|
101 Dalmatians was probably the first "politically correct" Disney
animated classic ever. I mean, can you remember when wearing Dalmatian
fur was ever cool? But Disney changed that ideology right around
by presenting the idea that only the devil would wear fur; thus,
Disney proudly introduced the first animated film to declare that
"Fur Is Murder." How environmental of them.
The classic tale begins with Pongo, a Dalmatian in search of
a mate for his master, finding a little something extra when he
locks his sights on Perdita and her owner Anita. Not only did
he find a soul mate for Roger, but one for himself as well. As
animal nature would have it, Perdy ends up pregnant and before
you know it, Pongo and Perdy are the proud parents of fifteen
spotted spawn.
Enter Cruella DeVille, the skinniest, boniest, most fearsome
Disney villains to even be set to film. Harboring a secret plan
to buy the puppies for use in an all-Dalmatian coat, she'll stop
at nothing to get her hands on that fur...not even dognapping
is off limits. When the pups are nabbed, it's up to Pongo and
Perdy, with the help of some randomly encountered furry friends,
to recover the young 'uns and save the lives of all 101 in Cruella's
clutches.
This is far from my favorite Disney animated classic. I think
the animation is sub-standard for them and the music, usually
a benchmark of Disney animation, is left out of this adventure.
There is a certain amount of nostalgic charm to 101 Dalmatians,
but remember, without it we would never have been subjected to
that god-awful live-action remake a few years ago. That may be
why I dislike this film most of all now. (Editor: Just to offer
a differing opinion, 101 Dalmatians is one of the few Disney films
I actually like, precisely because it has no music and the animation
is less stylized. I even cried at the end. So there.)
Video: How Does The Disc Look?
Presented in its original 1.33:1 aspect ratio, there's nothing
to really complain about here. The animation is clean and free
of any real dirt or blemishes. Colors are strong without bleeding,
even the reds of Cruella's coat are rock solid. There's no noticeable
pixelation found here either. The problem is that with such a
clear picture, many of the deficiencies in the animation make
themselves all the more apparent. But as an accurate presentation
of what is on film, 101 Dalmatians doesn't disappoint.
Audio: How Does the Disc Sound?
Presented in the remastered 2.0 surround track from the 1991
reissue, this is predominately a mono movie with some slight stereo
music. Dynamic range sounds noticeably restricted with background
hiss audible in the background. The poorly looped sounds of actual
dogs barking brings up this hiss even more. Considering this film's
age, I'm not really surprised, but considering what a techno-nut
Walt Disney was you'd think that he had better sound elements
made in the first place. Surround use is very infrequent leaving
the soundtrack with a mostly mono-ish sounding effect.
Supplements: What Goodies Are There?
Wait, did you forget that this was one of those animated Disney
titles? The film's re-release theatrical trailer (not the original,
mind you) is included. And that's all she barked.
OOH NOO, wait, I almost forgot, the disc does contain some beautiful
full-color artwork printed on one side of the disc. You know,
the kind of artwork that is found on discs like, oh, Terminator
2 from Artisan, The Wizard of Oz from Warner, Saving Private Ryan
from DreamWorks, Die Hard from Fox, The Mask of Zorro from Columbia,
The Corruptor from New Line, Good Will Hunting from Alliance,
and 2010 from MGM, amongst others. Gee, when you look at all these
other studios that do it, doesn't seem like much of a special
feature after all. Still, Disney was the only one to realize its
true importance and list it as an actual special feature.
(And one other thing, when Disney announced that the discs would
include this "Special Picture" feature, the reason was so that
children would be able to easily play the discs and know which
side goes up. Why then does the disc automatically stop at the
menu, forcing these same small children to now navigate through
the menu system?)
DVD-ROM Exclusives: What do you get when you pop the disc
in your PC?
No ROM extras have been included.
Parting Thoughts
This is the one title that I could definitely do without in my
Disney collection. Watching it again, I'm wondering how many more
of the animated "classics" I could easily do without as well.
Not a good sign.
|
