Back when Disney sequels were straight to video affairs, and some 40 years after the original hit the screens, Disney Plus's curious definition of "alphabetical order" makes this the first film on there that I haven't already reviewed. So, on lazy Sunday lockdown afternoon I put this on and discovered that, in the grand scheme of things, this was better than I could have anticipated.
Patch (Bobby Lockwood) is struggling to find his place amongst his 99 siblings, a fact that is not helped when he's accidentally abandoned as the family leave their London flat for a Devonshire farm. Things look up for him though when he discovers that his favourite TV show is carrying out auditions in London that day. Cruella De Vil (Susanne Blakeslee) is out on parole meanwhile, and stumbles across artist Lars (Martin Short) whose dot inspired artworks trigger old passions in her.
So.. this is all a matter of anticipation, I suppose. I assumed, as I started the film, that it would be god awful - so when it turned out to be OK, I felt much better about it. It's not "good", let's be clear but it's definitely acceptable. The animation is OK. The character models are decent and I really like a lot of the background stuff, particularly towards the end of the film where the spirit of London is hinted at in the design, rather than faithfully recreated. There's some earnestness to young Bobby Lockwoods vocal performance, and in Samuel West, who plays the voice of Pongo. But there there's a triumvirate of American actors brought in to provide life to their characters and they all do an excellent job. Barry Bostwick plays Thunderbolt, the star of the TV show. Jason Alexander plays Lightning, his sidekick and most effectively Martin Short is Lars, who is a Eurotrash 60's conceptual stereotype that Short gets to dive into.
The story is surprisingly deft, for a children's animation, in the way it pulled the story together and with a call back for the conclusion that I thought was reasonably clever. It's not as solid in the first half as it is in the second though, that is much slower. Also, compared to a full release Disney film, the animation being "OK" could also be construed as "not good enough". Finally, Cruella is a bit underwhelming too, given that she's a classic Disney Villain.
I'll say again though, much better than I thought it had any right to be.
Patch (Bobby Lockwood) is struggling to find his place amongst his 99 siblings, a fact that is not helped when he's accidentally abandoned as the family leave their London flat for a Devonshire farm. Things look up for him though when he discovers that his favourite TV show is carrying out auditions in London that day. Cruella De Vil (Susanne Blakeslee) is out on parole meanwhile, and stumbles across artist Lars (Martin Short) whose dot inspired artworks trigger old passions in her.
So.. this is all a matter of anticipation, I suppose. I assumed, as I started the film, that it would be god awful - so when it turned out to be OK, I felt much better about it. It's not "good", let's be clear but it's definitely acceptable. The animation is OK. The character models are decent and I really like a lot of the background stuff, particularly towards the end of the film where the spirit of London is hinted at in the design, rather than faithfully recreated. There's some earnestness to young Bobby Lockwoods vocal performance, and in Samuel West, who plays the voice of Pongo. But there there's a triumvirate of American actors brought in to provide life to their characters and they all do an excellent job. Barry Bostwick plays Thunderbolt, the star of the TV show. Jason Alexander plays Lightning, his sidekick and most effectively Martin Short is Lars, who is a Eurotrash 60's conceptual stereotype that Short gets to dive into.
The story is surprisingly deft, for a children's animation, in the way it pulled the story together and with a call back for the conclusion that I thought was reasonably clever. It's not as solid in the first half as it is in the second though, that is much slower. Also, compared to a full release Disney film, the animation being "OK" could also be construed as "not good enough". Finally, Cruella is a bit underwhelming too, given that she's a classic Disney Villain.
I'll say again though, much better than I thought it had any right to be.