101 Dalmatians/Headscratchers


 * How did the dogs make it back to Roger and Anita in London without attracting attention at the sight of a colossal pack of dogs in one of the largest cities in the world?
 * Well, they'd thrown Cruella off the trail at that point, so nobody was looking for them. Plus it's implied that they were hidden in the truck most of the way.
 * Black dogs, dark night...it's just barely plausible that no one would notice them if they kept to the shadows. Plus there is the implication that it is Christmas Eve. There probably wouldn't be too many people out and about, and if anyone had been and said, "I just saw a giant pack of black dogs! I think the grims are out to get us all," it would probably be dismissed as someone hitting the eggnog a bit too hard.
 * Dalmatians' fur is rather short, and not particularly soft even in puppies. Why would anyone want to buy a coat like that? Or wear it in public, knowing the source is self-evident and would mark its wearer as a dog-hater?
 * Well, generally speaking, high-class fashion has often been more about flashiness than comfort, Or So I Heard. And as to wearing it in public, well, the idea of making a coat out of dogs is so absurd that it seems likely many people would just assume it's fake. Although that does kind of kill the point of showing it off...but then, one might assume that the sort of person who'd buy a coat made from dogs would spend most of their time around people who share their, uh, unusual preference.
 * Cruella is flat-out evil. Her last name is De Ville (Deville), for crying out loud.
 * In the original novel, Cruella actually bothers to address this factor- She plans to make the front side of her coat Dalmatian and the wrong side made of some other, less conspicuous fur. Until the fuss over the abducted puppies dies down, she was going to wear the coat Dalmatian inwards, and then turn the whole furry coat inside-out.
 * If Roger and Anita have such big financial problems that they apparently can scarcely afford to feed themselves, then why on earth do they have a Nanny?
 * In the book they each had a Nanny living with them before they were married (presumably the same nannies who had watched over them as children - Rodger's Nanny says at one point that she's been caring for him since the day he was born), and both Nannies continued to live with them after the wedding because they were more like family by that time than servants. It's safer to assume that movie!Nanny had also been with one of the two since childhood (probably Anita, given the state of Roger's flat when the movie starts) and remained with the new couple for the same reasons as in the book. Of course, they are also much wealthier in the book than they are in the movie - Roger is a successful financier, not a broke musician - and would have had no trouble being able to afford household servants.
 * Even in the movie Roger isn't exactly poor, he's successful enough at his craft to afford a dog and all his instruments, eventually buying a house. Cruella is most likely simply being mean when she says they can barely afford to feed themselves
 * Alright, so in the end, Cruella lost both all the puppies and her nice car... Happy ending yet? She still has her money and she still has her mansion, I mean, she even knows Pongo and Perdita were leading the puppies home! She could easily get on their tracks again, knowing who owned Pongo and Perdita. She even lets herself into their own house-! Can't hide those 101 Dalmatians forever? What, more Fridge Horror to come!
 * The end of the film and the sequel address this. The whole family just moves to the countryside. Cruella has no idea where they've moved to (she even tries going back to their old, empty flat- and feels offended they didn't leave a forwarding address). She's given probation and a restraining order- which legally requires her to stay away from Roger, Anita, and the poor puppies- and was seeing a therapist about her fur obsession and had lost pretty much everything- except the clothes on her back. She can't even afford to get her car fixed from the first film-! Until she meets Lars and then sees Patch in the newspaper (where she manages to get the new address off his dog-tag), there was almost no way she could have found the puppies again.
 * Here's a big one to me. In the animated movie, one of 84 puppies indicates he was bought (presumably from owner or store). If Cruella already buying puppies, why bother to steal other 15 newborns from Roger and Anita?
 * There weren't any more dogs left to buy or steal?
 * It was an act of petty revenge against Roger and Anita (mostly Rodger) for actually standing up to her and initially refusing to sell the puppies.
 * Concerning Two-Tone in the TV series, why would the Dearlys have her ear pierced?
 * I guess they like earrings?
 * Maybe she did it behind their back. Don't know how, but still...


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