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Some years ago,
Disney decided it was going to raid its film vaults to
make sequels to some of its animated classics. There
wasn't a great need by the public for sequels to
"Cinderella," or "Lady and the Tramp." Disney "geeks"
weren't clamoring to find out what happened happily ever
after. Disney saw its own need to broaden its brand name
and characters. They produced a number of these sequels
since the debut of "The Return of Jafar" in 1994. As
much as many Disney "geeks" probably cried, Disney
laughed itself all the way to the vault...the bank
vault. Even direct-to-DVD movies like "Tarzan and Jane"
and "Atlantis II: Milo's Return" sold enough copies to
eager parents looking for something to keep little
Sierra and little Zack happy for an hour-and-a-half. It
proved that Disney could sell anything to the
public.
Which brings us to "101 Dalmatians II: Patch's London
Adventure," again available on DVD.
There's nothing wrong with making sequels, I suppose.
Disney owns the "Dalmatians" property and has done quite
well exploiting in live action films and a television
series. Making a direct-to-DVD sequel to one of its most
successful movies seems like a no-brainer. Yet, for the
viewers and fans of the original "101 Dalmatians"
feature film, wasn't making the film into a mediocre
live-action movie enough? The original film told its
story, we loved the characters, and that was it. No need
for any follow ups.
Apparently, Disney didn't listen to those voices in the
wind saying, "Enough sequels!" So here we have 2003's
"101 Dalmatians: Patch's London Adventure." This sequel
isn't as bad as some of the Disney sequels have been.
The movie starts off with a delightful title sequence
and a bouncy score that actually sticks with you after
the movie's over. The animation repeats most of the same
look as the original, though the animation is brighter
and more clean. The character of Patch (voiced by Bobby
Lockwood) is charming, while Susan Blakeslee does a
credible job in recreating the voice of Cruella De Vil.
What is lacking in this sequel is a good story with
humor and occasional slapstick conflict that was in the
original. Instead of centering the story around all of
the Dalmatians, Part II centers around Patch, an obscure
puppy from the litter who like TV. During a move to the
countryside, he gets lost in London and meets his TV
hero, Thunderbolt. Meanwhile, Cruella is going through a
crisis of her own and meets an artist who wants to use
her as his muse. The actual action in the whole movie
doesn't pick up until about 45-minutes into the running
time, by which the audience (i.e. kids) has gone outside
to play.
As in some of the other Disney sequels to their animated
classics, the story trudges along with very little humor
and action. Though the original film wasn't strong in
the story department, it more than made it up in
humorous episodes involving Cruella. This animated
sequel has none of Cruella's mean spirit. Instead,
the story has her moping around thinking of happier
times in her life. This has been a trend in the Disney
sequels, and it's not understood why. One of the evil
stepsisters in "Cinderella II: Dreams Come True" is
depressed because she can't find true love. Since when
do we care about the evil stepsister? Baloo mopes around
the jungle thinking of the happy times with Mogli in
"The Jungle Book 2." Baloo's a hip, fun, free spirited
bear! He's no supposed to be too sad. In the
"Dalmatians" world, Cruella is supposed to be downright
evil. Here in this animated sequel, she's a water downed
kitten with no claws. No fun.
This is the second release of "101 Dalmatians II," and
I'm sure it'll still sell a number of copies. It is one
of the better direct-to-DVD releases from the Disney
studio. Is it worth picking up for the first time?
Depends on if your kids really want it.
Bill Kallay
Special thanks to Click Communications
Photos: © WDHE. All rights reserved.
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