Cruella de Vil
From The Unofficial DisneyWiki
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Cruella De Vil is the villainess of One Hundred and One Dalmatians. She is a wealthy, fashion-obsessed heiress who wishes to use the skins of ninety-nine Dalmatian puppies for a fur coat. She first appeared in the novel ‘’The One Hundred and One Dalmatians’’ (1956) by Dodie Smith. Perhaps the most famous incarnation of the character was developed for Disney’s 1961 animated adaptation, One Hundred and One Dalmatians, by story man Bill Peet, animator Marc Davis and voice artist Betty Lou Gerson. Disney’s villainess proved successful, and has led to appearances in other media. A live-action incarnation was portrayed by Glenn Close for a remake, 101 Dalmatians; this version was not only an heiress but also a fashion designer, and was defeated in slapstick fashion similar to the defeats of the villains of the Home Alone movies. An animated version adapted for 101 Dalmatians: The Animated Series, voiced by April Winchell, inherited characteristics from both of Disney’s previous versions of the character.
Cruella is among the most critically-acclaimed and popular Disney characters of all time, and is held in a similar regard among cinematic villains, once being voted the 39th greatest movie villain of all time[1], the 82nd most popular film character of all time and the 31st greatest movie female of all time. She is also one of Disney’s single most iconic and memorable characters; referred to in television shows such as The Simpsons, her name served as the inspiration for a fetish magazine, as well as a short-lived Northern Irish post-punk band. She remains a recognizable image in popular culture.
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[edit] 1961 Animated Version
Disney’s first, and most critically acclaimed, version of the character appeared in One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961). This version of the character inherited several visual traits from the original Dodie Smith version: her hair, which is black on one side and white on the other; her skintight, black dress, and her enormous mink coat, which swings about her like a cloak. This version of the character, designed by Bill Peet and Marc Davis, was also completely skeletal, and smoked constantly, leaving a trail of green, foul-smelling cigarette smoke wherever she went. Her physical appearance and general manner is evocative of some sort of hellish beast or demon, a fact made reference to in her name and in her song.
Cruella, an old school friend of Anita’s, claims that she cannot live without furs. She hires Jasper and Horace Badun, two incompetent crooks, to steal Pongo and Perdita’s fifteen Dalmatian puppies, and buys eighty-four more through legitimate means. She intends to have all ninety nine puppies skinned and made into clothing. The Colonel, Sergeant Tibbs and Captain are among the animals of the countryside to help Pongo, Perdita and the puppies return home, while Cruella and the Baduns persue them.
Unlike previous Disney villainesses such as The Queen, Lady Tremaine and Maleficent, Cruella is not a schemer. Instead, she acts purely on impulse and is thus prone to reckless behaviour, particularly tearing through the snowy landscape in her car. Unlike future versions of the character, this version of Cruella was seemingly invincible in the eyes of the Dalmatians, who, though they could just about able to keep Jasper and Horace Badun at bay, were unable to face ‘that devil woman’. Their only hope was therefore to flee; Cruella’s defeat in the film is brought about not through the deeds of the animals but her own stubborn relentlessness (which, by the end of the film, has seemingly degenerated into a mad fury), and the incompetence of her henchmen.
[edit] One Hundred and One Dalmatians
[edit] Visiting Anita
[edit] Kidnapping the Puppies
Cruella returns to the Radcliffe's house just after the fifteen puppies are born. At first she is furious that the 'mongrels' have no spots, but, when Anita tells her that the spots will appear in a few weeks, Cruella offers to buy all fifteen immediately. Roger refuses any price, and Cruella, after realising he is not joking, storms out, vowing revenge. Later, Horace and Jasper Badun succeed in stealing the puppies while the Radciffe's are out. At home, Cruella laughs to herself as she reads of the theft in the newspaper; she is the orchestrator of the crime. The Baduns phone her to demand payment, but are told that they will receive nothing until the job is done. Slamming the phone down, Cruella then decides to phone Anita, and feigns surprise at the theft (though Roger is convinced that she is involved).
[edit] The Chase
The Baduns succeed in stealing another eighty four puppies, and take them to the Old De Vil Place. Cruella arrives one evening, demanding that 'the job' be done immediately, and leaves furiously, laiming that she will call the police otherwise. Sergeant Tibbs succeeds in helping all ninety nine dalmatians escape the old mansion. Cruella and the Baduns search for the puppies in a small village, and Cruella is initially fooled when the dogs cover themselves in soot to disguise as labradors and board a lorry heading for London. When she sees snowflakes removing the soot, however, she follows in her car, and the Baduns follow in their truck. Pursuing the puppies, Cruella almost succeeds in ramming the lorry, driver, dalmatians and all, off a cliff, but the top of her car is ripped off during the chase, which comes to an end when the Baduns, trying to hit the lorry, succeed in ramming their truck into her car, sending Cruella, Horace and Jasper over the cliff; all three survive, but Cruella is furious and subjects Jasper and Horace to a tonguelashing at which point Jasper finally plucks up the courage to tell her to shut up. Consumed by anger and humiliation, Cruella collapses into manic sobs.
