When Disney changed its spots

The only thing cuter than a puppy is a bunch of puppies, and there are plenty in Walt Disney's

101 Dalmatians,

now a two-disc DVD release. And while kids will almost surely be captivated, parents will enjoy learning how this most un-Disneylike film became one of the most successful movies from the studio's canon.

Walt Disney bought the rights to Dodie Smith's novel,

The 101 Dalmatians,

but was so preoccupied with his TV show, theme park and live-action films that he didn't spend as much time supervising this production. The men and women who made the movie took risks and created one of the most visually distinctive - yet different - films under the Disney banner.

Dalmatians Pongo and Perdy and their pets, Roger and Anita, are poor but happy, and ecstatic when Perdy delivers 15 puppies. The pups then are put into danger by one of Disney's most wicked villains: Cruella de Vil, who plans to make a fur coat out of the puppies' hides. One night, Pongo and Perdy take Roger and Anita out for a walk, and two bumbling henchmen steal the puppies. When Scotland Yard can't find them, the dogs and other animals take over the search.

There are no magic potions or sleeping spells here. The film has a modern, contemporary look, beginning with its jazzy-theme score. This is a straightforward tale of love and adventure, bravery and cunning. And who needs a poisoned apple when you've got Cruella de Vil?

The documentaries on the making of this film are absorbing: from writer Bill Peet's efficient and witty adaptation to Mel Leven's clever songs to the Disney animators who gave the movie an almost abstract painterly look.

In drawing for an animated film, an artist would devise a scene in pencil, then have that drawing copied by someone else in color on an animation cel. For the first time in

101 Dalmatians,

Disney artists used the process of "Xeroxing," or photocopying the drawings on a cel. It was a quicker and less expensive method, but also allowed the artists greater freedom to draw more intricate scenes. One irony is that Walt Disney wasn't all that happy with its look. But it went on to be the highest-grossing film of 1961.

One also learns how many artists are needed for an animated film and how long the process takes. The major contributing artists, Ken Anderson, Milt Kahl and Mark Davis, among others, are featured from previous interviews or current ones. It's a good inside view of what is needed for this type of artwork and how it is done. (Each puppy was drawn with 32 spots, so multiply 32 by 99 and that's how many spots were drawn for each scene that featured the whole lot.)

Featured in the extras are two versions of the film with 101 pop-up trivia notes; one features trivia for the family (such as the fact that the film uses real-life locations in London, such as Regents Park) and another features trivia for fans (Ben Wright, who voiced Roger, was also the voice of Grimsby in The Little Mermaid). The experience of watching these versions is akin to hearing a director's commentary.

Many current animation filmmakers, including Brad Bird

(The Incredibles, Ratatouille),

speak in near reverent tones when discussing the artists' work.

Back then studios didn't use "famous" movie stars to provide voices. One of the great performances in a Disney or any animated film was Betty Lou Gerson as Cruella de Vil. The tones of her cackling laugh and phony sympathy at the puppies' disappearance are as good as any live-action villainess ever conveyed.

With the voices of Rod Taylor, Anita Davis, Bette Lou Gerson, Frederick Worlock, J. Pat O'Malley and Ben Wright.

Price:

$29.99, two-disc platinum edition

Parent's Guide:

G

Extras:

****

Documentaries including "Redefining the Line: the Making of 101 Dalmatians" and "Cruella de Vil: Drawn to be Bad"; deleted sequences; abandoned songs; demo recordings and alternate takes of songs; trailers, radio and TV spots; interactive games; two versions with 101 pop-up trivia facts.