The book that inspired the animated movie classic!
When Dearly's Dalmatians have their first litter of pups—fifteen in all—everyone is delighted. But their joy is shortlived, for the pups are kidnapped! Scotland Yard is baffled, but the keenest canine minds are on the case—and on the trail of Cruella de Vil, the most fiendish person to ever covet a fur coat.
Pongo and Missis would give everything they have to bring their puppies safely home... but will they succeed in rescuing them from the cluthes of the evil Cruella de Vil?
"A tale full to overflowing with those prime requisites of a good story—warmth and humor, imagination and suspense."—Chicago Sunday Tribune
"Superb reading. The puzzle of the hundred and one is delightful.... Highly recommended."—SLJ
‘Ladies and gentlemen,’ she said, dramatically, ‘puppies are arriving earlier than expected. Mr and Mrs Dearly ask you to remember that Missis has never before been a mother. She needs absolute quiet.’
There was an instant silence, broken only by a stifled sneeze. Then the guests rose, drank a whispered toast to the young mother, and tiptoed from the house.
All except Cruella de Vil. When she reached the hall she went straight to Nanny Butler, who was seeing the guests out, and demanded:
‘Where are those puppies?’
Nanny Butler had no intention of telling, but Cruella heard the Dearly voices’ and ran upstairs. This time she was wearing a black satin dress with ropes of pearls, but the same absolutely simple white mink cloak. She had kept it round her all through dinner, although the room was very warm (and the pepper very hot).
‘I must, I must see the darling puppies,’ she cried.
The cupboard door was a little open. The Dearlys were inside, soothing Missus. Three puppies had been born before Nanny Butler, on bringing Missus a nourishing chicken dinner, had discovered what was happening.
Cruella flung open the door and stared down at the three puppies.
‘But they’re mongrels – all white, no spots at all!’ she cried. ‘You must drown them at once.’
‘Dalmatians are always born white,’ said Mrs Dearly, glaring at Cruella. ‘The spots come later.’
‘And we wouldn’t drown them even if they were mongrels,’ said Mrs Dearly, indignantly.
‘It’d be quite easy,’ said Cruella. ‘I’ve drowned dozens of my cat’s kittens. She always chooses some wretched alley-cat for their father so they’re never worth keeping.
‘Surely you leave her one kitten?’ said Mrs Dearly.
‘If I’d done that, I’d be overrun with cats,’ said Cruella.
‘Are you sure those horrid little white rats are pure Dalmatian puppies?’
‘Quite sure,’ snapped Mrs Dearly. ‘Now please go away, you’re upsetting Missus.’
And indeed Missus was upset. Even with the Dearlys there to protect her and her puppies, she was a little afraid of this tall woman with black-and-white hair who stared so hard. And that poor cat who had lost all her kittens! Never, Never, would Missus forget that! (And one day she was to be glad she remembered it.)
‘How long will it be before the puppies are old enough to leave their mother?’ asked Cruella. ‘In case I want to buy some.’
‘Seven or eight weeks,’ said Mr Dearly. ‘But there won’t be any for sale.’ Then he shut the cupboard door in Cruella’s face and Nanny Butler firmly showed her out of the house.
Release Date: January 25, 1961
Release Time: 79 minutes
Directors:
Wolfgang Reitherman
Clyde Geronimi
Hamilton Luske
Cast:
Rod Taylor as Pongo
Lisa Daniels and Cate Bauer as Perdita
Betty Lou Gerson as Cruella de Vil
Gerson as Miss Birdwell, a panelist on the show "What's My Crime?".
Ben Wright as Roger Radcliffe
Bill Lee provided Roger's singing voice
Lisa Davis as Anita Radcliffe
Frederick Worlock as Horace Baddun
Worlock as Inspector Graves, a panelist on the show "What's My Crime?"
J. Pat O'Malley as Jasper Baddun
O'Malley as Colonel
Martha Wentworth as Nanny
Wentworth as Queenie
Wentworth as Lucy the White Goose
Thurl Ravenscroft as Captain
David Frankham as Sergeant Tibbs
Mimi Gibson as Lucky
Barbara Beaird as Rolly
Mickey Maga as Patch
Sandra Abbott as Penny
Tudor Owen as Old Towser
George Pelling as Danny
Junius Matthews as Scottie
Queenie Leonard as Princess
Marjorie Bennett as Duchess
Barbara Luddy as Rover
Rickie Sorensen as Spotty
Tom Conway as the Collie, who offers the Dalmatians shelter for the night at a dairy farm
Conway as the Quizmaster, the host of "What's My Crime?"
Ramsay Hill as the Labrador Retriever in Dinsford
Paul Wexler as the Mechanic who fixes the van
Basil Ruysdael as the driver of the moving van
Paul Frees as Dirty Dawson, the villain in the "Thunderbolt" TV show
Lucille Bliss as TV Commercial Singer
Awards:
1962 BAFTAs
Best Animated Film - Won
AFIs 100 Years . . .
100 Heroes and Villains - Cruella de Vil - #39
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Author Bio:
Born Dorothy Gladys Smith in Lancashire, England, Dodie Smith was raised in Manchester (her memoir is titled A Childhood in Manchester). She was just an infant when her father died, and she grew up fatherless until age 14, when her mother remarried and the family moved to London. There she studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts and tried for a career as an actress, but with little success. She finally wound up taking a job as a toy buyer for a furniture store to make ends meet. Giving up dreams of an acting career, she turned to writing plays, and in 1931 her first play, Autumn Crocus, was published (under the pseudonym “C.L. Anthony”). It was a success, and her story — from failed actress to furniture store employee to successful writer — captured the imagination of the public and she was featured in papers all over the country. Although she could now afford to move to a London townhouse, she didn't get caught up in the “literary” scene — she married a man who was a fellow employee at the furniture store.
During World War II she and her husband moved to the United States, mostly because of his stand as a conscientious objector and the social and legal difficulties that entailed. She was still homesick for England, though, as reflected in her first novel, I Capture the Castle (1948). During her stay she formed close friendships with such authors as Christopher Isherwood and John Van Druten, and was aided in her literary endeavors by writer A.J. Cronin.
She is perhaps best known for her novel The Hundred and One Dalmatians, a hugely popular childrens book that has been made into a string of very successful animated films by Walt Disney. She died in 1990.
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