[edit] Behind the Scenes
[edit] Voice
Betty Lou Gerson, who had previously provided her voice as the narrator of the opening scenes of Cinderella, was inspired by Tallulah Bankhead when voicing Cruella De Vil. This is interesting as it is said that Dodie Smith originally conceived the character as an evil parody of Bankhead. When performing, Gerson was intimidating even to the other actresses working with her.[5] She was the primary inspiration for Marc Davis when animating Cruella. Davis commented that the vocal performance suggested that ‘this character was bigger than life, high in energy, and, like a shark, always moving.’[6]
[edit] Design
Though Cruella’s basic appearance, in particular her half black, half white hair, were established in Dodie Smith’s original novel, the character’s design in the film was developed by BillI Peet (who described Cruella as ‘a fiendish witch of a woman’ who ‘made the story go’[7]), Ken Anderson and Marc Davis.
In sketches exploring designs for Cruella, Marc Davis experimented with more youthful-looking versions of the character. The juxtaposition of the enormous coat against the rail-thin body was established in these early sketches. [8] Davis exaggerated the size of the coat to match Cruella’s larger-than-life personality, and added three big tails to its back to add a ‘slightly ridiculous’ element; the coat’s red clothing was intended to allude to the character’s somewhat demonic nature (and corresponding name). The disheveled style of Cruella’s hair was inspired by hairdos seen in magazines between the 1940s and 1960s.[6] The long green cigarette holder was modeled on one used by Davis himself.
[edit] Animation
Marc Davis, the sole animator of Cruella in all her scenes in One Hundred and One Dalmatians, was initially unsure that Cruella would suit the film, worrying that the character was too comic.[5] Indeed, his colleagues criticized him as he worked; Frank Thomas felt that the head was too skull-like, while Milt Kahl demanded to know why Davis had to ‘make her feet so damn big’.[6]
In addition to the voice of Betty Lou Gerson, the animation was inspired by Tallulah Bankhead, Bette Davis in All About Eve and Rosalind Russel in Aunt Mame.[6] Davis also worked from live-action footage of character actress Mary Wickes. Wickes’ angular physique and sophisticated, smooth movements in this reference footage inspired Davis to incorporate these contrasting aspects in Cruella’s animation.[5] However, Davis used the footage sparingly.[9]
Davis wanted Cruella to move ‘like someone you wouldn’t like’[6] and thought of people who do not listen to any voice other than their own, and thus dominate a conversation or situation[10]. He made specific reference in interview to ‘one woman I knew who was just a monster. She was tall and thin and talked constantly – you never knew what she was saying, but you couldn’t get a word in edgewise.’[11]
[edit] Animation of Cruella De Vil's Car
[edit] Early Role in The Rescuers
[edit] Deviations from source material
In Dodie Smith's original book, Cruella De Vil was married to a furrier, but kept her maiden name. She could be considered more sinister and less powerful than the Disney version of the character, which retains the half black, half white hair, the huge, cape-like mink coat and the hell-like home (suggested in the film by the look of her bedroom).
[edit] Critical Response
The 1961 animated version of Cruella De Vil is generally considered Disney’s best interpretation of the character, and one of the greatest movie villains of all time, declared by many critics as the best villain since the Queen in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. She was nominated for a place in 'AFI’s 50 Greatest Villains list' (along with the Queen, Stromboli, Man, Lady Tremaine, Maleficent and Ursula; the Disney Villains to make the final list were the Queen (10), Man (20), and Cruella De Vil (39)) and was ranked sixth in fan site Ultimate Disney's countdown of the most popular Disney Villains. In an official poll for favourite animated Disney Villains she placed first. Cruella was also ranked as the third greatest Disney Villain in the tongue-in-cheek Disney Villains: The Top Secret Files by Jeff Kurtti. She was voted the 82nd most popular movie character of all time by the readers of film magazine Total Film; she was the only animated Disney character to appear on the list.
Polls held close to the publication of The Disney Villain rank Cruella as the most popular Disney Villain. Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston (authors of the book) find the character ‘a sparkling combination of unnerving evil intent and ridiculous farce, played against the innocence and vulnerability of ninety-nine puppies… Cruella was unique, outrageous and highly entertaining.’[5] Leonard Maltin considers the character to exemplify the film’s ‘stylistic exaggeration of reality… her design is a caricature… even her car is an exaggeration.’ Times critic Howard Thompson felt that she ‘makes the ‘’Snow White’’ witch seem like Pollyanna… Imagine a sadistic Aunt Mame, drawn by Charles Addams and with a Talulah Bankhead bass.’[14] Jerry Beck’s Animated Movie Guide declares that ‘Disney evildoers of the past were merely dastardly, but Cruella was actually psychotic, a bony, volatile bundle off thinly worn nerves and hysterical egomania… Cruella De Vil is arguably the most memorable character in any Disney film.’ [15]
[edit] Disney TV Specials
- Disney's Haunted Halloween segments The Legend of Sleepy Hollow: Creulla DeVil's car chasing scene.
