I settle down and have kids one day that they will like it just as much as I do. The movie has some good songs and it doesn't get boring the whole movie. I recommend anybody to get "101 Dalmatians." NOTE: That was my Amazon review from the year 2000. Not really one of my favorite Disney classics, but sill very good.
Alexander W

Great story of a cruel women and captivating pups, dalmation pups, 101 of them.
Curtis L

Been a while.
Lafe F

A fascinating kidnapped dog story, with the novelty of having 101 of such a unique breed. The animation was a modern ink sketch style, tell-tale of the period it was made. This movie was going for a realistic look with the human characters and settings. There isn't much fantasy… More
A fascinating kidnapped dog story, with the novelty of having 101 of such a unique breed. The animation was a modern ink sketch style, tell-tale of the period it was made. This movie was going for a realistic look with the human characters and settings. There isn't much fantasy here, except for the interactions between the dogs. Yup, there are lots of little puppies. It was up to the little things to get themselves back home. I couldn't get into it much.