19 things you didn't know about '101 Dalmatians' (2024)

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It was the first film to use a new animation process.

According to the Walt Disney Animation Studios archives, "101 Dalmatians" was the first Disney film to only use the Xerox process to animate drawings. This would greatly increase the production process for future feature films.

The film won a BAFTA award.

In addition to being nominated for a Grammy Award, the puppy-centric film won a BAFTA award for best animated film.

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The 1961 film has a nearly perfect score on Rotten Tomatoes.

The animated "101 Dalmatians" has a 98% critics rating and a 76% viewers' rating on Rotten Tomatoes. For comparison, the film's live action counterpart has a 39% critics rating and a 40% viewers' rating on the site.

The voice of Donald Duck is in the film.

More accurately, the original voice of Donald Duck, Clarence Nash, plays an uncredited part in the film. According to IMDb, the voice actor recorded all the dogs' barks in the film.

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The movie was based on a novel.

Like most Disney films, "101 Dalmatians" was based on the 1956 novel by Dodie Smith. Based on the plot summary of the book, not much was changed from the book to the on-screen adaptation.

Disney renamed the main characters.

In the film, Roger and Anita's last name is "Radcliffe." But, in the original book, the couple's last name was "Dearly."

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There was a "101 Dalmatians" book sequel.

Dodie Smith did write a follow-up to her popular book. Titled "The Starlight Barking,"the sequel is focused on one of Pongo and Perdita's pups, who is all grown up and searching to break an enchantment that threatens to eliminate dogs as man's best friend.

Pongo is based on a real dog.

Speaking of Pongo, the Dalmatian dad was inspired by Smith's own pup of the same name. She was gifted the spotted Dalmatian in 1934 by her husband. The dog would later inspire what many consider to be her greatest novel "101 Dalmatians."

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Marc Davis wanted Cruella to be a modern-day villain.

Unlike his previous villain Maleficent, Davis wanted his animation of Cruella to give Disney a modern-day villain. As the sole animator assigned to bring this creation to life, Davis was said to have been inspired by a woman at a co*cktail party, although he never revealed the name of the inspiration out of respect.

Tallulah Bankhead may have inspired some parts of Cruella.

Although the actual inspiration for the character remains a mystery, Davis once told the LA Times he wanted to mimic Cruella off the actress Tallulah Bankhead, the one woman he said he knew was "just a monster." It's said that many of Bankhead's quirks and eccentrics seem to be included in the film.

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The voice of Cruella should seem familiar.

Voiced by Betty Lou Gerson, Cruella de Vil's voice should seem oddly familiar to loyal Disney fans. "101 Dalmatians" was Gerson's second film with the company. She had previously voiced the narrator in "Cinderella," which premiered 11 years prior.

Characters from "Lady and the Tramp" make an appearance.

You can spot a few familiar faces in "101 Dalmatians." During the "Twilight Bark" scene, characters from Disney's "Lady and the Tramp" are clearly visible — and Lady and Tramp themselves even make an appearance.

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"101 Dalmatians" was the highest grossing film of 1961.

Following the dismal performance of "Sleeping Beauty" in 1959, no one was quite expecting the financial success of "101 Dalmatians." Making over $102 million in 1961, the animated film was the top-grossing film of the year in the US, beating out "West Side Story," "The Parent Trap," and "Gone With the Wind."

There are lots of hidden Mickeys in the film.

If you look carefully at the spots on Pongo and the rest of his brood, there are plenty of hidden Mickeys to be found. There's a hidden Mickey in the opening scene of the film when Pongo is looking for a match for his human, as well as a hidden Mickey during the park scene with Pongo.

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There are millions of spots in the film.

A dedicated fan took the time to count up all the spots in the film and found that there were a whopping 6,469,952 spots in the animated film. Pongo is said to have 72 spots, while Perdita has 68.

Tons of paint was used for the film.

You can't animate over six million spots without paint, which is why the animation studio used 800 gallons of paint for the film. In total, the special paint used to create the animated movie weighed five tons.

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The dogs are actually light grey.

In reality, Dalmatian dogs are white with black spots, but in order for the color of the dogs to look good on camera, the animators used a light grey paint to create the dogs' coats. Animators have previously said that using white paint would have been too bright and made it difficult to spot the pups during the treacherous snow scenes.

Tons of colors were created for the film.

In total, 1,000 different shades of paint were mixed for the film, including 100 specially mixed for the film to create the perfect look. It’s no easy feat coloring a film with multiple seasons and over 100 dogs.

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Another Disney film appears in "101 Dalmatians."

During the scene with Horace, Jasper, and the kidnapped puppies, Disney's black and white film "Springtime" can be seen playing on the TV. "Springtime" was originally released in 1929 and celebrates the coming of spring after a storm.

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