101 Dalmatians: The Series

as this show was on,i loved watching it ,cuz i also really like the real movies and the animated movie ,my fav is the animated movie and so i loved the series , i would like to see it on tv again

This show, to me, can go very unappreciated at times. This was one of the best animated adaptations at the time.

101 Dalmatians: The Series picks up where the movie left off. It combines elements from the 1961 animated movie, the 1996 live action movie, and some elements, such as Cadpig, from the 1956 novel. It, unlike it's predecessors, takes place in America instead of London, maybe to be more familiar with younger audiences (The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh did the same).

This show originally aired as part of One Saturday Morning, with Pepper Ann, Recess, Disney's Doug, and many others. It actually started out in syndication, but was removed after The Disney Afternoon ended. It was produced by Walt Disney Television, Buena Vista Television, and Jumbo Pictures (Doug, PB & J Otter).

The main pups are Lucky, the TV lover with a huge ego, Cadpig, the little cutie who while tries to make peace, is somewhat violent, Rolly, the fat, food-obsessed pup, and Spot, a high-strung chicken. I think Spot would've worked more as a background character, and I wish the other pups could have as many scenes taking the spotlight as well as these four.

Some of the other pups were Two-Tone, a tomboy who was a member of Mooch's gang until (chronologically) "Love `em and Flea `em", who's considered Lucky's girlfriend, Dipstick, another member of Mooch's gang and is somewhat dimwitted, Whizzer, the constantly-urinating pup in Mooch's gang who's Mooch's right hand, but usually nice when not around him, Tripod, the athletic, over-achiever who's rivals with Lucky until (chronologically) "Lucky All-Star", and Patch, the muscular and friendly pup (he looks more like his book counterpart). The parents, Pongo and Perdita, were there, too.

The pups were also part of the "Bark Brigade", taught by the Clonal, Sgt. Tibs, and Lt. Pug. Then were the antagonists. Mooch, a grey mutt and Lucky's other rival (and he's somewhat based on Roger Klotz from Doug), Swamp Rat, a con artist rat who lived in the swamp, with Steven the Alligator and Cydne the Snake. And where there's 101 Dalmatians, there's Cruella De Vil, as well as her henchman, Horace and Jasper.

The storylines were very good. A few weak spots (no pun intended) during some places, but mostly good. In each episode, there was a lesson learned from it, but they never drilled them into your head. Unfortunately, there wasn't much merchandise (McDonald's toys, some books, and a video were some of the only ones). It also ended with 65 episodes due to Disney's episode policy.

After ABC, it started airing re-runs on The Disney Channel, Toon Disney, and now on The Disney Channel again as part of Disney Junior (which is odd, considering it's not a preschool show, it's more for the same audience as Recess and the others). However, it's only on 4:00 AM on Fridays.moreless

As a child, one of my absolute biggest loves was Disney's '101 Dalmatians'. I loved the 'family-overcomes-evil' theme, the potential for multiple new characters, the many adorable puppies, and of course, the devious Cruella DeVil. Since 2002, I have been collecting 101 Dalmatians merchandise anywhere I find it, including Internet images, Disney-press books, stuffed toys, McDonalds collectible figurines, coin purses, folders, prints, refridgerator magnets, Disney World pins, a copy of Dodie Smith's book, and of course, copies of the movie. I am now own both store-bought and taped-off-television versions of both the original animated movie from 1961 and the live-action remake from 1996. I even pre-ordered the video for 101 Dalmatians 2: Patch's London Adventure for the movie and the Disney Store limited edition prints. Except for 102 Dalmatians, I've seen pretty much every Disney 101 Dalmatians medium.

I am fully aware that many movie-based cartoons vary in terms of success. While, like the video games, Disney's tend to be worthwhile and watchable, they are not all even in terms of quality. Some are good (The Little Mermaid, Lilo and Stitch: the Series) others are uneven (Timon and Pumbaa, Hercules) and others are soulless by-products meant to cash-in on the movie (Aladdin, The Mighty Ducks, Buzz Lightyear of Star Command).

How does '101 Dalmatians: the Series' measure up?

To tell the truth, I actually like it better than the movies.

