Pongo - The father of the fifteen puppies from the first novel, now known across London for the famous rescue of the puppies from Cruella de Vil. He is the de facto leader of the Dalmatians and is said to possess the "Keenest Brains in Dogdom", though the strange happenings place him in a position far out of his depth. Flipping further I found a visit to a sleeping Cruella de Vil, and a pseudo-religious Voice (Sirius Lord of the the Dog Star) entering the storyline, to warn the ‘caninecade’ that he can save them from the destructive nuclear forces about to be unleashed by humans. It would appear that the book then rapidly descends into farce as a number of ownerless dogs instead opt to seek a life at Battersea Dogs Home (a highly reputable establishment in real life). Hmm.

The Great Dane at Hampstead - Owned by a Professor who studies crowd psychology, he suspects Sirius of inciting mass hysteria for nefarious ends, though he soon comes to see this is false. Patch - Pongo and Missis' son, who was the largest of the puppies and devoted to Cadpig. He refuses to marry as an adult because he does not want to pass on his patched-ear-and-eye fault. He is happily reunited with Cadpig and made her temporary Private Secretary in London. The Hundred and One Dalmatians is a 1956 children's novel by Dodie Smith about the kidnapping of a family of Dalmatian puppies. It was originally serialized in Woman's Day as The Great Dog Robbery, [1] and details the adventures of two dalmatians named Pongo and Missis as they rescue their puppies from a fur farm. A 1967 sequel, The Starlight Barking, continues from the end of the novel.It's well known that Dodie Smith is a wonderful children's author and this book just adds to her repatoir. I loved the way she created her characters and gave them all different personalities and quirks to go along with them as well and I thought it was one of the most heartwarming novels with a great amount of adventure that I've read in a long and I think this is one along with the preceding book that should be in every child's library. However, the difference between those books and this one is that here, we have a REALISTIC world that suddenly TURNS surreal, and for the readers to accept that, they need some kind of explanation: Who did this, and how/why? And this is where this book fails to deliver: The initial sense of wonder doesn't last long, and for more than half the book, our characters are wandering around with no real sense of purpose. Then we finally meet Sirius... but instead of exploring this marvelous character any further, the book hurries the plot along, squeezing the revelation, offer, resolution and epilogue into roughly the last third of the not-so-long book. Perdita and Prince - a married couple of liver-spotted Dalmatians, and the parents of eight of the stolen puppies from the first novel. They are left in charge of the Dearlys' household while Pongo and Missis go to London. The novel has been adapted for the stage by Debbie Isitt for the Belgrade Theatre, Coventry in 2000 (followed by productions at the Royal & Derngate, Northampton in 2007 and Birmingham Repertory Theatre in 2017), by Bryony Lavery for the Chichester Youth Theatre in 2014 and was devised by the company (directed by Sally Cookson) for Tobacco Factory Theatres in 2014. The novel was also adapted into a 2009 musical which opened in Minneapolis prior to a US tour. Another stage musical adaptation was due to open at Regent's Park Open Air Theatre in 2020, before being postponed twice to 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

A day of enchantments for the Dalmatians of the first book begins when the Dalmatians wake up and find all the humans and other animals in an unnaturally deep sleep. They hear the barking of Cadpig, carrying all the way from London, where she has become the prime minister's pet. She informs them reports from all over the country reveal the same phenomenon, and summons delegate dogs to London. They travel to London by "swooshing", described as gliding just off the ground. Demoted to Extra: Several characters in The Starlight Barking; most notably Cruella, who is discussed often but only actually appears once — and even then she spends the entire scene asleep. The Starlight Barking is a 1967 children's novel by Dodie Smith. It is a sequel to the 1956 novel The Hundred and One Dalmatians. [1] Plot [ edit ] Took a Level in Dumbass: The Colonel in the sequel. In the original book, Pongo mistakes him for a bumbler at first but he soon reveals himself as a very smart and competent dog. In the sequel, he's become a genuine bumbler and far less smart than he himself thinks, needing Captain (formerly Lieutenant) Willow to explain things when he misunderstands them — a very clear Shout-Out to their characterisations in the Disney movie. He still shows that he's no slouch when it really counts, though. Took the Wife's Name: Cruella is the last de Vil and she brings it up as the reason she made her husband change his name to hers when they married.Mr. and Mrs. Dearly - the owners of the Dalmatians in Suffolk. Mr. Dearly wakes at the end of the novel. Served with this utter look, our ostensible hero Mr. Dearly, whose dogs Cruella will shortly steal, peers down his nose and says, “Isn’t she a bit showy?” and truly, I don’t see how Smith could have expected anyone to root for him after that.

