Toon Talk: 101 Dalmatians Platinum Edition DVD - Mar 4, 2008


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The only other bonus on disc one is the skip-able �Cruella de Vil� music video by yet another Disney Channel tween star, Selena Gomez, of Wizards of Waverly Place and Hannah Montana fame.

Disc two�s supplements are split between those for �humans� (�Backstage Disney� and �Music and More� goodies) and for the �dogs� (�Games and Activities�), which sounds like Disney�s subtle way of implying your children are animals. Regardless, the latter section includes a �Virtual Dalmatian� DVD-ROM game with a set-top sampler, which is basically identical to the feline version found on last month�s Aristocats DVD. �Puppy Profiles� allows your pups to find out which Disney character is their ideal �pet� through a personality profiler, while �101 Dalmatians Fun With Language� activity features a narrator � that � speaks � really � slowly.


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Collectors will want to bypass all that filler for the real treats in the �humans� section, starting off with the informative and entertaining �Redefining the Line: The Making of 101 Dalmatians�. The thirty-three minute feature takes a look at all the key players behind bringing this dog tale to the screen, including story man Bill Peet, songwriter Mel Leven, composer George Bruns and art director Ken Anderson. The documentary also covers in depth how the Xerography process came in to being, through the creative genius of Ub Iwerks, as a necessity in keeping costs down. It even smartly addresses the debate between the merits of the smooth line of a drawing done in ink and paint and the rough, sketchier appearance of the Xeroxed pencil lines. Other highlights include an interview with Lisa Davis (the voice of Anita) and a look at the unique models used for the film�s cars, such as the Cruella-mobile.

Speaking of that scene-stealer, she is the focus of her own featurette, �Cruella de Vil: Drawn to Be Bad�, which reveals that prolific character actress Mary Wickes (who would go on to co-star in the Sister Act movies and voice Laverne in The Hunchback of Notre Dame for the studio) was the live action model for the character, who was named the�39th greatest movie villain of all time in an American Film Institute poll in 2003.

Another notable featurette is �Sincerely Yours, Walt Disney�, which dramatically recreates the correspondence between the filmmaker and author Smith before, during and after the making of the film. A variety of trailers, radio and TV spots (get it?) and art galleries (featuring lots of pictures of the artists with dogs) wrap up this section.