History YMMV / TheHundredAndOneDalmatians

* CrowningMomentOfFunny: Cruella always wears an "absolutely simple white mink cloak." After destroying the rest of her furs, Pongo and Missis can't resist the urge to destroy that too. They grab it off her shoulders and scurry to cover underneath it, where it promptly meets its end under dozens of puppy teeth.

* AdaptationDisplacement: The book is not nearly as remembered as the two Disney films.

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: Cruella's not exactly evil, just amoral. [[EvilCannotComprehendGood She genuinely doesn't understand]] how or why anyone could have an emotional attachment to an animal (witness her treatment of her cat, whose only value to Cruella is as an expensive status symbol) and thinks the Dearlys are being unreasonable for not selling their puppies. Stealing the puppies is simply transferring them from someone who isn't doing anything with them (the Dearlys) to someone who can put them to a better use (herself). Likewise, she sees no moral or ethical difference between killing a dog for its pelt and killing a mink or otter for its pelt ([[{{Anvilicious}} which may be the whole point of the character]]).

* OlderThanTheyThink: Many a Dalmatian has been named Pongo due to this book and the subsequent Disney feature, but as the author herself points out, "Pongo" is a traditional name for firehouse Dalmatians in the UK. Formerly, a "pongo" was an archaic name for any ape (itself probably a corruption of the Congolese word for gorilla, ''mpongo''). It later became British naval slang for a land-bound Army soldier, based on an old joke regarding this unusual "ape's" habit of digging trenches to hide in, as opposed to ordinary apes that hid in trees. (It's also likely a racist reference to the dark, dirty faces of trench-digging soldiers.) Since many military men took civilian jobs as firemen, a lot of firehouse mascots earned the name "Pongo." Why? Because dogs dig holes, of course. One hopes that it was also in appreciation of a dog's loyalty and courage, too. "Pongo" also just so happened to be the name of Dodie Smith's own dalmatian.

* AdaptationDisplacement: The book is not nearly as remembered as the Disney version.

* OlderThanTheyThink: Many a Dalmatian has been named Pongo due to this book and the subsequent Disney feature, but as the author herself points out, "Pongo" is a traditional name for firehouse Dalmatians in the UK. Formerly, a "pongo" was an archaic name for any ape (itself probably a corruption of the Congolese word for gorilla, ''mpongo''). It later became British naval slang for a land-bound Army soldier, based on an old joke regarding this unusual "ape's" habit of digging trenches to hide in, as opposed to ordinary apes that hid in trees. (It's also likely a racist reference to the dark, dirty faces of trench-digging soldiers.) Since many military men took civilian jobs as firemen, a lot of firehouse mascots earned the name "Pongo." Why? Because dogs dig holes, of course. One hopes that it was also in appreciation of a dog's loyalty and courage, too.

* AdultFear: Remember, Cruella didn't ''steal'' the majority of those puppies; she purchased them from legitimate breeders who probably assumed she was just a rich, eccentric woman who loved dogs. The idea of unwittingly handing over a puppy to a person who might abuse it--much less to a person who intends to ''kill it and skin it''--is the ultimate nightmare scenario for many animal lovers.

* MoralEventHorizon: In-story, Missus claims that biting a human is always this for a dog. She is perfectly willing to bite Cruella or the Badduns, but she justifies that on the grounds that they aren't really human (and in Cruella's case, at least, she may be right, as the book and a deleted song take the liberty to imply [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane that her last name might just be meant literally....]])
* TributeToFido: Dodie Smith's inspiration for the book was her own dalmatian Pongo; naturally, she put him into it as the main character.

* TheWoobie: Perdita. She is forcibly separated from her husband; then her puppies disappear, and she runs around looking for them until she collapses in a storm and is nearly run over by passing cars. After she is taken in by the Dearlys as a nurse dog, her milk fails, making her panic that she'll be thrown away. ''Then'' she gets the unenviable task of trying to comfort the family when Pongo and Missis leave to find their children. (But everything turns out okay in the end.)

* TheWoobie: Perdita.

* AdaptationDistillation: Those who watched the Disney film aren't aware that it was based on this book.

* CompleteMonster: Cruella is one of the most archetypal in fiction.

* MoralEventHorizon: In-story, Missus claims that biting a human is always this for a dog. Of course, she is perfectly willing to bite Cruella or the Badduns, but she justifies that on the grounds that they aren't really human (and in Cruella's case, at least, she may be right, as the book and a deleted song take the liberty to imply [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane that her last name might just be meant literally....]])

* CompleteMonster: Cruella is one of the most archetypal in fiction.