Customer Reviews

The 101 Dalmatians

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

There are wonderful parts of the book that are skipped over in the Disney movie. For example, Cruella de Vil has her own history- she's married!- which adds a lot of depth to the plot. And the combining of Perdita and Missus into one character in the movie was really awful, since Perdita has her own sad story that deserves attention.

I love this story. It's utterly charming. So many wonderful characters. So much fun. if you can get this book for your child's collection, do it. The movie just doesn't cut it.

Completely and utterly charming. I very much enjoyed listening to this book (there's just nothing like a British actor, reading to you!), and can see myself reading this to my children in just a few short years. Of course, we've seen the movie, and while the folks at Disney did their best to remain true to the story, there just isn't anything like reading (or hearing) Dodie Smith's words come alive on the page. Just fabulous. Highly recommend.

I'll start by saying that I grew up with the Disney movie, which I love very much. I had just recently purchased a VHS tape of the movie and watched it, only to be reminded that it was based on a novel (during the credits). So finally I went online and decided to buy it.

The book is very different from the movie, much more involved with the dogs' world than the humans', which I liked. It seems Disney left many characters out of the movie, and changed most of the ones they kept. For example, Perdita is a lost, liver-spotted dalmatian that "Mrs. Dearly" finds alongside the road, who helps foster the 15 puppies birthed by "Missis", who is Pongo's actual wife. Perdita later finds her lost puppies at Hell Hall and is reunited with them, along with her husband who is taken away after they are "married". Other left out characters include an old Spaniel, a Staffordshire Terrier, Cruella's Persian cat, and a show dog.

Cruella DeVil's husband, who is a furrier (one who makes animal skin coats) is never mentioned. "Saul and Jasper" in the book are replaced with "Horace and Jasper", and there are two nannies (Nanny Butler and Nanny Cook) instead of one.

I found two typos in the book (my copy, at least), one is where "that" is misspelled "tht" and a stray parenthesis mark.

This book has a certain charm and a clever way of portraying the way dogs think and act. The emotions are strong and well-portrayed in each character, and you definitely get a feeling to how they are coping with situations in the story. The one I felt was the strongest was Missis having to deal with life outside a warm cozy fire and all the comforts of home as they search for their children.

Overall, I like the story very much, and I'll probably re-read it over and over as time goes on.