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Review: ‘101 Dalmations’ Diamond Edition on Blu-Ray

To begin with, what more could any Disney fan ask for – this groundbreaking film has never looked sharper.

All images © 2014 Disney.

Let’s see, the “Diamond Edition” 101 Dalmatians blu-ray has been out for about three weeks now; maybe I should sit down and watch it before it’s re-released on whatever format comes next. (They’ve already gone through “Masterpiece,” “Gold” and “Platinum” releases—what’s left? When they get to “Plutonium” I’m outta here, unless Pluto’s on the cover.)

Okay, beginning with (duh) the movie…what more could any Disney fan ask for—it’s your typical pristine/restored/digitized print, most pleasing to the eyeballs. The famous, groundbreaking at the time xeroxgraphic transfer of the animator’s pencil drawing onto animation cels has never been clearer—or more pleasing—to the eye. The slight, sketchy touches, the rough texture, the occasional secondary lines are all crystal clear, giving the animation a direct connection to the animator’s hand that a mere tracing, no matter how accurate, eliminates in place of frame-to-frame uniformity.

I have to credit whoever produces the home video bonus features; along with the puffery there’s the occasional acknowledgement Walt had a few opinions about his own films that never wound up on the TV shows he produced to promote their theatrical release. If you were an animation buff you probably already knew Walt was less than a raving fan of the xeroxed animation drawings, but it’s fascinating to hear about it in the “Making Of” feature accompanying the movie.

Speaking of those bonus features, there are several of note on the blu-ray, new items that weren’t on the previous DVD release. Most interesting of the bunch is a follow-up to the puppies’ favorite TV show, Thunderbolt the Wonder Dog. In case you’ve been on pins and needles since 1961 wondering what happened after Thunderbolt and Dirty Dawson plunged down that waterfall, there’s The Further Adventures of Thunderbolt, a 1:46 answer that culminates in Dawson’s capture.

The short’s creators get credit for trying to digitally recreate the original film’s sketchy xerographed look (even if they didn’t quite nail it), but that handsome, jut-jawed sheriff who arrives to arrest Dawson? He looks like he rode in from a different cartoon altogether. Definitely a deliberate decision on the part of the short’s producers, but for my Kanine Krunchies they should’ve made him more in keeping with the original film’s human character designs.

(If you’re still curious as to Thunderbolt’s further adventures, check out his exploits in 101 Dalmatians II: Patch’s London Adventure, one of the better Disney DTV sequels.)

The second new bonus feature is a short called Lucky Dogs, but the only thing canine about this piece is its title; these lucky dogs are folks who worked on the film back in the day, sharing their happy reminiscences about life in the Mouse factory.

Then there’s The 411 on 101, hosted by Cameron Boyce, who plays someone named Luke on some Disney Channel show called Jessie. First off he lets us know he’ll be playing Cruella DeVil’s son Carlos in the upcoming Disney feature Descendants. Ordinarily I’d be scared of a live-action reboot/retcon/spin-off of a Disney animated feature, but Enchanted and Maleficent were surprisingly good, plus Boyce looks pretty cool in his black, white and red, leather and fur outfit, not to mention his gelled-up white hair; he’s definitely inherited his mother’s fashion sense.

However, in this short the hyperactive Boyce appears to have downed five or six Red Bulls before going on camera. Or maybe it was the video editor, whose chop-o-matic style is a bit wearying for anyone not a contemporary ‘tweenager. The facts he relays are interesting and relevant, even if you’ve heard them before (the xerography, the use of photographed/xeroxed/ animated car models, etc.) plus who could disagree Cruella is Disney’s best villainess ever? (What’s that—you prefer Maleficent? Well, she is impressive, but no one ever wrote a song about her.)

They’ve thrown the old Disney Presents episode Walt built around 101’s release on the blu-ray as well. Feel free to skip over this one, unless you’re a fan of his Rex Allen-narrated, hoked-up “true-life” nature films. (Did that border collie really jump into a churning river to rescue those sheep?)The rest of the blu-ray goodies are carry-overs from the previous DVD release: a Cruella music video performed by another Disney Channel kid, various deleted scenes and mini-docs, plus numerous TV commercials and radio ads for the movie. (If you’re a real completist, feel free to listen to every unused version of the Kanine Krunchies TV commercial jingle.)

Don’t throw away your 101 DVD just yet. If you have younger kids in the household they might enjoy the DVD features that skipped the migration to blu-ray: “101 Pop-Up Facts for the Family” (plus another 101 for “the Fan”) and various “For the Dogs” games & and activities. Come to think of it, I wouldn’t mind taking a look at those pop-ups…).

Joe Strike's picture

Joe Strike has written about animation for numerous publications. He is the author of Furry Nation: The True Story of America's Most Misunderstood Subculture.