101 Dalmatians: The Series

101 Dalmatians: The Series
File:101.JPG Lucky, Two-Tone, Cadpig, Rolly, Dipstick, Wizzer, Tripod, Patch, and Spot with the show's logo.
Created by	Jim Jinkins David Campbell Walt Disney Television
Starring	Pamela Segall Kath Soucie Tara Strong April Winchell Jim Cummings Jeff Bennett Frank Welker Charlotte Rae Pam Dawber Kevin Schon
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	65
Production
Running time	22 minutes
Original release
Network	Syndication/ABC
Release	September 1, 1997 – March 4, 1998

Disney's 101 Dalmatians: The Series is a late-1990s animated television series produced by The Walt Disney Company. It was based on the classic 1961 Disney animated feature One Hundred and One Dalmatians and its 1996 live-action remake.

Originally intended to be titled Dalmatians 101, it was (fittingly) changed to 101 Dalmatians: The Series just before its premiere. In the series opener, Roger and Anita Dearly (no longer called Radcliff as in the original animated film, but Dearly as they are in the original children's book and in the live-action version film), with Nanny, decide to move to the country where the 99 puppies will have room to grow and play (there wasn't enough space in their city brownstone apartment house back in Topstown). The fact that the Widow Smedley's farm, which the Dearlys purchased, sits next to the de Vil Mansion didn't bode well for Cruella de Vil, its prime occupant. She's become a corporate criminal. Of course, she no longer wants the Puppies' hides since it is not 'policially correct' to wear fur (she would eventually go back to her old tricks in House of Mouse a few years later), but she definitely wants the Dearlys and the Dalmatians off the farm. To this end, she has hired brothers Horace & Jasper of "H & J Concepts." Also, Cruella's pet ferret, Scorch has made it his business to terrorize the puppies himself.

The show focuses primarily on three particular puppies: Lucky, TV expert and leader and canine Tom Sawyer; loyal, scholarly, and always-hungry brother Rolly; and their outspoken New Age guru sister, the runt Cadpig. They're joined by colorful friends like Spot, the girl chicken who wants to be a dog and a member of the "Bark Brigade." Early promotional material listed "dictatorial Penny and mischievous Patch" as two other puppy cast members, but the highlighted puppies were whittled down to three.

Other puppies appearing in the show have included the brave three-legged Tripod, Dipstick, the constantly-urinating Wizzer, and their sister Two-Tone, and Patch. The show seems to be a blending of both the original animated film and the live action feature, so the potential exists for other puppies from the films to appear, especially Penny, Freckles, and Pepper (animated), and Jewel and Fidget (live action).

101 Dalmatians: The Series debuted in syndication on September 1, 1997, running new episodes six days a week. Less than two weeks later, the show came to ABC's One Saturday Morning lineup, airing original episodes that could only be seen on the network. 65 episodes were produced - 12 on ABC, and 53 in syndication. In August 1998, the show played its last episode in syndication. Reruns continued to play on ABC until 1999 when the show was moved to The Disney Channel, and then later to Toon Disney. On January 30, 2006, the puppies had their last adventure. As of that day, 101 Dalmatians: The Series is off the air in most countries. However, the series is going to air back on Toon Disney on March 9th with the first 4 episodes for a 2-hour mini-marathon. Disney currently have no plans to release the series on DVD.

Characters

Main article: List of 101 Dalmatians: The Series characters

The main characters in the series are Lucky, Cadpig, Rolly and Spot. Lucky is the most adventurous of the 99 puppies. He is unique in having his only spots in the shape of a horseshoe on his back. Cadpig is the runt of the litter. She is the smallest of the 99 puppies but quite possibly the most intelligent. She is unique in having long floppy ears and a big head. Rolly is the greedy one. Almost all his decisions are based on food and this, at times, gets him and the pups into trouble. He is, however, a loyal and helpful sibling. Spot is a chicken who wants to become a Dalmatian. She is the voice of commonsense for the foursome but, more often than not, is ignored. She is easily frightened and is prone to literally bounce off the walls. She is, however, a good dancer (which has to count for something according to her) and appears to be good at math.

The main villains, as described above, are Cruella de Vil and her henchmen, Horace and Jasper. As said above, she is now a corporate criminal and most of her plans revolve around getting richer, tormenting the Dalmatians and stealing the Dearly Farm. Horace and Jasper are usually hired to perform her plans, usually failing. Other characters are Roger Dearly, Anita Dearly, Nanny, Pongo and Perdita, Scorch, Vindella de Vil, the entire de Vil family and many other animals on the Dearly farm.

Episodes

Note: Due to continuity, the ABC episodes (1-13) are listed first.

