One can only imagine what Disney's staff thought of being tasked with animating not only 101 dogs, but 101 spotted dogs for an entire movie. Nonetheless, they rose to the task, leaving us with 101 Dalmatians, Disney's second dog-centric film, though a far more compelling, exciting, and appealing one than Lady and the Tramp. Here, what little romance there is is dealt with right at the beginning, devoting the bulk of the story to kidnap, rescue, and adventure.
As Disney's first film set in the present-day of its release, the film charmingly captures the atmosphere of early-60's London. The backgrounds have a distinctly illustrative quality, on par with those in Sleeping Beauty, though less fantastical and with a decidedly contemporary feel. The animation is a bit more roughly-drawn than earlier Disney films, with pencil sketch lines frequently visible, though it doesn't detract from the quality of the film so much as contribute to the scrappy, sketchy quality of the aesthetic.
In terms of characterization, the film succeeds brilliantly, with the voice cast all coming off as charmingly English. One of the biggest strengths is the animal supporting cast, all of whom are delightfully memorable (most notably the cat, Sgt. Tibbs, and the two London hoods, Jasper and Horace, who provide the comic relief, slapstick, and stream of British-isms). The standout, though, is without a doubt Cruella De Vil. A flamboyant, domineering diva, Cruella is yet another triumph of character design for a Disney villain, viciously petty enough to demand killing 99 puppies for a coat, yet somehow still funny while she shrieks and slaps around her henchman.
Though lacking the spectacle of some of Disney's more grand-scale fantasies, 101 Dalmatians still manages to be a fine film in its own right, managing to be a charmingly British romp of an adventure story. Perhaps its most notable feature might be its animation style, which introduced the technique of xerography, a practice Disney would rely on frequently for several decades afterward.
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