In her pursuit of warmth, Cruella travels everywhere in what Smith describes every time as “an absolutely simple white mink cloak,” and at one point appears wearing a brown mink coat underneath her existing cloak, along with a fur hat, fur gloves, and fur boots. Every night she sleeps between ermine sheets. Moreover, she flavors all her food — including ice cream — with nothing but pepper, and when the Dalmatians bite her, they discover that she too tastes of pepper. The Starlight Barking is not really about Cruella, who appears in only a single scene for a glorified cameo. ( What the book is actually about is bonkers, by the way, and I don’t think I could spoil it if I tried.) Still, she makes every moment of it count. Roly Poly - a fat and accident-prone Dalmatian, one of Pongo and Missis' adult sons. He teaches George how to swim, and the two of them soon discover they have a lot in common and spend the day of magic visiting Paris together.

The Dearlys' home isn't described much but presumably also qualifies, as it's in the Outer Circle which was (and is) one of the most prestigious locations in London. Brainless Beauty: Missis is described as very pretty and brave but also somewhat silly, vain, selfish, and baffled by abstract concepts such as "left". Then again, many dogs are — and Pongo is very aware that while Missis may not be as clever as he is, she has better instincts. She has become a lot hardier and more down-to-earth by the end of the book. Villain Ball: There was no reason at all for Cruella to kidnap the Dearly puppies. She already owned 82 dalmatian puppies, which should have been plenty to start her fur farm. The only thing that taking the Dearly puppies accomplished was 1) wasting money (she paid more to the dog thieves than she had for any litter), 2) bringing unwanted police attention (nothing she'd done before was illegal), 3) causing her husband's business to be destroyed by 99 extremely irate Dalmatians. All because she couldn't take "no" for an answer. The anxious parents find that Cruella has imprisoned their puppies in her country estate (along with 82 she had previously acquired), with intent to make Dalmatian-skin coats. Pongo and Missis rescue them all and return triumphant with 97 puppies in tow. A rescued nurse-dog named Perdita and her long-lost beau round out their numbers to 101, Cruella and her husband end up financially ruined, and the Dearlys buy the same country estate where the pups were originally held prisoner.

Like Brother and Sister: At one point, Pongo reflects that he does think of Perdita as a second mother to his and Missis' puppies, but that he loves her like a younger sister rather than a second wife. The Staffordshire - a powerful, impulsive but good-hearted Staffordshire Bull Terrier. He helped the Dalmatians in the first novel and is reunited with them in London. He initially dislikes cats but becomes an honored friend of The White Persian when he shows he is willing to help her kill Cruella if necessary. Old, Dark House: Hell Hall is this in its phases between being a Big Fancy House. Some of this seems to be thanks to Cruella not living in it and the Badduns barely keeping it maintained while hoarding the puppies. Missis is frightened when she first sees it.Nanny Cook and Nanny Butler invoke this. After they meet and have a good laugh over their names, they decide to train to be an actual cook and butler, since that is what the Dearlys need at the moment. Author Tract: 101 Dalmatians is not Dodie Smith's only work with a strong pro-animal, anti-fur message, only the one that features both subjects as major themes. Most of her other works usually manage a sly jab about the author's opinion on furs, but tend to handle the anti-fur message more subtly, usually by pointing out how ridiculous people look in fur (famously in I Capture the Castle, Rose — who acquires her coat by pure happenstance and who doesn't even like furs — ends up in a humiliating predicament after being mistaken for a bear) or by making the antagonist a fur-wearer. Many of her other works also feature at least one notable canine companion. Smith’s Cruella is, by the way, married. Her husband is a nonentity who barely speaks, which is perhaps why he doesn’t appear in any of the Disney adaptations. Such is Cruella’s commitment to her vibe that she made him take her name instead of the other way around. (Cruella Smith simply wouldn’t have had the same ring to it.)