Season 1: 1997

Number	Name	Original air date
1	Home Is Where The Bark Is	9-13-97
2	He Followed Me Home Love 'Em and Flea 'Em	9-27-97
3	Howl Noon Easy on the Lies	10-04-97
4	Two for the Show An Officer and a Gentledog	10-11-97
5	Bad to the Bone Southern Fried Cruella	10-18-97
6	Swine Song Watch for Falling Idols	10-25-97
7	The High Price of Fame The Great Cat Invasion	11-01-97
8	No Train, No Gain	11-08-97
9	Rolly's Egg-Celent Adventure Wild Chick Chase	11-15-97
10	The Dogs of DeVil Dog's Best Friend	11-22-97
11	A Christmas Cruella	12-20-97
12	Out to Launch Prophet and Loss	1-10-98

Season 2: 1997-1998

Number	Name
1	You Slipped a Disk Chow About That?
2	Tic Track Toe Lucky All-Star
3	Shake, Rattle, and Woof Cadpig Behind Bars
4	Leisure Lawsuit Purred It Through the Grapevine
5	Our Own Digs Goose Pimples
6	Two Faces of Anita
7	The Fungus Among Us
8	Market Mayham Lucky to be Alone
9	Four Stories Up
10	It's a Swamp Thing Roll Out the Pork Barrel
11	Alive N' Chicken Prima Doggy*
12	You Say It's Your Birthday
13	Oozy Does It Barnboozled
14	Citizen Canine
15	Full Metal Pullet Dough the Right Thing
16	Frisky Business Cadet of the Month
17	Valentine Daze
18	Close but no Cigar Invasion of the Doggy Snatchers
19	Smoke Detectors Lobster Tale
20	Double Dog Dare Mooove It On Over
21	Shipwrecked
22	Mall Pups
23	Shrewzle Watch The Life You Save
24	Spots and Shots On the Lamb
25	Treasure of Swamp Island Lord of the Termites
26	Fountain of Youth Walk a Mile in my Tracks
27	Cruella World
28	Hail to the Chief Food for Thought
29	The Maltese Chicken
30	Film Fatale My Fair Chicken
31	Snow Bounders Gnaw or Never
32	Poison Ivy Twelve Angry Pups
33	The Good-bye Chick
34	Robo-Rolly Splishing and Splashing
35	Virtual Lucky
36	Cupid Pups
37	The Artist Formerly Known as Spot The Nose Knows
38	K Is For Kibble
39	Humanitarian of the Year
40	Beauty Pageant Pandemonium Hog-Tied
41	Coup DeVil
41	Every Little Crooked Nanny Cone Head
42	Channels Un-Lucky
43	The Making Of...
44	Best of Show Walk on the Wild Side
45	Horace and Jasper's Big Career Move
46	DeVil-Age Elder
47	Jurassic Bark My Fair Moochie
48	Dog Food Day Afternoon Spot's Fairy God-Chicken
49	Good Neighbor Cruella Animal House Party
50	Dalmatian Vacation, Part I - Road Warriors
51	Dalmatian Vacation, Part II - Cross-Country Calamity
52	Dalmatian Vacation, Part III - Dearly Beloved

• * After the 9/11 attack, this episode was banned due to its content matter.

Merchandise

Not much merchandise has been made of this series unlike the very popular "Ducktales", the only ones being:

• "A Christmas Cruella" VHS
• "Dalmatian Vacation" video CD
• "Surf Puppies" CD
• Happy Meal Flip Car Toys
• "The Big Dig" ( book )
• "Cruella Returns" ( book )
• Rare Episode cels

Continuity issues

This series does not take place in the same continuity as the movies; an example of which being the fact that this show is set in the United States (as evidenced in many episodes) while the movie is obviously set in London, England and its surroundings. The original animated movie is set in the 1960s (evidenced by a newspaper that Cruella is seen reading, the year is 1961), while the live-action films and this series are set in a modern day world (1996 at the time). This series comes closer to the essence of Dodie Smith's book than the movies and is based on everything 101 Dalmatians related (Cadpig is one character that is not characterized in the movies). Therefore, all three mediums can be considered canon, even though they're not in the same continuity.

Trivia

• Episodes "My Fair Chicken" and "My Fair Moochie" were based on "My Fair Lady", a movie based on George Bernard Shaw's "Pygmalion"
• As mentioned above, there were originally supposed to be 5 main characters: Lucky, Cadpig, Rolly, Patch and Penny. Patch was relegated to the role of minor character and Penny does not appear in the series at all as it was feared that there would be too many main characters. Spot was added in later.
• Most episode titles are based on dog-related puns such as the very first episode "Home is Where the Bark is" which is based on the saying "Home is Where the Heart is".
• Throughout the series one may notice a lot of goofs. For example, wrong coloured ears, wrong coloured collars, missing collars that mysteriously reappear in the pilot episode.

External Links

• 101 Dalmatians: Cadpig.
• Ace Jay's 101 Dalmatians fan site