 | Character of the Week - Cruella de Vil |
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| DisneyDan
Monday, May 30, 2011 3:09:01 AM |
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Cruella de Vil is the dog-snatching villain from the 1961 movie 101 Dalmatians. Living in Hell Hall, Cruella is a wealthy heiress who just loves fur coats. She loves fur coats so much that her mean and selfish streaks make her want the softest, most expensive coats around.
When visiting an old school “friend”, Cruella discovers that she owns fifteen brand new Dalmatian puppies. Determined to see her coat finished, she offers a large sum of money to purchase the puppies, but is refused. Cruella then takes it upon herself to acquire the puppies another way – by hiring the bumbling brothers Jasper and Horace to steal them, and their parents.
The dogs are locked up at Hell Hall with 84 others that have been stolen or purchased by Cruella to make her coats. Cruella learns that the police may be on to her and orders her henchmen to start the process to make the coats. Before they can kill the puppies though, the dogs manage to escape with the help of some other local animals.
As they make their escape, they are pursued by a raging Cruella. Without realising though, the brothers are also on the trail, and just as Cruella nearly succeeds getting the dogs back, she collides with them, and they end up in a wreck.
At the Parks and Resorts
Cruella does not feature in many things very often these days. She tends to star in shows and parades more around Halloween time.
In California she does feature in the Hook and Ladder Company musical performance in front of the Fire House. She comes along and tries to steal their mascot, which of course is a Dalmatian.
In Florida at the Mickey’s not so scary Halloween Parties she can be found in the Villains Mix and Mingle, and in the Boo To You Parade.
In Paris you can find her regularly in the Star ‘n’ Cars parade at the Studios, and at Halloween in the Villains Showtime (or whatever the current version is that year, as it can vary a little). As of last Halloween she was also in the Halloween post-parade in her own black and white car.
There tends not to be much merchandise around for Cruella, more normally focussing on the Dalmatians of the film that made her famous, rather than her. In the past though there have been pins, and even a plush, which was a little scary!
Meeting Cruella de Vil
Cruella can regularly be found meeting her fans on Main Street USA in Disneyland. Other than that she doesn’t get out in the US very often these days.
In Paris she can nearly always be found in the Studios around lunch time, and at Halloween is one of the regular villains to appear across the parks, quite often in Frontierland.
In Tokyo she is out regularly in American Waterfront.
More Information
For more information on Cruella de Vil, including more precise meeting locations and shows and parades she features in, check out her page here on this site.
And Finally
Just because she was foiled once by the Dalmatians, Cruella was not swayed from her dog-snatching ways, and still continues to pursue her dreams of owning the most luxurious fur coat in the world – at whatever cost.
The vote for next time is now open!
Voting is now conducted by polling on the forum topic for this article. Click the Discuss button below this post to cast your vote and leave your thoughts about this article and Cruella de Vil!
The options are:
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Anastasia Tremaine
- Tarzan
- Chicken Little
Just so you are aware, we are away on vacation from this weekend, so the next Character of the Week is likely to be about 21 days from now – which gives you all plenty of time to vote!
Dan. |