CLYDE GERONIMI, HAMILTON LUSKE, WOLFGANG REITHERMAN

Bil’s rating (out of 5): BBB.5

USA, 1961.  Walt Disney Productions.  Screenplay by Bill Peet, based on the novel The One Hundred and One Dalmatians by Dodie Smith.  Produced by Walt Disney.  Music by George Bruns.  Production Design by Ken Anderson.  Film Editing by Roy M. Brewer Jr., Donald Halliday.  

One look at this film and you’ll see spots! It’s about a struggling songwriter who falls in love with a beautiful lady when their male and female Dalmatians discover each other in the park.  Soon after the human couple is married, the canine duo pop out a litter of adorable spotted puppies, each with their own delightful personality. Trouble is on the way, however, when the young woman’s friend Cruella de Vil shows up with a keen interest in acquiring the baby dogs. Her diabolical plan is to turn them into a fabulous coat for an animal-unfriendly wardrobe! The plot eventually has the heroic Dalmatian parents rescuing their own children as well as many other puppies thanks to the help of the dog underworld. Better than Lady And The Tramp, though The Aristocats would come out almost ten years later with far more charming results. Lots of fun, and the main theme song is still hummable after forty years.