304 Dalmatians: Disney Re-releases 3 Sequels on DVD

Earlier this year, Disney re-released the classic 101 Dalmatians and now they’re bringing back the modern sequels that followed on September 16th. If your kids are under 5, there’s a chance they’ve never seen these three films: one animated, 101 DALMATIANS II: Patch’s London Adventure Special Edition,  and two live action, 101 DALMATIANS, and 102 DALMATIANS

Before I begin… Sequels are, as a rule, rarely as good as the original. That said, kids are less picky than adults about entertainment! Once your kid is sold on a character or franchise, they will most likely be excited by anything involving that character. Case in point: Anya loves Cinderella and is attracted to anything that even resembles a princess, such as Tinker Bell (at Target the other day, I showed her a junky Tinkerbell necklace from their dollar section and she exclaimed, "oh my gosh!!!!"). Also, while it’s a familiar character to a child, it’s a new movie for you. We went through a stage where Anya insisted on watching 101 Dalmatians every single day. As an adult, unless you’re doing something else while you’re watching with them, you will probably lose your mind watching the same thing over and over and over again. Thus, sequels are actually a parent’s best friend. New dialog, new story, new DVD to rotate into your collection.

Now for the synopses:

The original: 101 DALMATIANS (1961)
Adorable dalmatian Pongo, who lives with his human pet Roger, plays matchmaker and finds a mate for himself in the process. Soon, Pongo, his wife Perdita, Roger and his wife Anita, find their litter enlarged by 15 puppies but Anita’s fur-loving old schoolmate dognaps the puppies to turn them into a coat. Adventure ensues as Pongo and Perdita enlist other dogs and rescue their puppies. Be warned: if you have a dalmatian and/or wear fur, you may have some explaining to do.

The sequel: 101 DALMATIANS II: Patch’s London Adventure Special Edition (2003)
Pongo, Perdita and their puppies are back. The feisty Patch wants to be special but feels lost. His dreams of being a hero like his TV idol, Thunderbolt, come true when his brothers and sisters are kidnapped and Patch is the only one who can save them from Cruella De Vil!

The live action version: 101 DALMATIANS (1996)
The classic puppy tale comes alive in this version, which may be scarier for little ones (though it is still G-rated). Glenn Close stars as the archetypal villainess, Cruella de Vil, with Jeff Daniels and Joely RIchardson as the human "pets," and Joan Plowright and Hugh Laurie in supporting roles.

The sequel to the live action version: 102 DALMATIANS (2000)
In this live action sequel, Oddball, an all white Dalmatian puppy in search of her spots, and Waddlesworth (voiced by Eric Idle), a wisecracking macaw who thinks he’s a Rottweiler, leads a posse of puppies on a mission to outfox Cruella De Vil (Glenn Close again) who has been released from jail.

– Danielle