Roger and Anita’s pet Dalmatians Pongo and Perdita have just become the proud parents of 15 new puppies. But the evil Cruella De Vil has set her sights on them – as well as every other Dalmatian puppy in town. Her bumbling henchmen Horace and Jasper kidnap the pups and it’s up to Pongo and Perdita to use the "Twilight Bark" to find where they’ve been taken and rescue them before it’s too late. 101 Dalmatians is a refreshing change of pace from Disney’s usual fare, with a unique animation style and a delightful lack of musical segments.
The THX video quality is worlds better than all previous releases. The print used is immaculately clean and free of defects, with sharp focus, deep blacks and rich, accurate colors. Some film grain can be seen on certain scenes, but overall the print is quite impressive. The previous VHS version had thick black lines and blurry backgrounds, so it was nice to finally discover that the artwork consists of thin delicate outlines and backdrops. You can almost feel the texture. The single-layered disc contains 4 gigabytes of data divided into 17 chapters. The disc also contains English subtitles and is encoded with Closed Captioning.
The audio is a little less impressive than Pinocchio, in that it only contains a standard 2.0 ProLogic soundtrack. Quality is nonetheless fairly good, with clear dialogue and trebles that manage to be crisp yet not grating. Little subwoofer action can be found, though overall the soundtrack contains good sonic range and almost no distortion. Also available are Spanish and French 2.0 language tracks.
Extras are very limited and include static scene selection screens, the original theatrical trailer and, well, that’s all. "Full-color character artwork on disc" is mentioned on the package, though that can hardly be described as a special feature. Overall, 101 Dalmatians includes an excellent video transfer and decent sound, but at $40 with no real extras you may wish to think twice.
- Reviewed by Daniel Tonks on December 5, 1999.
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System Equipment
Sony DVP-S500D DVD Player
Sony STR-GA8ES 5.1 Receiver
Sony 32" XBR250 WEGA TV using Component
Nuance Spatial & Star Series Speakers
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