101 Dálmatas

Hey, I like it a lot!

As a kid, I grew up with the original animated 1961 movie and I liked it plenty. I also paid for the 1996 live-action movie (with Glenn Close as the diabolical Cruella DeVil) and I own the DVD of "101 Dalmatians 2: Patch's London Adventure". I've enjoyed them all. The only "Dalmatians" film I haven't seen (thus far) is "102 Dalmatians". (would anyone tip me off if it's any good? Or should I just not bother?)

However, my personal favorite "101D" medium is Disney's "101 Dalmatians: the Series". It combines many themes of the existing material (Dodie Smith book, 1961 and 1996 movies). But still does its own things, too.

Our main pups include brave Lucky, who gets a strong personality mirroring his character in the book, lovable Rolly, the gourmand of the pups, and sweet little Cadpig, who is the true runt of the litter. Also there is Spot the chicken, who longs to be a dog. I find them all extremely amiable and enjoyable to watch. They are usually foiling Cruella's schemes for their land, or outwitting Lt. Pug (I'll get to him later), or sneaking into Grutely, or...just having fun, making a very likable show.

I also like the majority of the other characters. There's Tripod, the resident athlete dalmatian pup, he has only has three legs and is a positive "handicapped" character. Patch is designed after his character in the book (he's supposed to be large). Pongo and Perdy are much like their characters in the original animated movie. Lucky's nemesis Mooch the Mutt is like all the jerks you knew in school. Two-Tone is really cute (she even has a pierced ear). Roger and Anita are written like their characters in the live-action movie, they were much more involving in that film. Of course, Cruella DeVil is now their neighbor, constantly scheming to take over Dearly Farm. Even Cruella can now have funny moments. The one-shot characters are also charming and likable (a popular example is Lucky's friend Blaze the German Shepard pup from "Dog's Best Friend"). The only character I just don't like is Lt. Pug. He feels rather tacked on, and the show never benefits from him: just a weak link.

I personally like the modern theme (I really just don't need a "That '60s Show"), and the American setting (evidence is through American flags in many places, cars driving on the right-hand side of the road, American Southerners, etc). It makes the characters more relatable, and the little truths the main pups discover in their lives lend a Simpson-esque feel. The focus on these modern-day puppies reminds me of "Tiny Toon Adventures" (another show I loved and still love. ^_^)

So, yes, I love this show. I believe it is better than the movies. It's just too good. Giving this show a chance on Toon Disney, I'm glad I took the time to see it. If the guys at Disney are listening, I'd just love to see more of this show. I'll recommend it to anyone. When the good points can override the flaws easily, and can even outdo a favorite film from my childhood, how can I refuse? Of course, you can't go wrong with so many cute puppies.

It receives an enthusiastic 101/10.

Wow this was so wack. Little to no effort was put into this Disney show. Purely for children or people that want to connect with their 6 year old. I only ended up watching the first season and some of the second season only because I was "attempting" to finish the 101 Dalmatian franchise but there's no way I'm going to actually watch40+ episodes of this mediocre entertainment. I might come back eventually and finish the series just to be a completionist but I really don't see the point other than I sometimes like to succumb myself to garbage.

Edit: So I did end up coming back to this months later to finish the rest of the series (around 45 episodes). I started to loosen up to the child humor and terrible writing, with some of the episodes being somewhat good, surprisingly, most notably the Invasion of the doggy Snatchers episode. Spot really started stealing the show for me, mostly because of her jokes. The three puppies were kind of boring, except Cadpig, as she had a few funny parts too. In all, I still didn't enjoy the show overall but I did enjoy moments, and even enjoyed a couple episodes.

Just for the record, this is not as good as the 1961 animated film, which is a classic, but I think it is better than the sequel, which I was disappointed by. However, this series while having some good moments wasn't particularly good, in my opinion that is.

I liked some of the characters, especially the brave Lucky and the lovely Two-Tone, and the voice acting on the whole is very well done bringing some energy and spirit. Plus every episode moves briskly and the theme tune is pretty funky.

However, there are things I don't like. The animation is not great to me, lacking in colour and too scratchy- before you point the gun at me I know people say that the 1961 film has a scratchy animation style, maybe so, but in an elegant and sophisticated way, whereas the animation here is rushed and lacks finesse, not to mention straight-to- video quality. The stories can be very predictable as well, and the writing while it has its funny and cool moments was uninspired. Then there is Spot, I cannot begin to describe how infuriated I was by Spot, such an unnecessary and annoying character. And I was disappointed by how Cruella was like here, Cruella was truly evil and just a wonderful villainess, here she has lost her class and elegance and her motives get tiresome.

Overall, it has its moments but it should have been better. 5/10 Bethany Cox

This series of the 101 Dalmatians franchise answers the question of what actually happened after the 101 Dalmatian puppies freed from Cruella came into the life of Roger and Anita to sweeten it a little more. The puppies are housed on a farm and experience great and exciting adventures with a lot of fun and humor. The drawings are also very good, if not in the same cozy style of the original film from 1961. All in all, a really very good series that easily puts you in a good mood and a great addition to the already very good franchise.

I loved this show! My favorite was Tripod. My fave episode is when the De Vil family tried to get rid of the Dearly family. Yup, those were the days... It's on Toon Disney if you want to see. I recommend this to any kid that loves the movie, or person that is young at heart.