101 Dalmatians vs the Rescuers

[Jay]

Which film do you find overall better?

[DisneyDude2010]

I would have to say 101 Dalmatians

I really enjoyed the movie and I loved the relationship of Roger & Anita and Pongo and Perdita! Cruella was such a good villain and Jasper and Horace were historical. It's one of my favorite Disney movies and I love the melodies throughout the movie!

I didn't really like the Rescues (I did like Down Under however ) I just thought it was lacking some sparkle, but I thought Medusa was a great villain and I loved Bianca and Bernard! I wasn't really fused Penny but I did like her relationship with her Teddy Bear. I didn't really like the country mice either


Also a fact for you!
Did you know Cruella was considered to be the Villain in The Rescues, but the studio wasn't keen on reusing characters at the time.

[Angeldude98]

I actually like both. Each one has it's magic. 101 Dalmatians has more of a comic side to it than The Rescuers, which has a darker tone. Both have similar stories, with Dalmatians dealing with dognapping and Rescuers with kidnapping. Both have crazy villainesses who are eccentric and bad drivers, and both have unlikely heroes. Now, that said, as far as my personal preference goe I do like the music of Rescuers much more than Dalmatians. "Someone's Waiting For You" is one of the most beautiful songs ever written for an animated film. To me it beats "Cruella DeVil" hands down!

[Disney's Divinity]

101 Dalmatians, by far. I've never been enamored with The Rescuers. Bernard, Rufus, and Orville are the only characters I care for, so I'm kind of disconnected from the story.

[Dr Frankenollie]

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[Goliath]

Strange picks for an installment of the "vs."-series, since the movies don't really have anything in common, but okay... here's my pick:

The Rescuers.

Surprised, anybody?

One of Disney's most beautiful films. Its simple story is used to great effect and collides perfectly with the sober and atmospheric animation. The focus is straight on the story and characters and gives us one of Disney's best relationships, between Bernard and Bianca. The haunting melodies and Shelby Flint's wonderful unique voice round out a near-perfect film.

Though, One Hundred and One Dalmatians is also one of my favorite Disney films. It certainly has a spot in my personal top 10.

[Jay]

Strange picks for an installment of the "vs."-series, since the movies don't really have anything in common, but okay... here's my pick:

The Rescuers.

Surprised, anybody?

One of Disney's most beautiful films. Its simple story is used to great effect and collides perfectly with the sober and atmospheric animation. The focus is straight on the story and characters and gives us one of Disney's best relationships, between Bernard and Bianca. The haunting melodies and Shelby Flint's wonderful unique voice round out a near-perfect film.

Though, One Hundred and One Dalmatians is also one of my favorite Disney films. It certainly has a spot in my personal top 10.

I put them together because they both involve kidnapping or dognapping and the victims need to be rescued. They also have talking animals, are set in modern times and have two crazy ass villains.

[Elladorine]

Strange picks for an installment of the "vs."-series, since the movies don't really have anything in common

I think it's an interesting comparison to make since, for a short time, the studio actually considered making The Rescuers as sort of a sequel to 101 Dalmatians.

[bringtytlaback]

Unquestionably, The Rescuers is the superior film. Without its brilliantly-designed (thank you, Marc Davis) and brilliantly-voiced (thank you, Betty Lou Gerson) antagonist, 101 Dalmatians would be nothing more than a cute but average film.

Rescuers has far greater characters: there's Penny, who isn't irksome in the slightest and is rather endearing; Bernard, a charming unlikely hero who has a few odd quirks (e.g. his superstitiousness) that add depth to him; Miss Bianca, who has great chemistry with the character of Bernard; and of course Medusa, who despite being less memorable in terms of appearance than Cruella DeVil, is much more detestable (the scene where she says that nobody would want a 'homely little girl' like Penny is heart-breaking, and then of course there's the scene near the end where she refuses to bring Penny up from the cave until she finds the diamond even though she could die). The story of Rescuers is clearly more touching and structured much better than Dalmatians', which is only compelling whenever Cruella appears.

Also, what good song does Dalmatians have other than 'Cruella DeVil'? Furthermore, that one good song is quite weak when compared to the musical powerhouse of 'Rescue Aid Society', 'The Journey', 'Someone's Waiting For You', etc.

How does it feel to be wrong? I mean, there's no good place to start other than to say you whiffed on every point. That's not something you see every day!

Also, why are you so angry?

[PatrickvD]

One Hundred and One Dalmations by a landslide.

It has better animation, stronger and more engaging storytelling, an absolutely delicious villain and above all: style. It's among the most groundbreaking films ever made at Disney. Sylvain Chomet mentions it as one of his inspirations and you can tell from his amazing work. Dalmatians is not just a good Disney film, it's among the greatest animated features of all time. There's an elegance to its simplistic and highly stylized visuals that easily crushes the cutesy and melodramatic schmaltz of the Rescuers.

No contest here in my opinion.

[Rose Dome]

The Rescuers. It's villain is much more of a threat (even if Cruella DeVille has terrible intentions), and it's emotional moments are more powerful.

[Dr Frankenollie]

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[PatrickvD]

@PatrickvD: Whilst Dalmatians has style, Rescuers has substance. Why do you think the former has a stronger and more engaging storyline? I didn't care for Pongo, Perdita or their puppies, but I cared deeply for Bernard, Bianca, Penny, etc.

I actually could not care less for any of the characters in The Rescuers. They were bland characters in a melodramatic plot. I don't see how Penny's kidnapping equals depth.

