Just Films and That is a podcast that celebrates underrated and underseen films. In this episode, we discuss one of the earliest Disney live action remakes - 101 Dalmatians. So were the critics right to rate it so low? You can listen to all full episodes of Just Films and That now, wherever you get your podcasts.
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00:00 101 Dalmatians.
00:02 You're a father of Hongo!
00:04 They were totally irresistible.
00:06 We must call this one Lucky.
00:08 So I chose 101 Dalmatians, the live action Disney remake from 1996.
00:13 Now the main reason that I picked it initially was that I wanted to explore it
00:17 in the context of these live action Disney remakes,
00:20 of which we have had many very recently, but this was one of the first to come about.
00:25 But then when I looked at the critical reception, I thought that is a bit underrated for me.
00:29 So at the time of recording on IMDb, it gets 5.7,
00:34 and then over on Rotten Tomatoes, the audience give it 40%,
00:37 and then the critics give it 39%.
00:40 And I just wasn't having that, to be honest with you,
00:42 and I do think that that is really underrated.
00:45 So Josh, had you seen this one before?
00:47 I had seen it before, yeah. I think I went to the cinema to see it when I was a wee boy.
00:51 What did you think watching it again, then? What did you like about it?
00:54 I actually liked a lot more than I thought I was going to.
00:57 The stars are obviously the dogs, of which there are many,
01:00 and I thoroughly enjoyed seeing all of them.
01:02 But also I think the casting and the performances in this are pretty excellent.
01:06 And of course, Glen Close is just an absolute wonder in this.
01:10 She plays the most excellent Disney villain I think maybe I've ever seen.
01:15 She's cackling, maniacal, and I think she fills the role really well.
01:19 She's also really physical, and she's doing a lot of stunts in this,
01:22 and I really appreciated the effort that she goes into.
01:25 She spends a lot of time in this film covered in manure,
01:28 and it looks really heavy and cold and uncomfortable,
01:31 but she just absolutely nails it, and I think she brings so much to that role,
01:34 and it's one of my favourite pieces of casting ever, I think.
01:37 I mean, I said this when we did the episode, and this is quite a big swing,
01:41 but I think that people have won Oscars for worse performances than this.
01:45 It might sound silly, but I stand by it. I think she's absolutely brilliant.
01:49 She knocks it out of the park.
01:51 I love that cartoonish, scenery-chewing villain.
01:55 I remember when I was a kid finding her quite scary.
01:58 Put them in a bag. I'll take them with me now.
02:00 The puppies are not for sale.
02:02 Dang it!
02:04 So I think the main issue that I have with this film is that some of the things
02:08 that the characters do, some of the dialogue that they share,
02:11 is a little bit too child-friendly to the point where some of it
02:14 doesn't really make sense, and it's as if the film thinks,
02:16 "Well, it doesn't have to make sense because this is aimed at children."
02:19 And I think what I was hoping for was something a little bit more sophisticated
02:22 and a little bit more targeted at the whole family,
02:25 as opposed to just the younger members of the family.
02:28 Like you said, I do think it skews more child-friendly,
02:31 so when you're watching it as an adult, it probably does draw you out at places,
02:35 and that's a little bit of a letdown in terms of, "Well, who's this for?"
02:40 Having said that, those scores are pretty harsh,
02:43 so I think it's not perfect, but I think it's a perfectly serviceable family film
02:47 and it doesn't deserve, what's that, 4.5 out of 10, 45% overall?
02:51 So I think that's harsh. What about you?
02:53 Yeah, I was really surprised when I saw those scores.
02:55 I wasn't expecting that at all, and I wasn't expecting to have chosen this film
02:59 because it's underrated, but after watching it again,
03:01 I definitely think it's underrated.
03:04 [BLANK_AUDIO]