Toon Talk - Apr 6, 2001

Toon Talk
Page 3 of 3

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DVD Extras

Audio Commentary
Provided by director Kevin Lima, animal coordinator Gary Gero, animal trainer David Sousa and lead puppy trainer Julie Tottman.

The Top 10 Things We Learn From This Commentary:

  1. Dalmatians do NOT make good pets unless you are willing to accept the responsibility for them.
  2. Kevin Lima is no Scorsese. Obviously a green horn when it comes to live action film making, he naively marvels at "all the people it takes to make a movie".
  3. Glenn Close was Lima's "mentor" on the film. (They did work previously on Tarzan, which Lima co-directed and Close starred as the voice of Kala the mother ape.)
  4. Dalmatians do NOT make good pets unless you are willing to accept the responsibility for them.
  5. Gerard Depardieu is a messy eater.
  6. Animal trainers only talk about animals and how they train them.
  7. Dalmatians do NOT make good pets unless you are willing to accept the responsibility for them.
  8. The gooey dough that Cruella de Vil is immersed in at the end of the movie is made from the same substance used for milk shakes.
  9. Glenn Close did almost all of her own stunts during that scene.
  10. And finally .... dalmatians do NOT make good pets unless you are willing to accept the responsibility for them.

Featurettes

  • Creating Cruella: Glenn Close prepares to return to her most famous role. She mentions that she loved working with the puppies, but they weren't to crazy about her when she was in her full Cruella drag. Guess it's a natural instinct.
  • Animal Actors: How they wrangled all the dogs, birds, et cetera for the film.
  • Designing Dalmatians: The most interesting bonus on the disc, it shows the creation of the sets, costumes and effects for 102 Dalmatians. For example, the puppies that played Oddball all had their natural spots; computer artists had to digitally erase each spot from each frame of film, a process that took a year. Other behind-the-scenes stuff explains how they made Waddlesworth talk and how they "spotted" London for Cruella's rebirth.

Visual Effects 102
An interactive feature for kids, again showing how different effects were done for the film. There is a nifty effect in "Spot Removal" showing a split screen of different Oddball scenes, with and without spots.

Deleted Scene: "Cruella's Release"
A virtual requirement of any DVD nowadays, deleted scenes can be lost treasures (check out this feature on the Erin Brokovich disc to see why Julia Roberts deserved her recent Oscar win), but more often then not one can see why the scissors were drawn. Case in point, this sole scene showing Cruella's release from prison, which would have added nothing new to the film and is merely padding here.

Puppy Overload
Music video montage of film scenes to the movie's theme song, Digga Digga Dog.

Dalmatians 101
Once again ... DALMATIANS DO NOT MAKE GOOD PETS UNLESS YOU ARE WILLING TO ACCEPT THE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THEM.

Soundtrack Promo: Whatcha Gonna Do
Brief footage of Britney clones Nobody's Angel performing this song from the soundtrack.

Theatrical Trailer
Where you see some of the cut scenes, such as Cruella snuggling a pup in court and shrieking at her skunk purse.

DVD-ROM Features
Includes Cruella's Costume Creator and DVD Destination Weblink.

Also, in the opening previews, there is a teaser for the upcoming direct to video 101 Dalmatians: The Animated Sequel due next year ... guess we'll be seeing spots for years to come.

Discuss It

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-- Kirby C. Holt

Kirby is a lifelong Disney fan and film buff. A frequent contributer to the LaughingPlace.com Discussion Boards, he currently resides near one of the Happiest Places on Earth: Orlando, Florida.

Took Talk: Disney Film & Video Reviews by Kirby C. Holt is posted whenever there's something new to review.

The opinions expressed by our Kirby C. Holt, and all of our columnists, do not necessarily represent the feelings of LaughingPlace.com or any of its employees or advertisers. All speculation and rumors about the future plans of the Walt Disney Company are just that - speculation and rumors - and should be treated as such.

-- Posted April 6, 2001

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