202 Dalmatians (That is to say, 101 Dalmatian Double Feature!)

11:36 AM · Jun 27, 2021 "the purge exists in 101 dalmatians, not the weirdest thing about the canon"

Content Warning for animal abuse and child abuse in this one. 101 Dalmatian Street is a hell of a show.

These shows are very different. The setting is different. The characters are different. They have a couple things in common about them though: A huge cast, a very specific style that's amazing to look at, Cruella de Vil as the main villain, and the fact that they're both mid as hell.

11:14 AM · Jun 27, 2021 "i listened to the two dalmatians themes back to back and i really like that they have kind of a similar style about them but are distinct."

Also listen to the theme songs for these shows they're probably my favorites so far aside from Rescue Rangers. And they show off the styles of the shows pretty well, which are by far the strengths of each of them.

101 Dalmatians the Series follows the adventures of the American Now Dalmatians, as they move to a farm after Nanny gets mugged on a walk.

3:57 PM · Dec 26, 2020 "ok im onto 101 dalmatians now (i'll come back to the last 4 eps of nightmare ned in a bit) and uhhhh who mugs the woman walking 99 dogs?"
6:03 PM · Dec 26, 2020 "worth noting this may qualify as an au show. this is the au where roger and anita move to the farm because nanny got mugged"

101 Dalmatian Street takes place in the same universe as the movie I presume, taking place in modern day England with the descendants of the Pongo and Perdita, Delilah, and her family. Including her husband Doug, and the main characters: Dolly and Dylan.

11:24 AM · Jun 27, 2021 "i think it's funny that all the dogs are british except for mark beaks and amethyst"

This trend of descendants or ancestors is something we see a lot of with modern Disney Properties, which on one hand makes me angry because they could just make an original series, but on the other hand they're so fucking good so often. The 7D (focusing on the ancestors of the seven dwarves) is great. The Rocketeer (focusing on the great-granddaughter of Cliff Second) is great. I'm really looking forward to Alice's Wonderland Bakery.

101 Dalmatians the Series however is about the titular dogs. Instead of focusing on Pongo and Perdita, the protagonists of the movie, the show focuses on Lucky, Cadpig, and Rolly, three of the original litter (and characters from the original novel if I recall correctly). Their personalities are Leader, Hippie, and Fat, respectively. Though I guess it says a lot that the girl of the trio, Cadpig, has better characterization then the boys, but I still wasn't keen on her.

4:09 PM · Dec 26, 2020 "god cadpig is annoying"

The show usually focuses on the 15 original puppies, since that's easier, but the main cast also has another addition, a dalmatian named Spot.

 

She's so transgender with it and I'm not kidding.

5:15 PM · Dec 26, 2020 "spot transed her gender good for her"

5:27 PM · Dec 26, 2020 "ok which of you is kinning the trans chicken?"
5:32 PM · Dec 26, 2020 "they have not mentioned the fact that spot wants to be a dog at all in the show..... she just showed up...."
3:27 PM · Dec 27, 2020 "spot the dalmatian
scott the human boy
dare i say....."

They're actually surprisingly cool with it too. Spot is seen as one of the dogs, sometimes raising eyebrows amongst family, but Spot is true to herself, and its seen as a really good thing. I think out of all the animal trans metaphors, she's probably one of the better ones.

It's funny because 101 Dalmatian Street also has a few of these.

 

9:28 PM · Jun 27, 2021 "WAIT I JUST REALIZED DEEPAK IS THE TRANS REP IN 101 DALMATIAN STREET"

The trans metaphor with Deepak isn't nearly as strong as it is with Spot, particularly because he's not a main character and doesn't get as much focus. However, Deepak strongly identifies with cats, which is usually stepped on because "why would you be a cat," so he doesn't really embrace himself as much.

There also Fergus. Whose a bit more subtle with it. He uses the world wide woof for example, and is also seen as one of the dogs.

9:28 PM · Jun 27, 2021 "fergus is like spot for cis people"

Maybe it's just that he's species non-conforming. Who knows?

Also they put a lot of bisexual undertones in street, especially with Dylan, who gets a Poodle girlfriend and also steals his sister's man at the end of an episode.

6:22 PM · Jun 27, 2021 "WHAT DO YOU MEAN AFTER HITTING IT OFF WITH DOLLY'S CRUSH DYLAN IS GETTING A GIRLFRIEND"
6:23 PM · Jun 27, 2021 "thanks for making the dogs all bisexual i guess?"
6:24 PM · Jun 27, 2021 "bisexual dog in need of a goth poodle gf"
6:31 PM · Jun 27, 2021 "THE POODLE IS YANDERE?"

The relationship stuff 

Both shows also have a LOT of characters. Street does a better job at introducing these characters, as in Series, they just Show Up one day.

4:38 PM · Dec 26, 2020 "they keep introducing random characters it's weird."

