101 Dalmatians Platinum Edition [DVD] [1961]

Back in 1961, Walt Disney got a little hip with 101 Dalmatians, making use of that flat Saturday morning cartoon style that had become so popular. The result is a kitschy change in animation and story. Pongo and Perdita are two lonely Dalmatians who meet in a London park and arrange for their pet humans to marry so they can live together and raise a family. They become proud parents of 15 pups, who are stolen by the dastardly Cruella De Vil, who wants to make a fur coat out of them. Cruella has become the most popular villain in all of Disney--she is flamboyantly nasty and lots of fun. But it is the Dalmatians who shine in this endearing classic, particularly those precocious pups. Telling the story from the dogs' point of view is a clever conceit, a fundamental flaw of Disney's 1996 live-action remake. --Bill Desowitz

Disney may throw around the word 'classic' with a little too much abandon when it comes to some of its animated releases, but its take on 101 Dalmatians is very much the real deal. With lively songs, a terrifically-realised story and one of its very best villains, it remains a towering achievement, over four decades since it first appeared.

The story of 101 Dalmatians starts with the two heroes of the tale, Pongo and Perdita. But when their litter of dalamatian puppies is dognapped by the evil Cruella De Vil’s cronies, the pair must spring into action to save their offspring before Cruella gets herself the new coat that she desires.

But while Pongo and Perdita may be the pair you end up rooting for, the undoubted star of 101 Dalmatians is Cruella De Vil. A wonderfully twisted, genuinely nasty villainess, she’s an astounding creation and adds a real menace to the film. That said, it’s not a downbeat or scary tale: toe-tapping musical numbers, plenty of imagination and a good few chuckles make up the rest of the ingredients, and rarely have they all come together quite so well as they do here.

Retold by Disney in live action form in 1996, it’s nonetheless its animated take on 101 Dalmatians that remains the definitive filmed version. And now packed into a special collectors’ DVD set, there’s never been a better reason to treat your family to a copy. Unmissable, and a reminder of why Disney’s reputation in this field is quite so towering. --Simon Brew