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Cruella De Vil is a fictional character and the primary villain in Dodie Smith's novel The Hundred and One Dalmatians and its various film adaptations. In all her incarnations, Cruella kidnaps dalmatian puppies for their fur. She also always has one half of her hair white and the other half black.
Cruella's name is a play on the words cruel and devil, an allusion which is emphasized by having her country house be nicknamed "Hell Hall". In some translations, Cruella De Vil is known as "Cruella De Mon", presumably to change the play on the word "devil" to one on "demon" because the word "devil" in some languages does not exist. In Italy, she is called "Crudelia De Mon" (a pun on "crudele", cruel, and "demone", demon).
The book
In the original story, Cruella is a pampered London heiress who knows the owner of the Dalamtian puppies through school. She was a notorious student with black and white plaits. She was later expelled for drinking ink. Now she is married to a furrier who supplies her obsession, such as the one piece she is never seen without - an absolutely simple white mink cloak. With this, she wears gowns and ropes of jewels in contrasting colors, such as an emerald color dress with ropes of rubies. Her chauffeur-driven car is zebra striped. Such dramatic luxuries were said to be based on the theatrical life of Tallulah Bankhead.
When she has guests for dinner, all of Cruella's food is strange colors and tastes of pepper. She constantly stokes a roaring fire and complains of being cold despite the elevated temperature. The flat is portrayed as a sort of luxurious version of Hell and sets up Cruella's "devilish" persona for her later crimes. Her guests also meet her abused white Persian cat, which plays a key role in a later part of the story.
The Disney animated version
Disney's animated version of Cruella first appeared in 1961's One Hundred and One Dalmatians, in which she was voiced by Betty Lou Gerson and animated by Marc Davis. The cool detachment of the original character was replaced by a crazed mania, in which Cruella only barely clung to a sheen of glamor. It is rumored that Walt Disney did not like the appearance of Cruella in the film .
For unexplained reasons, Cruella's cat and husband were omitted from the Disney version. Perhaps it was felt that she would be more intimidating if she had no home life. The film featured a song using her name as the title, sung by the dalmatians' owner Roger. The lyrics begin with: Cruella De Vil, Cruella De Vil. If she doesn't scare you, no evil thing will...
Cruella returned in the 2003 direct-to-video sequel Patch's London Adventure, where she was voiced by Susanne Blakeslee. Cruella also appeared in some Disney television shows. She was a regular antagonist in 1997's The Series, where she was voiced by April Winchell. This time, though, her aim was to steal the Dearly Farm, as killing animals for fashion was deemed politically incorrect. However, she returned to hunting dogs in 2001's House of Mouse and was voiced by Susan Blakeslee. The series featured a running gag in which she inspects dogs from other Disney films with a measuring ruler. Cruella is also one of the villains Mickey fights in Disney-MGM Studios version of Fantasmic! Nighttime Show Spectacular in Disneyland.
From the unsubtle symbolic name to her hideous physical appearance, the evil of Cruella De Vil is overt. This may be what makes her stand out as one of Disney's most popular villains. Her ferociousness and intended cruelty to the spotted heroes of 101 Dalmatians puts her as an easy target, but to her fans, there's something intriguing about her calculated and perserverent menace. In 2002, Forbes ranked De Vil as the thirteenth wealthiest fiction character, citing the single 65-year-old has a net worth of $875 million, obtained through inheritance *.
The Disney live-action version
In Disney's 1996 live-action remake of the animated film, 101 Dalmatians, and its 2000 sequel, 102 Dalmatians, Cruella was played by Glenn Close. The film reinvented Cruella yet again, this time as the magnate of an couture fashion house, "House of De Vil", which specialised in fur couture. The character of Anita (played by Joely Richardson) was a couturière and employee of De Vil. This film increased the physical comedy of the animated film, even veering into toilet humor. It removed all physical resemblance to the elegantly vicious character of the original novel, aside from the black and white hair.
The live-action film was critically panned, but Close's costumes, by Anthony Powell and Rosemary Burrows, received appreciative attention, including a spread in Vanity Fair magazine. Claws were applied to gloves, and necklaces were made from teeth, to add to the idea that Cruella enjoyed wearing parts of dead animals. Nails were also projected from the heels ofto make them especially vicious in appearance. Close has commented on how demanding the slapstick physicality of the role was while wearing nail-heeled boots and corsets.
In 102 Dalmatians, while under effect of Dr. Pavlov's hypno-therapy, Cruella wanted to be called "Ella de Vil" because "Cruella sounds so ... cruel".
See also
- Cruella in the UltimateDisney.com Villains Countdown
Disney animated features canon villains | Television villains | Fictional British people | Cruella de Vil
"Cruella de Vil"