Cruella is a 2021 American crime comedy film produced by Walt Disney Pictures, Marc Platt Productions and Gunn Films with distribution by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. It is based on the character Cruella de Vil from Dodie Smith's 1956 novel The Hundred and One Dalmatians.
Disney based its version of Cruella on the personality and mannerisms of Tallulah Bankhead, and her long, lanky physical design came from Mary Wickes, who served as her live-action model.
According to Entertainment Weekly, actor Mary Wickes served as the model for the character. But the Hollywood actor who left the biggest mark on the development of Cruella was Tallulah Bankhead. Bankhead was extremely thin and smoked around 120 cigarettes per day, both traits Cruella also possessed.
Cruella begins with Estella as a child with black and white hair, something that she was born with due to a disease called poliosis. The condition is caused by a decrease or absence of melanin in the hair on the body, typically resulting in a white streak or splotches in someone's hair.
A huge theme to acknowledge in this film is the idea of nature vs. nurture. Estella was raised by a caring mother who always tried to “love her into shape” as Cruella herself states it. Try as she might, Estella could never quite tame those wild inclinations.
The DARK Origins Of Cruella De Vil (THE TRUE STORY)
Why was Cruella so evil?
Cruella quickly discovers—and, warning, here are some spoilers—that the Baroness was responsible for her mother's death. Driven by a desire for revenge, which might also be a desire for justice (the film is unclear on this crucial distinction), Cruella becomes a fashion star intent on displacing the Baroness.
As the gang faces hardship, it's their love and devotion that keeps them together, like a pack of dogs. In contrast, the Baroness's Dalmatians are used as a status symbol.
The first thing Disney did to make Cruella a redeemable character was to portray her as having dissociative identity disorder (sometimes called multiple personality disorder).
In the 1961 animated original film, the fashion-obsessed heiress was usually seen clutching a cigarette and holder as sickly green smoke wafted behind her. When asked why the wardrobe statement piece was intentionally left out, Stone attributed it to evolving opinions about smoking within the past 60 years.
Rather than extend some compassion, the Baronness silently whistles for her trained Dalmatian attack dogs, who leap at Estella's mother and push her off a cliff into the sea.
With a drop of a flaming matchstick, Cruella's satin hood burns into nothingness and uncovers a red-hot dress and that signature half-black-half-white do.
Using CGI for half the dogs helped because the real ones weren't very predictable. However, because there were also real dogs used in Cruella, the visual effects team didn't have to work entirely from scratch to create all of the pups.
It is there the movie arbitrarily suggests Cruella de Vil's eventual obsession with Dalmatians is because that breed of dog was used as a literal murder weapon in the death of her mother.
Cruella's Story Becomes a Mission of Revenge Rather than Greed. With an evil desire to be clothed in the fur of baby dogs as her one character trait, the original Cruella was merely an entertaining, creepy villain. Stone's Cruella doesn't have any dark instinct to kill Dalmatians and wear them.
Cruella has her sights set on making a fur coat out of the dalmatians, and has puppies stolen for this purpose. As she steals so many, we can only see that her theft charge would be a felony. Not only that, she's guilty of cruelty to animals as well as reckless driving.
Stone said she didn't want to promote smoking, but added that she was “also not trying to promote skinning puppies”. Disney is believed to have placed a ban on smoking onscreen in its films around 2007, with the policy now applying to Lucasfilm, Marvel and Pixar as well.
It is not until the end Cruella reveals her true personality, a violent, careless, murderous, destructive, and downright evil psychopath, after the dalmatians escape, she becomes nearly insane and preposterous, so she goes on a rampage trying to retrieve the dogs but accidentally crashes the car she was driving.
Ever since her debut in Dodie Smith's novel, there have been many films and shows that have showcased the character Cruella de Vil. She appeared in 101 Dalmatians, the 1961 animated film by Walt Disney, where her character was voiced by Betty Lou Gerson.
From the original Disney animation, we learn that behind her glamour, Cruella de Vil is a murderous, narcissistic psychopath; she is a woman who is perfectly willing to illegally abduct, murder and skin 99 puppies to create her own spotted fur coat.
“Cruella” is an origin story that begins with a little girl named Estella (played at age 12 by Tipper Seifert-Cleveland), a girl bullied at her boarding school because her hair is half black and half white.
She is frequently described as a narcissist by those around her due to her fixation with being the center of attention, favoring elaborate parties and galas at her mansion estate as a means of placing her superiority on full display.
What The Ending of Cruella Really Means. Cruella ends with the Baroness being proven guilty of Estella's murder and being taken to jail for her crimes. While the Baroness is exposed in the eyes of the public, she is shown to hold a considerable amount of influence due to her social stature.
Her personal anthem, the song that plays in the animated version of 101 Dalmatians, is all about how “if she doesn't scare you, no evil thing will.” And her defining characteristic is that she loves dalmatian fur so much she's more than willing to kidnap a bunch of puppies in the hopes of skinning them for their spots.
Cruella comes to visit and feels that Anita just sending the sketches of her designs because she is on leave from work isn't the same as the interaction they had together. She mocks Roger for his job and for starting a family which makes his respect for her, turn to hatred.