The entire opening of 101 Dalmatians, with Pongo on a mission to find Roger his true love is wonderfully down to earth. I can identify with these characters because they're quirky humans. I got to know these characters in relatable scenes and settings (the park or a lazy evening in front of the TV) so when Cruella came in and kidnapped them I was engaged in the story and by what was at stake.

We're introduced to an already kidnapped, orphaned Penny crying. I don't know anything about her other than that the movie wants me to sympathize with her from the get go. I find the whole concept overly melodramatic. The kidnapping angle is executed so much better in the sequel. When Cody is kidnapped, we've gotten to know him and Marahute. Do I feel bad for Penny? Sure and the scene in the cave/well is quite well done. But I don't know who she is. They might as well have named her 'cute little orphan girl'.

[Goliath]

We're introduced to an already kidnapped, orphaned Penny crying. I don't know anything about her other than that the movie wants me to sympathize with her from the get go. I find the whole concept overly melodramatic. The kidnapping angle is executed so much better in the sequel. When Cody is kidnapped, we've gotten to know him and Marahute. Do I feel bad for Penny? Sure and the scene in the cave/well is quite well done. But I don't know who she is. They might as well have named her 'cute little orphan girl'.

You don't really know who Cody is either. He loves animals, okay, that's all we know. He's much more bland than Penny. Penny at least shows us real emotions and lets us know how she feels. We don't get to see any of that from Cody. The sequel is one big rehash of the original movie. Only with a much lamer villain, an unneccesary and cliched love-triangle including Disney's most useless character ever (Jake) and awful tacky ending with Bernard proposing to Bianca (removing all subtelty of the original movie). The sequel was made with a blockbuster-approach, trading story and character development for visual effects.

[Dr Frankenollie]

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[Disney's Divinity]

I didn't care for Pongo, Perdita or their puppies, but I cared deeply for Bernard, Bianca, Penny, etc.

I thought Dalmatians made you feel a lot of emotion for Pongo, Perdita and the puppies. Particularly because of the way Perdita is terrified by Cruella when she arrives, and the fact that she and Pongo basically travel some 30-100 miles (I really don't know the precise length, but I'm pretty sure it's far on dog legs ) to save their children. Also, the scene where Roger saves the life of the newborn and the tragic atmosphere that follows the puppies' kidnapping both lead to a lot of emotional reactions from the audience. The television scene (where, btw, they clearly differentiate the majority of the puppies) gives the family a quaint, everyday feeling so that the audience will care when Horace and Jasper strike later.

It goes without saying, I guess, that I completely agree with PatrickyD. The characters are very much superior to those in The Rescuers, imo. I also agree that Cody is a more likable character than Penny. Overall, I think the sequel is only weaker to the original where it concerns the atmosphere, and the Bernard and Bianca romance. McLeech is more menacing than Medusa, imo, and Joanna is more entertaining than any of Medusa's sidekicks.

I don't really get much from the music in either film, but I agree that The Rescuers is likely the winner in that area. That said, "Cruella de Vil" is one of the catchiest songs in the Disney canon.

[bringtytlaback]

And what does 'whiffed' mean?

Watch Baseball?

Finally, what makes you think my post was an angry one?

Maybe for burying the film with hyperbolic declarations in every sentence. You clearly weren't in a good mood and the post came across as inflammatory.

I know that you're generally a nice guy. That's why the situation seemed special enough to comment on.

I feel the same as Patrick and Divinity about the two films so I won't rehash any of their comments.

[Elladorine]

I recall reading that Frank & Ollie complained that Madame Medusa was a weak villain . . . I occasionally wonder if using Cruella instead could have strengthened the film or if doing so would have somehow taken away from Dalmatians.

Seems ironic that Rescuers ended up being their first film with an actual sequel.

[PatrickvD]

You don't really know who Cody is either. He loves animals, okay, that's all we know. He's much more bland than Penny. Penny at least shows us real emotions and lets us know how she feels. We don't get to see any of that from Cody.

I actually see more emotions coming from Cody during Marahute's flight and the way he fights for the birds' freedom than anything Penny does in The Rescuers. She's a sad orphan who feels unloved. That is so schmaltzy and melodramatic. All I ever get out of Penny is that I feel obligated to sympathize with her because they make her so damn sad. It's over the top. She's really only interesting in the scenes where she stands up to Medusa. But that would have worked out better had Medusa been a better villain.

Sorry, I think Cody is a much more interesting character. He doesn't just 'love' animals, he goes around saving them from traps. That automatically makes McLeach, a hunter, a much more interesting villain. My only fault with the sequel is that they never showed what happened to the caged animals in McLeach's lair.

The sequel is one big rehash of the original movie. Only with a much lamer villain, an unneccesary and cliched love-triangle including Disney's most useless character ever (Jake) and awful tacky ending with Bernard proposing to Bianca (removing all subtelty of the original movie). The sequel was made with a blockbuster-approach, trading story and character development for visual effects.

I actually thought the romantic comedy love triangle was well done. They hadn't done that in a Disney film. And the proposal was well done, building up throughout the film. And the blockbuster-approach made it much more engaging for me. I prefer it over the cutesy forgettable schmaltz of the original any day.

But enough about the original versus the sequel. If there's one thing I've learned from UD it's that no one ever comes to an agreement

As for Dalmatians, we could go back and forth on it versus The Rescuers. I just find it an odd pair for comparison. One Hundred and One Dalmatians is the 11th most successful film in Hollywood history. Not just animated.

There's a reason for its success.

[Dr Frankenollie]

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