Don't get me wrong, I loved the original animated movie plenty, but today, I just prefer the 1996 live action remake and the series. It goes back to the roots of Dodie Smith's original book for inspiration, indicating we finally see Lucky with a strong personality and Cadpig in an animated Disney medium. It is definitely one of the best late 1990s cartoons, even being nominated for the Daytime Emmy for 'Outstanding Children's Program' in 1997-1998. The setup is that it acts as a mix of Dodie Smith's book, the original animated movie and the live-action remake. It centers on Lucky, Cadpig, Rolly and their chicken friend Spot as they experience life on the Dearly Farm (and stop Cruella DeVil's schemes to steal their land, which everyone knows is worth lots of money). It sends positive messages and contains many interesting, strong and likable characters. I enjoy the American setting and contemporary theme.

There are characters I have liked from the beginning and continue to like (Roger, Anita, Pongo, Perdita, Lucky, Rolly, Cruella DeVil), other characters I also like and welcome their additions (Cadpig, Spot, Mooch, Scorch, Tripod, Two-Tone, Duchess, Princess, Swamp Rat, Mayor Ed Pig, Dumpling, Cruella's relatives, Blaze, Rebecca, alternate Patch) other characters I am just indifferent to (the Colonel, the Captain, Sgt. Tibbs, Wizzer, Dipstick) others I just never cared for (Horace and Jasper...see below, and Lt. Pug is the only character in the series I just don't like). I don't have one favorite over the others, but I seriously like Cadpig and Lucky.

The show doesn't use the same 'rounded-edge' style that the movie uses, but I like it. There are many brilliant episodes in the show, which are humorous and heartwarming. I own just about every episode of series on tape (and have multiple copies...it spans about seven video tapes). The only episodes I don't have are the three-part 'Dalmatian Vacation', and 'Alive n' Chicken/Prima Doggy' (the last two were pulled from syndication due to the 'death' theme in 'Alive n' Chicken'...in that ep, Spot thought she was going to die, and 'the trio' try to help her deal with it, and consequently pulled 'Prima Doggy' with it, after 9/11/2001).

My pick for the 'Best Episode of the Series': "The Making Of...". It is a brilliant 'behind-the-scenes' like look at the show, with many in-jokes and clever references. It takes the many already great episodes of the show and makes them even better.

My pick for the 'Worst Episode of the Series':(Almost) a no-brainer: "Horace and Jasper's Big Career Move." Basically, Cruella fires Jasper and Horace and they go around to various talent agencies looking for work. It is just an extremely boring episode. Not to mention we don't even see the main pups in non-archive footage until the very end; it's a 'clip-show' episode. It's okay, though...it kinda proves my hypothesis that we love 101 Dalmatians for a bunch of different reasons but Jasper and Horace aren't one of them.

I love the show and it's quickly become an absolute favorite of mine. I'd wholeheartedly recommend it, the guys at Disney have a great product that seriously needs to be synergized. I've been a Cadpig fanboy for years and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Currently, in addition to owning several episode tapes (eagerly hoping for a series boxset), I have the McDonalds flip cars, the books 'Cruella Returns' and 'The Big Dig', the '101 Dalmatians Christmas' tape, and I am also a proud owner of a rare animation cel from the series bought from the Disney Store in New York City. The cel I own is from the episode 'Chow About That?' featuring Rolly and Cadpig, where Cadpig consoles her brother saying, "When I miss a meal, I have a mental meal." Go Cadpig!moreless

"101 Dalmations: The Series" left me feeling cold. Ok, so they changed stuff around from the original animated film, like (inexplicably, but I'm guessing that the live action movies had something to do with this) moving everyone to America. Ok, I could deal with making the show an AU (alternate universe). But the characters were all just... awful. None of them were really likable except for the chicken Spot (and that's saying a lot), and most of them were pretty boring as well. Seriously, how do you make puppies unlikable? Cruella Deville just doesn't work as a reoccuring villain. Toss in a stereotypical "bad" animal to play the antagonist (in this case, Cruella's ferret), weak writing, and bam, you get one bad series. Disney has really gone downhill with their animated series. Hercules was the last really good one they made. My advice is to see "101 Dalmations 2: Patches' London Adventure", a direct-to-video movie that is FAR superior to the series here and with more of the heart and spirit of the original animated feature.moreless

This is for sure one of the best movie sequel series Disney has done, in fact I prefer to watch the series over to the movie. This is a really cute show and very original. Currently airs on Toon Disney, but unfortunately airs at 5:00 AM, and at that hour I am sleeping, so I hope Disney releases it in DVD.