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[edit] Animation
Though Milt Kahl initially disliked Marc Davis’ caricatured approach to the design and animation of the character (complaining in particular about the size of Cruella’s feet), he was very impressed by the final product and, thinking Davis to be a better draughtsman, appears to have become rather jealous of his colleagues success with the character. When Kahl was given the chance to animate his own flamboyant villainess, Madame Medusa in The Rescuers, he swore to Davis that he would ‘blow your Cruella off the screen’. A fan letter to Kahl from a young Andreas Deja mistakenly referring to him as Cruella’s animator received the reply: ‘Thank you for all your compliments, but I did not animate Cruella De Vil. She was animated by my friend Marc Davis and, unlike Medusa, was based on live action.’[6]
[edit] Live-Action Version
For 101 Dalmatians, Cruella was reinvented as the head of a London-based fashion house, House of De Vil. Rather than an old schoolmate, Anita Dearly is one of her employees and, it is implied, her best designer. Cruella first takes a fancy to Dalmatian skin when Anita draws spots on one of her dress designs. Along with Jasper and Horace, Cruella had a new accomplice: Mr. Skinner, who is given the job of killing and skinning the puppies. As the head of a fashion house, Close’s Cruella was given a more varied wardrobe of furs, including an enormous, red cloak, a Siberian tiger pelt, and clawed gloves.
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This version of the character was less invincible than her animated predicessor, and it is the animals of a nearby farm who defeat her, in slapstick fashion, to leave her muddy, covered in manure but uninjured, after which she is arrested. In the film’s sequel, ‘’102 Dalmatians’’, Cruella is seemingly cured of her fur (and spot) obsession, thanks to experimental hypnosis. Released from prison, she is eventually released from her kindly state by the chimes of Big Ben, reverting to her old self. She returned to her old ways, aided in her quest for spotted pelt by fellow fashion designer Jean-Pierre Le Pelt and unwilling butler Alonso. Her pursuit of another Dalmatian coat (this time with a matching hat) is once again in vain, however, as the dogs of a struggling animal shelter drench her in icing and batter in a Parisian bakery.
[edit] Animated Television Version
The incarnation of Cruella that appears in 101 Dalmatians: The Animated Series (which relocated the events of the films in America), voiced by April Winchell, shares traits with both the 1961 version and the live-action version. In design, she resembles the Cruella of the original animated version. However, the series’ slightly different design style, as well as lower budgets, resulted in a simpler design; most notably, the black dress and fur coat were dropped in favour of a simple black and white dress. This version of the character also lost previous incarnations’ excessive smoking habits and, notably, obsession with fur; instead, her goal throughout the series was to own the land currently owned by Roger and Anita Dearly. Like the live-action version, this Cruella was the head of the House of De Vil, and was often defeated in comedic fashion. Her minions included Jasper and Horace, as well as her pet ferret, Scorch.
[edit] References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 AFI's 100 Years... 100 Heroes & Villains
- ↑ Ultimate Disney's Villain Countdown
- ↑ 100 Years of Magic: Villains
- ↑ Movieline's 100 Best female characters
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston, "The Disney Villain" (Hyperion, United States, 1993) ISBN 1-56282-792-8
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 John Canemaker, "Walt Disney's Nine Old Men and the Art of Animation" (Disney Editions, United States, 2001) ISBN 078686496-6
- ↑ Bill Peet, "Bill Peet: An Autobiography" (Houghton Mifflin, Boston, 1989) ISBN 978-0-395-68982-0
- ↑ Cartoon Modern: Marc Davis’ Designs for Cruella De Vil
- ↑ Michael Barrier, Hollywood Cartoons: American Animation in its Golden Age (Oxford University Press, New York, 1999) ISBN 13-978-0-19-516729-0
- ↑ Disney Family Album: Marc Davis
- ↑ Charles Solomon, "The History of Animation Enchanted Drawings" (Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1989) ISBN 0-394-54684-9
- ↑ Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston, "The Illusion of Life: Disney Animation"
- ↑ John Canemaker, "Before the Animation Begins: The Life and Times of Disney inspirational Sketch Artists"
- ↑ Leonard Maltin, "The Disney Films" (Disney Editions, New York, 2000) ISBN 078688527
- ↑ Jerry Beck, Martin Goodman, Andrew Leal, W. R. Miller, "The Animated Movie Guide" (Chicago Review Press, Illinois, 2005) ISBN 1-55652-591-5
