Cruella Makes the Titular Character More Of an Antihero.
In a sympathetic villain-to--hero reimagining of Cruella's backstory, the film shows how Estella Miller, raised by her adoptive mother Catherine ( Emily Beecham), runs grills on the streets of London following Catherine's push to her death off a cliff by the Baroness's Dalmatians using her brilliance as a fashion designer. Estella discovers that Cruella's profession of kidnapping dogs was first started by her plans for retribution against the Baroness, after learning that the Baroness commanded the dogs to kill her mother.
Although this portrayal of the character could have the haughtiness of the cartoon Cruella, she is not especially merciless. Apart from the throwaway reference that the Dalmatians would make "fabulous coats," Cruella never really contemplates murdering the dogs and only ever manufactures a fake fur Dalmatian coat, which becomes one of the biggest basic modifications to her character. One tiny step toward creating Cruella an Antihero is using synthetic fur. Although this portrayal of the character has the haughtiness of the cartoon Cruella, she is not truly unreasonably harsh.
Why Does Cruella Not Kill Puppies in Live-Action?
Disney most certainly did not create Cruella as a puppy murderer as her backstory changed her to be an antihero rather than an evil villain. Being a selfish heiress who saw the Dalmatian puppies as a trendy commodity to be exploited rather than as innocent living entities, Cruella sought to buy Perdita and Pongo's puppies in 101 Dalmatians.
Disney deftly creates the notion of dog-killing as the ultimate evil that would define Cruella a real Villain, but she never crosses that line. Although Cruella has the same traits of the original character, her negative traits are presented in a more sympathetic light: her fashion sense results from her own ingenuity and hard effort rather than from unearned riches. Her demanding and rather sinister demeanor is described as something Cruella received from her biological mother, the Baroness, beyond her control.
How Dogs Are Used Differently In Cruella
Her origin narrative also gets more convoluted when Cruella gives the dogs more agency. Unlike Disney's animated classic, which showed the Dalmatian puppies as naive victims whose only defense was to flee from Cruella's pursuit, the dogs shown throughout Cruella play a more active part in the plot, which makes them more like human characters with the capacity to be good or bad.
Important members of Estella's gang, both Buddy and Wink take part in their grights. Since they answered the Baroness's orders, Catherine's death is indirectly the result of three violent Dalmatians under her command. Cruella may have decided to exact revenge on the Baroness by turning the dogs into a coat for her fashion show, but her decision to spare them becomes an act of forgiveness and demonstrates her capacity to transcend her more sinister impulses.
The Reventions of Cruella De Vil
Eliminating her most horrible and defining quality—her obsession with killing 99 Dalmatian pups to create a spotted fur coat from their skin—Disney's live-action feature Cruella De Vil rewrites the villain. Cruella explores just how she became the terrifying heiress shown in 101 Dalmatians, therefore offering a fresh viewpoint on one of Disney's most famous villains, much like Maleficent's live-action rendition does. Estella (Emma Stone) follows as she gradually transforms into Cruella over the course of the film, therefore offering a genesis narrative for one of Disney's most famous antagonists.
True to its source, Dodie Smith's The Hundred and One Dalmatians, Cruella shows a smaller-scale abduction in which Jasper and Horace (Joey Fry and Paul Walter Hauser) steal the Baroness von Hellman's (Emma Thompson) three Dalmatians, but the dognapping serves only as an accompaniment to Cruella's main goal of vengeance. For those who know the original tale, the dognapping and the use of dalmatians at all feel more like Easter eggs. The actual narrative is how Estella transforms into Cruella at all; so, it is doubtful that Cruella in this form had to kill any puppies.
In The Sequel will Cruella Kill Dogs?
It seems doubtful that Cruella would be killing any dogs in the sequel film. Though it has been in development since 2021, there have not been much specifics regarding the sequel film disclosed. Emma Stone referred to the film "a work in progress" even late in January 2024 when speaking with Variety, expecting it will start filming sooner rather than later.
It's difficult to conjecture on what the Cruella sequel would really entail without a completed script or casting announcements. Though Emma Stone's Cruella has gifted the identical canines she attempts to murder in the animated film below, it seems highly improbable she would chose to kill the dogs given their cast is nearly the same. Cruella 2 will have to be more in line with the Maleficent films, creating a fresh interpretation of a known tale rather than precisely matching the animated 101 Dalmatians.
The Cruella Dress
Emma Stone's wicked character Estella/Cruella gets black and white hair in the 2021 film; see why her hair changes by reading on. Emma Stone's Cruella outfits highlight her character's development from Estella into Cruella, therefore serving as a third star for the movie. The Cruella clothes depict the fashion sense and evolution of the character by means of brilliant colors and high-fashion. Jenny Beavan, the costume designer for the film, created several different Cruella costumes that aptly capture her journey from a young and struggling designer to a well-known and fierce fashion superstar.
The black and white hair Emma Stone's character Estella/Cruella has in the 2021 film will be discussed later on.
