- “Wow, one of a kind!”
- ―Patch
Patch is the most prominent of the Dalmatian puppies born to Pongo and Perdita in the 101 Dalmatians franchise. He is a small puppy with a large black patch over one of his eyes, hence his name.
Background
Patch is one of the 99 puppies. He feels lonely and left out oftentimes with his family, thinking that he's just one of the famous 101 Dalmatians, and longs for a chance to become separate and leave the shadow of his brothers and sisters. He is a good pup, very adventurous, bold, and strong-minded.
Today, Patch is commonly used alongside Cruella De Vil as an icon to represent their respective films in merchandise and crossover material.
Personality
Like his siblings, he is responsible and cute, often fantasizing about mauling the villain Dirty Dawson from the Thunderbolt television series. He looks up to his father as his role model especially after he was rescued by them. When attacked by Jasper and Horace, Patch was the only one of the puppies to attempt to fight back. He also holds a small rivalry with Lucky. He and Lucky are very similar in personality; however, there are a few differences. Lucky is confident and arrogant, as apposed to Patch, who is insecure and humble. Lucky is apparently considered the favorite of the pups; this could be part of their rivalry.
Despite his sibling rivalry with Lucky, Patch is close to him. It was show when he tried to defend him after Horace forces Lucky to sit down.
Appearances
One Hundred and One Dalmatians
Patch is first seen in the film watching television with his brother and sisters. Patch seems to be addicted to the TV show Thunderbolt and interacts with it. After Patch and the puppies are put to sleep they are kidnapped by Jasper and Horace, henchmen to Cruella De Vil who seeks their skin to create coats. Patch's parents journey to save their puppies and Patch escapes with the rests. When needing to get past Cruella, Patch and his brother Lucky get into an argument and push each other in a fireplace and are covered in soot. This gives his father the idea to disguise themselves. Eventually they returned and Patch is safe at home with his family.
101 Dalmatians
Patch is not an official character in the movie (though he appeared on some tie-in merchandise). However, a puppy resembling him can be seen at times, and he was included on the original VHS cover to the film.
101 Dalmatians: The Series
Patch as he appeared in 101 Dalmatians: The Series.
Patch also appeared as a secondary character in the TV series, where he was designed to match his appearance in the original book. For the series his personality was given to Lucky. In the series, Patch was loyal to his family and friendly with all the puppies. For unknown reasons, he wears a rope tied around his neck as opposed to a collar. In early production, he was going to be a main character, as well as his sister, Penny; however, Disney didn't want too many main characters, and so Patch became an extra character while Penny was dropped. Patch was also going to be more responsible and protective over Cadpig; however, that was dropped as well. Episodes where Patch has speaking roles include: "Our Own Digs", "Prima Doggy", "Citizen Canine", "Close But No Cigar", "Shrewzle Watch"
Contradictions
As seen in the original One Hundred and One Dalmatians and its sequel, he is one of the normal and average looking pups. He wears a red collar, and one of his eyes is completely dyed pitch black, as is one of his ears. However, in the series, this concept was changed; his appearance resembled that of Rolly's, larger and somewhat muscular, and had a rope tied around his neck, replacing his red collar. In the original books, Patch was described as being unusually larger than the other puppies, suggesting that his series design was modeled after his book description.
House of Mouse
Patch and Rolly in the House of Mouse episode "Pluto Saves the Day".
Being the most iconic puppy, it is no surprise that Patch made several cameos in House of Mouse. In "Pluto Saves the Day", he and Rolly were part of an all dog-band, performing "Everybody Wants to Be a Woof". In the episode "Ask Von Drake", Patch can be seen with his siblings and father during "The Ludwig Von Drake Song".
Kingdom Hearts
If one were to look carefully for details in the game and strategy guide, Patch is Puppy #5.
101 Dalmatians II: Patch's London Adventure
Patch in 101 Dalmatians II: Patch's London Adventure.
Patch is also the main character in the 2003 sequel 101 Dalmatians II: Patch's London Adventure. Patch feels unimportant being that he is said to be just another one of the 99 puppies. Patch runs away and meets his hero Thunderbolt. They spend time acting like heroes around London but when Cruella De Vil returns and captures his siblings, Thunderbolt and himself, he learns Thunderbolt is just a television star and all the powers and villains on TV were fake. Patch uses his wits and boldness to save his family and defeat Cruella De Vil with the help of Thunderbolt. Patch reunites with his family and given the attention he awaited.
Electric Holiday
In the animated short, Patch makes a brief cameo during the end credits, gnawing on Cruella's design sketch.
Gallery
Trivia
- In the 1961 animation, his collar doesn't have a tag hanging from it, but in Patch's London Adventure, it is shown to have one. However, this is somewhat justified because the farm tag was attached to it in the sequel.
- His appearance in the series undergoes a drastic change; he appears to be fatter and more muscular. And replacing his red collar, a rope tied around his neck. He keeps his signature black patch on his right eye, though. This is similar to how he appears in the books.
- He is the only Dalmatian that has black markings at birth (Dalmatians are notably born pure white).
- Patch had no trouble barking in the first film, but as shown in the sequel, he has a squeaky bark.
- Patch is shown to be a hardcore Thunderbolt fan, knowing all 72 episodes by heart.
- At the post credits of the sequel, Patch is shown to be the new sidekick of Thunderbolt's show.
- Patch was initially going to be a major character in the TV series; however, he became a minor character due to Disney fearing that there were too many main characters in the series. Penny, another character who was to play a major role, was dropped altogether.
- In "Prima Doggy", Patch appears prominently among the other main characters in most of the episode; however, he only has two lines. This could have been a remnant of him being an initial main character.
- According to Disney animators, Patch has 32 spots,
- According to Disneystrology, his birthday is July 23rd, despite the animated 101 Dalmatians claiming that the Dalmatian pups were born in October, according to Pongo.
- Due to his size and behavior, he is most likely 10-12 (in human perspective).
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