Word: dalmatian
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Amid the traditional media babble of the holiday season's opening days, dog fanciers with a lifetime devotion to the Dalmatian are lining up to tell us just what a destructive, genetically flawed, virtually unmanageable...
Apparently, bad-mouthing the breed is considered the only way to blunt a Disney-fueled demand that could cause thousands of ill-conceived Dalmatians to be dumped on the market by puppy mills and thousands more dumped in the street by bored children who didn't really bank on that cuddly little puppy's growing up. Given the disaster-movie tone of the reports, it wouldn't surprise me to see citizens running in panic from their homes, shouting, "Help! Help! Dalmatian meltdown...
...film begins firmly rooted in the human world, but it is clear from the start that the dogs are in charge. Dalmatian Pongo wakes his "master" Roger (Jeff Daniels), starts the shower, makes the coffee, and turns on the computer. Pongo's expressive grunts, barks, and tail-wagging make Roger's conversation with him seem perfectly normal, as any dog owner will insist. The camaraderie between humans and dogs is affectionately represented in the movie, although the pooches appear to have a significant intellectual edge...
After one helter-skelter day of turbulent bicycle rides in the park, Roger and Pongo fall in love with Anita (Joely Richardson) and Perdita. They hold a double wedding and soon Perdita gives birth to 15 Dalmatian puppies. Daniels and Richardson play these potentially corny scenes with deadpan sincerity, making the parallels between canine and human love amusing rather than insipid. The always-reliable and lovable Joan Plowright also appears as the couple's nanny...
...film's sunny beginning is soon shattered by Cruella De Vil, who hatches a plot to steal the puppies in order to satisfy her obsessive desire for a Dalmatian fur coat. De Vil is Disney's wildest villain: slinky, sophisticated, overbearing, and utterly deranged. Given the chance to indulge herself by playing such a comically evil figure, Glenn Close delivers a masterful and unrestrained performance. Close gets to verbally abuse every character in the movie, shouting her insults with contempt and devilish glee. She also perfects the look of materialistic dementia that defines Cruella's character. Because the puppies...