SCREEN IT! PARENTAL REVIEW: 102 DALMATIANS

"102 DALMATIANS"
(2000) (Glenn Close, Alice Evans) (G)

Alcohol/ Drugs	Blood/Gore	Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude	Frightening/ Tense Scenes	Guns/ Weapons
Minor	Minor	Heavy	*Moderate	None

Imitative Behavior	Jump Scenes	Music (Scary/Tense)	Music (Inappropriate)	Profanity
Minor	Minor	Moderate	None	None

Sex/ Nudity	Smoking	Tense Family Scenes	Topics To Talk About	Violence
Minor	Minor	None	Mild	*Mild

QUICK TAKE:: Comedy: A supposedly reformed fashion designer returns to her old, villainous ways as she and her cohorts once again attempt to kidnap many Dalmatian puppies so that she can make a signature designer coat from their spotted fur.

PLOT:

It's been three years since fashion designer Cruella De Vil (GLENN CLOSE) was locked up for dognapping scores of Dalmatian puppies in hopes of making a signature fur coat from their spotted skins. Now reportedly reconditioned to love dogs and hate furs, Cruella's paroled under the condition that with any repeat offense she'll forfeit her entire fortune of eight million pounds.

Her personal assistant, Alonso (TIM McINNERNY), isn't convinced of her change, which also holds true for Chloe Simon (ALICE EVANS). She's a probation officer responsible for recent parolees such as Ewan (BEN CROMPTON), a released convict who helps his friend, Kevin Shepherd (IOAN GRUFFUDD), run the cash poor Second Chance animal shelter. Her reservations stem from the fact that her dog, Dipstick, was one of the formerly abducted pups and now has three Dalmatian puppies of his own, Little Dipper, Domino and Oddball, the latter of whom is void of any spots.

After buying Second Chance, Cruella's conditioning reverses, and she returns to her old ways. As such, and to avoid losing her fortune, she enlists the aid of French furrier Jean Pierre Le Pelt (GERARD DEPARDIEU) as her front man for abducting the puppies for her signature fur coat. As the two of them and Alonso set out to kidnap the pups, Chloe, Kevin, Dipstick and Waddlesworth (voice of ERIC IDLE), a free-speaking macaw, do what they can to stop them and free the pups.

WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?: If they enjoyed either the original animated film, its 1996 live-action remake or dogs in general, they probably will.

WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: G: For not containing material to warrant a higher rating.

CAST AS ROLE MODELS:: GLENN CLOSE plays a maniacal fashion designer who will do anything underhanded to abduct Dalmatian puppies and use their spotted skins for her signature fur coat. She also carries around a cigarette holder (with lit and unlit cigarettes).
TIM McINNERNY plays her loyal assistant who follows her orders to abduct the puppies.
ALICE EVANS plays a probation officer who takes on Cruella as a client, but worries since she owns Dalmatians herself and knows Cruella's past.
IOAN GRUFFUDD plays an amiable guy who runs a second chance dog shelter and works with Chloe to foil Cruella's efforts.
BEN CROMPTON plays his recently paroled friend who helps run the shelter.
GERARD DEPARDIEU plays a pompous and nasty French furrier who teams up with Cruella to steal the puppies and make her coat.; TIM McINNERNY plays her loyal assistant who follows her orders to abduct the puppies.
ALICE EVANS plays a probation officer who takes on Cruella as a client, but worries since she owns Dalmatians herself and knows Cruella's past.
IOAN GRUFFUDD plays an amiable guy who runs a second chance dog shelter and works with Chloe to foil Cruella's efforts.
BEN CROMPTON plays his recently paroled friend who helps run the shelter.
GERARD DEPARDIEU plays a pompous and nasty French furrier who teams up with Cruella to steal the puppies and make her coat.; ALICE EVANS plays a probation officer who takes on Cruella as a client, but worries since she owns Dalmatians herself and knows Cruella's past.
IOAN GRUFFUDD plays an amiable guy who runs a second chance dog shelter and works with Chloe to foil Cruella's efforts.
BEN CROMPTON plays his recently paroled friend who helps run the shelter.
GERARD DEPARDIEU plays a pompous and nasty French furrier who teams up with Cruella to steal the puppies and make her coat.; IOAN GRUFFUDD plays an amiable guy who runs a second chance dog shelter and works with Chloe to foil Cruella's efforts.
BEN CROMPTON plays his recently paroled friend who helps run the shelter.
GERARD DEPARDIEU plays a pompous and nasty French furrier who teams up with Cruella to steal the puppies and make her coat.; BEN CROMPTON plays his recently paroled friend who helps run the shelter.
GERARD DEPARDIEU plays a pompous and nasty French furrier who teams up with Cruella to steal the puppies and make her coat.; GERARD DEPARDIEU plays a pompous and nasty French furrier who teams up with Cruella to steal the puppies and make her coat.

CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO

HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE

Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit?
Then read OUR TAKE of this film.

(Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below).

OUR WORD TO PARENTS:

The following is a brief summary of the content found in this G-rated film. Various scenes and the film's villains, especially the exaggerated and cartoonish Cruella De Vil, might be unsettling, suspenseful or even frightening to some kids. Standard-issue and slapstick style violence occurs, with the former consisting of people hitting or throwing others (and dogs occasionally biting the villains), and the latter involving one character repeatedly being banged up in mostly accidental ways.

