Heartwarming / 101 Dalmatians

All 15 are safe and sound...now, wait until they meet the other 84.

(1961) Disney Adaptation

• At the very beginning, Pongo being worried enough about Roger that he starts scouring the street below for potential "mates" for him (and admittedly, for himself). And succeeds!
• Even while they're tied up in a dog leash, Roger tips his hat and says, "I beg your pardon!" to Anita. He may be a bit scatterbrained, but he's also a gentleman.
• The wedding of Roger and Anita...while showing Pongo and Perdita outside, eyes on each other, and Pongo placing his paw on Perdita's, followed by the two touching noses as their masters exchanged vows. It was definitely not just Roger and Anita getting married.
• Pongo's a really caring guy, especially towards Perdita.
  Pongo: Perdita, darling, are you all right?
  Perdita: Oh, of course, dear. After all, dogs were having puppies long before our time.
• The scene after Cruella leaves the house for the first time, where Roger comes downstairs still singing and proceeds to waltz with Anita while she semi-seriously remonstrates him for being so flippant, ending with a sweetly passionate kiss. A perfect little vignette of newlywed love.
• Roger and Anita's relationship, period. There is very little difference between them and Pongo & Perdita. He's casual, cluttered, and sarcastic while she's grounded, affectionate and supportive. They click together so well (and bring out each other's funny sides) and this is really one of the most realistic romances in the Disney Canon.
• Roger bringing the unresponsive, thought-to-be-stillborn Lucky back to life, with Pongo greeting him with a kiss on the nose.
  • Even seeing Lucky poking his head out, sniffing and whining (silently) was adorable. The flute music throughout that bit made it all the more charming.
  • Before that, Pongo and Roger are waiting to hear when the puppies are finally born. Roger is just as worried as Pongo, compulsivlely smoking on his pipe as the anticipation mounts.
• A minor one, but when Cruella is, in the beginning, politely trying to convince Roger and Anita to give some of the 15 puppies to her, Anita immediately declines merely on the grounds that Perdita would be heartbroken having to be separated from any of her children.
• After Roger stands up to Cruella and tells her the puppies aren't for sale, she storms off in a huff. What does Pongo do? Tell Perdita about his "old pet Roger's" Moment of Awesome and reassure her their puppies are safe.
• Pongo and Perdita happily going back to sleep while their newborn puppies are busy nursing.
  • Even seeing and hearing the newborn puppies makes one feel very happy.
• Pongo's idea to use the Twilight Bark as a Gondor Calls for Aid.
  Perdita: The Twilight Bark? But dear, that's only a gossip chain.
  Pongo: Darling, it's the very fastest way to send news. And if our puppies are anywhere in the city, the London dogs will know. Now we'll send the word tonight when our pets take us for a walk in the park.
  • Never mind the fact that it fricking works. Every dog in the city immediately looks concerned upon hearing the alert and stops what they're doing to bark and spread the news. This includes some of the dogs that Pongo had previously rejected as potential mates.
  • When Lucy tells Towser that there's no one around to hear him pass on the message, he responds that he'll at least try, adding, "I'll bark all night if I have to!".
• The first time we meet Captain and Sergeant Tibbs, Tibbs is taking a nap curled up on Captain's back. As brief as it is, as Captain has to wake him for the alert, it is pretty adorable, and suggests a strong camaraderie between the two.
  • Even better, when Captain peaks his head out of his stall to hear the barking, his movememts and mannerisms suggest he was sleeping too. Clearly, this was a moment of peace for both of them.
• The Great Dane, the minute he gets the news, calls for Perdita and Pongo. When they reunite, he reassures Perdita that the chain has told him that the puppies are fine for now. He gives them directions and identifies their liaison. When they run off in fear, realizing Cruella kidnapped their kids, he wishes them luck and calls for them that the Twilight Bark is listening and bark if they get lost.
• The Colonel runs out into the snow when he hears the Pongos, barking to indicate his direction and tells them No Time to Explain, their puppies and Sergeant Tibbs need help! They immediately go to the rescue.
• During breaking out of the DeVille place, Sergeant Tibbs is so protective of the puppies.
  • He orders the kids to use the hole in the wall to escape and gets them into an orderly line before the show is finished. At first, they're panicking, crowding the hole, but then listen to him and keep quiet. He helps Rolly, the last one since Rolly is too big to fit through the hole.
  • Lucky hasn't gotten the memo and is sitting too close to the TV for Tibbs to grab. The Bad'uns then toss him away for hogging the screen. Sergeant Tibbs runs to catch him, trips on a can, and still safely deposits him through the exit.
  • When it looks like they are cornered, he spreads his front legs out, defending the puppies as best as he can. He may be a Cowardly Lion, but he definitely averts Cats Are Mean.
