Top 10 Secrets Fan May Don’t Know About 101 Dalmatians Movie

Have you ever wondered if there was more to 101 Dalmatians than just the film that we’ve grown to know and love? What secrets don’t they want us to find out about Cruella de Vil? Well, today we will be turning a blind eye on those Disney secrets! Yes, all those things that make your favorite characters….well…you’ll see.

10.  The future of 101 Dalmatians

According to some sources, there are plans for a new 101 Dalmatians film. This will be set in 1990’s London, Cruella de Vil is back and she wants to steal puppies again. I’m not sure how I feel about this yet but it might mean we could get more original sequels (if you can call them that).

9.  Cruella de Vil originally wanted Lucky the dog!

Well, this isn’t much of a secret as Disney has said before that Cruella originally wanted Lucky the dog to make her famous spotted fur coat. But then they thought Pongo and Perdita were better and changed their minds.

8.  There was going to be the third film!

Yes, there was actually another 101 Dalmatians film planned after the release of 102 Dalmatians (2000). Disney has said that it would have been set in New York and still follow Pongo and Perdita. It would also mean that Lucky would return as Cruella de Vil’s assistant (yes she would be back again!) I’m not too sure how I feel about this but I don’t want to know!

7.  Cruella de Vil hates animals because her dad used to abuse them!

Though this is only speculation, it seems like one plausible theory. According to Disney, Cruella’s dad used to abuse animals so when he died an orphan, she got his money and abused animals to make herself feel better. I’m not entirely sure if I like this theory but it definitely is plausible!

6.  Cruella de Vil was based on a real person!

Yes, there really was a Cruella de Vil and she was awful just like her movie counterpart. She did wear the same clothes and the famous fur coat that we know from 101 Dalmatians, but what happened to her after that point isn’t known for sure. It seems that she lived in France at some point because Disney made reference between two characters in The Hundred and One Dalmatians who were based on French people from history. If you have seen the film then you will probably get what I mean when I say ‘Fluffy and Frou-Frou’.

5.  Cruella de Vil has a sister and brother that we know nothing about!

Though it’s not really a secret (but I love this!) There were actually 2 more puppies born in the litter of Pongo and Perdita before they even left their owners, Roger and Anita. These other two puppies went to live with them along with another dog called Rufus. It seems like Disney wanted to get one over on us by having an extra character but only showing us one pup from the litter at first. Clever Disney…clever!

4.  Cruella de Vil was originally an old lady!

Yes, you read that correctly!! According to some sources, Cruella de Vil was originally an old lady who wanted to wear the spotted fur coat she had made from the Dalmatian puppies. She then got trapped in a fire that destroyed her home, killing all of the puppies too! This version was actually intended to be more cruel and nasty than what we ended up getting. But Disney’s executive later changed his mind so Cruella became younger with spots on her clothes instead.

3.  101 Dalmatians is based off real events!

Well this one isn’t really a secret either but I thought it would be interesting for you guys to know about it anyway! It seems that during WWII, hundreds of dogs were killed when they were used against the Nazis because they could detect bombs. A lot of people saw this as very cruel and the most notable person who thought so was Mrs. Winifred Young, a British woman. Years later in 1957, she wrote to Disney asking for help to raise awareness about the cruelty behind animal testing for bombs. She had also found that they were using animals to test cosmetic products which were equally as bad. Disney took interest and decided it would be a great idea for an animated film, especially one aimed at children!

2.  Cruella de Vil has been banned from every fur farm in the world!

It seems like Cruella de Vil can’t buy any new animals or fur coats because according to some sources, she has been banned from every single fur farm all around the world! This is because in the original novel, she actually stole and killed around 80 puppies (yes that’s right!) All we can hope for now is that this makes her think twice about how cruel-looking after animals really is.

1.  It was originally going to be a live-action film like ‘101 Dalmatians’ with people!

Well, I’m sure you must all know about this already but it seems like Disney originally didn’t want to go the traditional route of making an animated film from their beloved classic. Instead, they wanted to have real people just like they did with ‘101 Dalmatians’. So there were talks between Walt Disney and Robert De Niro who wanted to play Cruella de Vil! Now I don’t know about you but that would have been utterly terrifying!