Cruella de Vil

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Cruella de Vil
Cruella De Vil with her henchmen, Horace and Jasper.
First appearance	One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961) / 101 Dalmatians (1996)
Created by	Walt Disney Pictures
Voiced by	Betty Lou Gerson
Characteristics
Notable aliases	Villainess

This article describes the villain from 101 Dalmatians. For the band, see Cruella de Ville.

Cruella De Vil is a fictional character and the primary villain in Dodie Smith's novel The Hundred and One Dalmatians and its various film adaptations. In all her incarnations, Cruella kidnaps dalmatian puppies for their fur. She also always has one half of her hair white and the other half black.

Cruella's name is a play on the words cruel and devil, an allusion which is emphasized by having her country house be nicknamed "Hell Hall". In some translations, Cruella De Vil is known as "Cruella De Mon", presumably to change the play on the word "devil" to one on "demon" because the word "devil" in some languages does not exist. An example is Italy, where she is called "Crudelia De Mon" (a pun on "crudele", cruel, and "demone", demon). In some languages (such as Spanish) where her last name has been left as De Vil, but is not similar to their equivalent of devil, it is taken to be a play on their equivalent of "vile" or "villain".

Contents 1 The book 2 The Disney animated version 3 The Disney live-action version 4 In popular culture 5 Trivia 6 See also

[edit] The book

In the original story, Cruella is a pampered London heiress who knows the owner of the Dalmatian puppies through school. She was a notorious student with black and white plaits. She was later expelled for drinking ink. Now she is married to a furrier who supplies her obsession, such as the one piece she is never seen without - an absolutely simple white mink cloak. With this, she wears gowns and ropes of jewels in contrasting colors, such as an emerald color dress with ropes of rubies. Her chauffeur-driven car is zebra striped. Such dramatic luxuries were said to be based on the theatrical life of Tallulah Bankhead.^{[citation needed]}

When she has guests for dinner, all of Cruella's food is strange colors and tastes of pepper. She constantly stokes a roaring fire and complains of being cold despite the elevated temperature. The flat is portrayed as a sort of luxurious version of Hell and sets up Cruella's "devilish" persona for her later crimes. Her guests also meet her abused white Persian cat, which plays a key role in a later part of the story.

[edit] The Disney animated version

Disney's animated version of Cruella first appeared in 1961's One Hundred and One Dalmatians, in which she was voiced by Betty Lou Gerson and animated by Marc Davis. The cool detachment of the original character was replaced by a crazed mania, in which Cruella only barely clung to a sheen of glamor. It is rumored that Walt Disney did not like the appearance of Cruella in the film^{[citation needed]}. Anita comments Cruella's above mentioned fur coat is new when Cruella first appears.

For unexplained reasons, Cruella's cat and husband were omitted from the Disney version. The film featured a song, written by Mel Leven, using her name as the title, sung by the dalmatians' owner Roger. The lyrics begin with: Cruella De Vil, Cruella De Vil. If she doesn't scare you, no evil thing will...

Cruella returned in the 2003 direct-to-video sequel 101 Dalmatians II: Patch's London Adventure, where she was voiced by Susanne Blakeslee. She lived in that film and at the end she turned insane and went to the nuthouse. Cruella also appeared in some Disney television shows. She was a regular antagonist in 1997's 101 Dalmatians: The Series, where she was voiced by April Winchell. This time, though, her aim was to steal the Dearly Farm, as killing animals for fashion was deemed politically incorrect. However, she returned to hunting dogs in 2001's House of Mouse and was voiced by Susan Blakeslee. The series featured a running gag in which she inspects dogs from other Disney films with a measuring ruler. Cruella is also one of the villains Mickey fights in Disney-MGM Studios version of Fantasmic! Nighttime Show Spectacular in Disneyland.

From the unsubtle symbolic name to her hideous physical appearance, the evil of Cruella De Vil is overt. This may be what makes her stand out as one of Disney's most popular villains.^{[citation needed]} Her ferociousness and intended cruelty to the spotted heroes of 101 Dalmatians makes her an easy target, but to her fans, there's something intriguing about her calculated and perseverant menace. In 2002, Forbes ranked De Vil as the thirteenth wealthiest fiction character, citing the single 65-year-old has a net worth of $875 million, obtained through inheritance [1].

[edit] The Disney live-action version

In Disney's 1996 live-action remake of the animated film, 101 Dalmatians, and its 2000 sequel, 102 Dalmatians, Cruella was played by Glenn Close. The film reinvented Cruella yet again, this time as the magnate of a couture fashion house, "House of De Vil", which specialised in fur couture. The character of Anita (played by Joely Richardson) was a couturière and employee of De Vil. This film increased the physical comedy of the animated film, even veering into toilet humor.

The live-action film was critically panned, but Close's costumes, by Anthony Powell and Rosemary Burrows, received appreciative attention, including a spread in Vanity Fair magazine. Claws were applied to gloves, and necklaces were made from teeth, to add to the idea that Cruella enjoyed wearing parts of dead animals. Nails were also projected from the heels to make them especially vicious in appearance. Close has commented on how demanding the slapstick physicality of the role was while wearing nail-heeled boots and corsets.

In 102 Dalmatians, while under effect of Dr. Pavlov's hypno-therapy, Cruella wanted to be called "Ella de Vil" because "Cruella sounds so ... cruel".

[edit] In popular culture

• In an episode of The Simpsons that parodied One Hundred and One Dalmatians (entitled "Two Dozen and One Greyhounds"), the character of Mr. Burns took on the Cruella de Vil role.

• Cruella de Vil was mentioned in the 1978 Queen song "Let Me Entertain You".

• She is the subject of the Deadsy song "Cruella", off the albums "Commencement" and "Deadsy".

[edit] Trivia

• Although the character is, presumably, British, the only British actress to portray Cruella de Vil on screen was Amanda Redman for the Children's Party at the Palace.
• Cruella's design in the original Disney film One Hundred and One Dalmatians was a manic take-off on the flamboyant actress Tallulah Bankhead, including some of her personality quirks. [2]

[edit] See also

• Cruella in the UltimateDisney.com Villains Countdown
• Cruella in the Disney Archieves-Villains

v • d • e 101 Dalmatians
Creators:	Jim Jinkins • Walt Disney Television • David Campbell
Characters:	Lucky • Cadpig • Rolly • Spot  • Two-Tone
Villains:	Cruella de Vil
The Books:	The Hundred and One Dalmatians • The Starlight Barking
The Movies:	1961 Animated Movie • 2003 Animated Sequal • The 1996 Live Action Film
Spin-Offs:	The Series