This may be due to weird airing orders in Series, as I know that is a recurring problem with Disney. However, I don't know the production order, so I don't have the slightest as to when characters get introduced.

Street does a better job as establishing character across episodes. Dylan is an anxious wreck. Dolly is a big sister. Dante is the goth one, Da Vinci is an artist, there's three dogs named Dimitri and they're the same.

6:12 PM · Dec 26, 2020 "looking down the line a little... apparently there are THREE dogs in 101 dalmatian street named dimitri...."

And every time you meet these characters you know that! Street even has an episode that shows the characters dreams and its all very clear despite there being so many dalmatians. Also some characters get multiple dreams for some reason.

9:35 PM · Jun 27, 2021 "why does dylan get two dreams i dont respect him"

But really, none of this matters. What matters is "How did theses shows do Cruella De Vil?" Because they're very different. The original movie has her demented and out for puppy blood.

Series makes her a better person. Street makes her unbelievably worse.

Cruella's motivations in Series are less about fashion (though she is still a fashion head) and more about land ownership. All her plots are about trying to find loopholes in the farm deed, such as a 101 pets rule. She's a lot more cartoony in this version too, and a bit of a loser, so naturally, she's my favorite of the two.

5:09 PM · Dec 26, 2020 "cruella purchases fast food and disguises it as her own cooking"

She also has a niece named Ivy, a girl who acts sweet, but is just as nasty as Cruella and often tries to get the puppies in trouble. My only memories of this show from my childhood are of Ivy.

In Street, Cruella is a more mysterious entity. She's out for revenge on the descendants of the dogs who wronged her. She's a lot older and a lot scarier, even when she's not in the shadows.

10:07 PM · Jun 27, 2021 "cruella gross up close up... by god the only reason i'm going thru this arc is bc i NEED to know how this show does cruella bc she is the only character here who matters."
10:10 PM · Jun 27, 2021 "they made her a horror movie character"

Much like her niece Ivy, Cruella enlists the help of her grand-nephew, Hunter. But unlike Ivy, Hunter is the main antagonist through most of the series. I'd honestly argue that at his worse, Hunter in Street is worse than Cruella in Series, having plots to starve the dogs, amongst other things.

 

In the middle of the series, they put Hunter in a box for six months. This is the turning point for his character.

He gets a lot more unhinged after this and shows off dog traits. No. This one isn't transgender this is clearly a child experiencing trauma of being locked in a box for six months.

But what they do after a point is give Hunter a redemption arc. We soon learn how scary and abusive Cruella is to Hunter.

10:04 PM · Jun 27, 2021 "this would probably be so meaningful if the rest of the ep didn't play this as a joke and also she LITERALLY CALLED HIM A SNOWFLAKE"

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's very weird because Street sometimes plays the abuse straight while other times plays it as a joke. I suppose they were trying to do what they did with Lena de Spell in Ducktales, but it lands horribly. And Yes I Made Several Tweets About It.

8:02 PM · Jun 27, 2021 "im gonna say it hunter:ivy::lena:minima"
10:18 PM · Jun 27, 2021 "oh they're really going to make hunter redeem himself AFTER he commits crimes against humanity?"
10:18 PM · Jun 27, 2021 "he had no problem dehydrating and starving the puppies but killing them???? that's no good???? i get you're doing a lena thing or whatever but oh my god"
10:23 PM · Jun 27, 2021 "they could have killed her. they should have."
10:29 PM · Jun 27, 2021 "well the cruella mythos was interesting. i dont know how i feel about hunter's redemption, considering his treatment in the narrative as an abusive victim seesaws between hawhaw and upsetting"
12:08 AM · Jun 28, 2021 "there is little to be gained from hunter's redemption, and his abuse is so on and off. the same can be said about the living conditions of the pups. otherwise, a lot could be done better, but it does cute very well, with a lot of the littler puppies being faves."

Something really interesting about both of these series is that live action movies were made around this time as well. Series had the live action 101 Dalmatians movie, which, admittedly, I have never seen. But it does lean hard into fashion and I believe it's where the Cruella is Anita's boss piece of canon comes from, which is a big thing in series.

Street has Cruella. I also have never seen Cruella. Cruella did come out after street instead of before, so Street!Cruella isn't inspired at all by Cruella!Cruella. But from what I do know about Cruella, the movie, they're basically opposites.

12:22 AM · Jun 28, 2021 "There’s a little whiplash between Disney making media of a woman abusive to her grand nephew and then making her a sympathetic girlboss"

Overall, I liked Series more than I liked Street, but again, not by much. Street had better story and characters overall, but Series had a couple fun characters I enjoyed, and also no poorly written abuse narrative and redemption arc.

Overall Rating for 101 Dalmatians the Series: C Tier

Overall Rating for 101 Dalmatian Street: C Tier as Well