The Starlight Barking (101 Dalmatians)

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The General - formerly "The Colonel" in the first novel, before his promotion, the Old English Sheepdog who lives at Tompkins farm next door to Pongo and Missis. He is able to communicate with his owner's son, Tommy Tompkins, in a half-dog half-human babble. The Starlight Barking is a 1967 novel that serves as the sequel to the first The Hundred and One Dalmatians. Big Eater: Missis is rather obsessed with food, to the point where of all the weird things that happens in The Starlight Barking, the one thing that truly astonishes her is that she isn't hungry. 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. 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 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. No Celebrities Were Harmed: The Foreign Secretary and the Minister of Transport in Cadpig's Cabinet in The Starlight Barking are gentle parodies of the actual Cabinet ministers at the time.Mr. de Vil “didn’t seem to be anything but a furrier,” Smith writes cattily, and Cruella married him for access to furs. Furs are essential to her lifestyle because she is always cold, and Smith strongly implies that nothing short of hellfire will ever be quite hot enough for her. ( The Hundred and One Dalmatians is a very Anglican book, and I will warn you now that, similar to many other English children’s books of its era, the novel’s anti-Semitism is only barely coded.) Xtreme Kool Letterz: Kloes That Klank, Cruella's second business venture after the dalmations destroy her fur business, involving plastic raincoats that make clanking noises. Xenofiction: Although for the most part a fantasy story, there are shades of this, as it's made clear that dogs think very differently from humans. Missis may not know right from left, but the fact that Pongo does know right from left is treated as rather remarkable and proof of his advanced intelligence. 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. 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 ]

Although The Hundred and One Dalmatians has been adapted into two films (animated: One Hundred and One Dalmatians; live-action: 101 Dalmatians), and each version has a sequel film ( Patch's London Adventure and 102 Dalmatians), neither sequel film has any connection to The Starlight Barking. Disney archivist Dave Smith said that he was unaware of any considerations for adapting the novel although Walt Disney was interested in doing another project based on Smith's further writings. Author Elizabeth Hand praised the "sophisticated canine society" in the novel. Russ Allbery stated in an online review that, while sometimes predictable, it is "significantly better" than its predecessor and can be seen as "a story of the attractions and perils of sudden advanced technology." This Is My Human: The dogs refer to the Dearlys as their pets. They are aware that the Dearlys believe it's the other way around, but they find it charming and let their humans continue to believe so.

Get your paws dirty!

In both the live-action and animated adaptations, there is only one nanny, Missis and Perdita were combined into one character, and other characters, such as many of the other dogs, Prince, Tommy, Cruella's cat, and Cruella's husband, were omitted. In the animated film, Pongo and Missis' owners' last names were changed to "Radcliffe" from "Dearly", and in the live-action film, Cruella (portrayed by Glenn Close) appears as the spoiled magnate of an haute couture fashion house, " House of DeVil". Disney kept the book's characters Horace and Jasper Baddun in both versions, but represented them as the thieves hired by Cruella to steal Pongo and Missis' puppies. In the novel, Horace is named Saul, and they are merely caretakers, the puppies having been stolen by hired professional thieves some days before. The Dearly family and most of the Dalmatians of the first book still live in Cruella de Vil's old manor house in Suffolk, as do many of the other rescued Dalmatians and a married couple of White Persian cats. Mr. Dearly has allowed some dogs to go to new masters, including giving Cadpig to the Prime Minister. Malaproper: Missis isn't good with large words. For example, she gets offended when she learns the Dearlys will found a "nasty din" of dalmatians, only for Pongo to explain what a "dynasty" is. 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.) Mr. de Vil - A small, worried, but equally evil man, from the first novel. He snores louder than anyone the dogs have ever heard.