One of the oldest ways to squeeze a little more out of a successful film is to come up with a sequel. For Disney the live action remake of their classic animated movie ‘101 Dalmatians’ brought even enough to warrant a second going, aptly named ‘102 Dalmatians’. Right off this flick has a lot going against it. It is a sequel to a remake of one of the most beloved animated movies in the Disney canon. This in many ways is like photocopying a photocopy. You can make out some of the major features but the details and resolution is lost. Much of this will be lost on the targeted demographic of four to eight year olds. They tend to be less concerned with the technically cinematic aspects and are mostly focused on the cute bunch of puppies running around. The animated original was a delight for all ages and has endured through a couple of generations now. The live action remake was acceptable and again the parents are able to watch along with the kids. This flick is almost completely for the kids. The plot is only slightly changed from the original story and the characters are more insipid than ever. This is not to say that this flick doesn’t have some merits; it does. It is meant as children’s entertainment and it passes muster in that quarter. The decision to make a sequel did come more from the financial people at Disney than there creative team but even Disney has to pay the bills and support other better crafted enterprises. I watched the original animated film as a child and then decades later enjoyed it again with my own daughter beside me. This does give a certain glow to that film that makes it better in the memory than it might have been on screen. When a sequel to a remake comes along there is no chance of not comparing it to the 1961 edition. With that one being so special in the lives of so many even if this one was done to perfection it would not be able to met that standard.

The screenplay was done by committee here. That team included Kristen Buckley, Brian Regan, Bob Tzudiker and Noni White. Buckley is new to writing; this is her first time out. The same holds true for Regan. Tzudiker and Noni both worked previously on other Disney animated movies including ‘The Hunchback of Notre Dame’ and ‘Lion King’. Their task here was to retool the story to remove characters whose actors did not sign up and write in others to replace them. While they are capable with the script it is a downward step from the first live action flick that sported John Hughes as the author. He had a long career in films that ranged from teenaged angst to playful and popular children’s movies. These writers require some seasoning to develop the right way to present a story to a young audience and their parents.

Directing the movie is Kevin Lima who had only two credits prior to this one. He was in charge of ‘Tarzan’ and ‘A Goofy Movie’ before this and more recently directed ‘Enchanted’ a very well made satiric look at Disney films. All things considering he does his level best here which is a task considering the story is flimsy and has been d0ne before. It is paced well for children; fast moving with no dead spots and little in the way of required exposition. Lima gets going immediately setting up the return of Cruella De Vil to her horrible ways. There are some gags in here that only the adults will be able too get such as the use of the name Dr. Pavlov in behavioral modification and the concurrent use of a bell. Lima provides the setting and just has to make sure that Ms Close as Cruella has the stage to act her most over the top and evil. The one problem with this is that Cruella is such an over the top villainess that no real actor can properly do justice to the flamboyant character. There are just some stories that should remain in the animated world and this happens to be one of them.

The film starts a few years after the conclusion of the previous flick. Cruella De Vil (Glenn Close) has been in prison for her heinous activities but has been in a special program for behavioral medication. Dr. Pavlov (David Horovitch) believes that he can change the fundamental behavior of a subject helping them to be released to the world a new person. Pavlov has been working with Cruella to make her into someone that loves animals, as pets not fashion. This procedure is done with the oversight of De Vil’s lawyer, Mr. Tort (Ian Richardson). The names here largely depend on word play in a little nod to the adults in the room. Pavlov announces to Tort that his client is cured and to prove it shows her cell where Cruella is in the middle of a moving mass of Dalmatian puppies laughing and patting them. In court De Vil request that the judge call her Ella since Cruella sounds too cruel. Since she appears to be a changed woman the court lets her go on probation. The judge also holds her entire fortune to be forfeited should she break her probation. Once out of prison she is reunited with her faithful manservant Alonzo (Tim McInnerny). A little side note here, McInnerny and Close are the only ones to repeat their performances with this movie. While Cruella was away one of the original 15 puppies from Pongo and Perdita, Dipstick, has grown up and is now owned by Cruella’s probation officer Chloe Simon (Alice Evans). Dipstick was mated to another Dalmatian owned by Chloe, Dottie, and they have three puppies including one called Oddball since he was born without spots. Chloe sends a number of her probation clients to work at the ‘Last Chance Dog Shelter’ operated by Kevin Shepard (Ioan Gruffudd). One of the people she sends to work there is Cruellla. Chloe’s office just happens to be right outside the famous clock Big Ben and when Cruella hears the bells ring she reverts back to her old evil self. Cruella is now more determined than ever to create her ultimate coat of Dalmatian fur. Since she added a hood she now requires 102 puppies to make it work. Enlisting the aid of Alonzo and furrier Jean-Pierre LePelt (Gérard Depardieu) they set off to capture the animals. Since she doesn’t want all her money to go to the shelter, a condition of her probation, she frames Kevin for the disappearance of the dogs she is gathering. Of course it is up to the dogs to save the day and show that De Vil is the real villain.

There are some positive themes here such as accepting who you are as demonstrated by Oddball and a parrot who is convinced he is a rotteweiler. Children will get the message while being entertained and that is always a good thing in a film like this. That point side this is almost identical to the first movie with the dogs making complete idiots out of the bad guy humans. With all her money and considering how things turned out the first time you would think that Cruella would invest in more capable henchmen but some evil villains never seem to learn.

Disney has paid a lot of attention to how they brought this movie to DVD. It has an anamorphic 1.85:1 video with a DTS audio track. There are also a ton of extras on this set that include a music video and some interactive games for the kids. While not a great flick the kids will be able to get into it.