The villains obviously have bad attitudes for wanting to kidnap the Dalmatian pups and skin them for their spotted coats. Beyond that, the main villain carries lit and unlit cigars in her holder, some people drink and a woman shows cleavage. The film's remaining categories, however, have little or nothing in the way of other major objectionable material. That said, should you still be concerned about the film and its appropriateness for anyone in your home who wishes to see it, we suggest that you take a closer look at our detailed content listings for more specific examples of what occurs in the film.

For those concerned with the presence of bright, flashing lights, some of that occurs during a scene where photographers are taking many flash pictures.

ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE: We see several bottles of champagne next to trophies at a dog show.
Le Pelt pours some champagne for Cruella.
People have wine or champagne with dinner.
Some people have champagne on a train, including Cruella and Le Pelt.

BLOOD/GORE: A cat belches after presumably eating a bird (we see feathers in its mouth).
Le Pelt slips and his face lands in a toilet (that only has water in it).
One of the non-Dalmatian dogs that has a constant drooling/slobbering problem lets a huge wad of drool fall from its mouth and land on Cruella's face.

DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE: Cruella, Le Pelt and Alonso all have both types of attitudes for kidnapping and then wanting to skin the dogs for their spotted coats (all done in a cartoonish fashion).
Cruella and Alonso set it up so that it looks like Kevin has stolen the puppies and is then put into jail.

FRIGHTENING SCENES: Cruella's wild appearance and wicked behavior might be a little unsettling or scary to young kids, as might some scenes listed under "Violence." As usual, however, that all depends on the viewer's age, level of maturity and tolerance for such material.
Oddball is accidentally knocked out through a window onto a gutter that then breaks off and swings away from the building (quite far above the ground), leaving the puppy in a precarious position (as some dramatically suspenseful music plays). Chloe then spots this and she nearly falls out of a window while retrieving the dog.
A scene where Cruella mentally snaps back into her old self and briefly sees everything and everyone covered in Dalmatian spots (in a somewhat surreal scene) may be confusing or a bit unsettling for some kids.
Oddball gets stuck in a bunch of helium-filled balloons that then lift up into the sky and Kevin races after them along some rooftops, eventually leaping for the balloons to save the pooch.
Cruella tells Alonso to find and kill Oddball (and he later approaches the pooch, but can't catch it).
Oddball runs and tries jumping onto the back of a train and briefly hangs off the edge before falling off.
We see Le Pelt getting out his skinning knife to use on the puppies and Cruella comments on that (saying that he enjoys the skinning and not the strangling of the pups -- some kids might find such talk unsettling, but we never see attempts of doing either).
Cruella slowly and menacingly approaches Oddball in several scenes, but doesn't catch the pup.
As Cruella is sent through a cake factory assembly line, the dogs dump large (and heavy) bags of flour down onto her. A large roller later knocks her off her feet and starts pressing down hard on her. We then see some large chopping blades landing on the assembling line and she tosses Oddball into them, but the pup isn't hurt.

GUNS/WEAPONS: None.

IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR: Phrases: "Stand aside, pork brain" and "(You) idiot."
Some protestors throw what looks like red paint onto Le Pelt (for him being a furrier).

JUMP SCENES: Le Pelt, presumed to be unconscious, suddenly grabs a dog.

MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE): A moderate amount of traditional and comically suspenseful music plays during the film.

MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE): None.

PROFANITY: None.

SEX/NUDITY: During a fashion show, we see one model dressed in a midriff-baring, somewhat skimpy outfit (but nothing too risqué or explicit).
Cruella shows varying amounts of cleavage in various outfits.

SMOKING: Cruella occasionally holds both lit and unlit cigarettes in her long cigarette holder (although we don't see her actually smoking any of them).

TENSE FAMILY SCENES: None.

TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT: Having dogs as pets - many kids might want Dalmatian puppies after seeing the film.
Cruella and Van Pelt and their desire to kill the puppies for their spotted coats to make a new fur coat.

VIOLENCE: Most of what's listed below occurs in a cartoonish and/or slapstick fashion.
Cruella pushes Alonso aside so that she can tear open a door to get to her fur coats.
Le Pelt pushes someone out of his way, and then picks up things in his dressing room and throws them (including a vase that shatters).
Le Pelt throws his champagne glass across the room and Cruella whacks Alonso on the chest.
Alonso falls from a window (while trying to steal the puppies) and bangs his head on a gate. Later, a door opens into him and then closes on his hand.
A dog bites Le Pelt on the butt as he tries to kidnap the puppies. One then runs around his feet with a thread that causes him to trip and fall into a closet where all sorts of items fall onto him.
A dog jumps onto Alonso and bites his hand.
Cruella hits Alonso and later a baggage cart drives over his hands as he lies on the floor.
Cruella drives the wrong way down a street, causing various cars to crash as they try to get out of her way.
Cruella slams Alonso's face up against a window to show him something. Moments later, Le Pelt takes Alonso and throws him through a window (shattering the glass and window panes). He then slides him on a hook into a wall. Le Pelt then tries to kick and come after Alonso, but ends up partially falling through some floorboards where a dog below bites on his foot.
As Cruella is sent through a cake factory assembly line, the dogs dump large (and heavy) bags of flour down onto her. A large roller later knocks her off her feet and starts pressing down hard on her. We then see some large chopping blades landing on the assembling line and she tosses Oddball into them, but the pup isn't hurt.

Reviewed November 16, 2000 / Posted November 22, 2000

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