  • While Perdita and Pongo distract the Bad'uns, the Colonel wants everyone to fight. Sergeant Tibbs has a better idea: "RETREAT!" and leads the puppies to the exit that the Bad'uns made, evacuating all of them to the safety of the barn.
• Pongo and Perdita reuniting with their puppies in the barn. Pongo makes sure to do a headcount. Patch then reveals there's more than fifteen: there's 99, and he's happy about it.
  • As the puppies jump and nuzzle with their parents, Sergeant Tibbs and the Colonel just watch from afar with big smiles on their faces.
• It's hard to tell whose adoption of the other 84 puppies was more heartwarming, the dogs or the humans.
  • When one of Pongo and Perdita's puppies asks, "...Whaddabout the others? What'll they do?", it becomes clear that Pongo and Perdita definitely raised their kids right.
    • Pongo's reply to the aforementioned question: "Perdy, we'll take them home with us. All of them." Just the way Pongo says it—it's beyond argument. The firmness of the statement is probably meant to reassure the other, non-Pongo puppies, who are looking horribly scared and vulnerable waiting for his answer.
    • Pongo is certain that Roger and Anita would never shut the other puppies out. And he's right, though it becomes a Funny Moment later when Roger just assumes that a large amount of puppies is attributed to Pongo's, er, prowess.
• All of the animals helping the Dalmatians escape from Cruella and the Bad'uns without expecting anything in return is very heartwarming of itself.
  Pongo: Thank you Sergeant, Colonel, Captain.
  Perdita: Bless you all!
  Pongo: How could we ever repay you for all...
  Colonel: Ahem! Oh, nothing at all. All in the line of duty.
  Sergeant: That's right sir. Routine.
  Captain: Better be off. Here they come!
• The scene where the puppies are walking on the ice tentatively has a few cute moments. A few of them cling onto Perdita's tail for stability. Lucky ends up running in place and slipping, asking why they can't go on the snow. Despite slipping himself, Pongo goes to pick up Lucky and helps him make the rest of the way.
• The cows and their collie friend giving shelter to all the puppies as they make their way to Dinsford for the ride home.
  • The cows selflessly offer their milk to the hungry puppies on hearing them crying. Their leader encourages them to go around the back and use the teats. One says there's plenty for everyone. As they start to talk in whispers, another says wistfully that she wishes they could stay forever.
  • The Border Collie escorts the freezing puppies and dogs to a barn and lets them get settled. He brings scraps for Perdita and Pongo, advising them to rest up for the long journey ahead, promising to stand guard the whole night for them.
• The Labrador personally helps with loading the puppies onto the van while they're disguised with soot. When Cruella and the Bad'uns figure out the ruse, he charges at them as Pongo gets himself and Lucky onto the departing vehicle.
• It seems to be a Tear Jerker at first, as Roger looks at a picture of Pongo and Perdita, saying he doesn't understand why they ran away. Anita puts on a brave face, decorating the Christmas tree, while Nanny is crying out of guilt that the Bad'uns kidnapped the puppies while she was minding the house. Then she hears some persistent barking, and her face lights up. Cue Nanny going to the front door, and a bunch of puppies and dogs invade the room. Pongo jumps on Roger while Perdita aims for Anita, to reassure her they're okay and found all the puppies.
  • Nanny immediately realizes the dogs are all covered in soot, with Lucky being the exception. She picks him up and cuddles him. Roger dances with Pongo on seeing it's his dog, and Anita practically cries when hugging Perdita. Nanny then starts brushing off the puppies, looking happier than she has all film.
  • Anita only has minimal hesitation about adopting the extra 84 puppies, saying their place is too small. Roger says with the money they got from the Cruella song, they can get a "Dalmatian plantation". Everyone agrees, with Anita giving Roger a Glomp.
• Though still strongly implied in the film proper, deleted scenes explicitly reveal that the last day shown in the movie in which the dogs make it back to London is in fact supposed to be Christmas Eve.

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1996 Live Action Adaptation

• "I think we have a problem. I think my dog is in love."
• The fact that there is a dog wedding just outside of Roger and Anita's wedding, just for Pongo and Perdita.
• It's never actually mentioned in the 60's animated feature that the last puppy brought back to life was the one they named Lucky- that was down to Nanny in this one.
• Nanny knowing Anita so well that she knows she's pregnant before anybody else does. Anita then faints when she realizes that she is having a baby, and Perdita is having puppies.
• Pongo cuddling down next to Perdita after she's had the puppies.
• Anita being so protective of Perdita that she whacks Roger in the face when she thinks he's kidnapping her dog.
• Kipper, despite taking a fall from Jasper kicking him off the roof, goes back into DeVil Manor to rescue Lucky from Skinner and personally escorts him back to his family with the other 84 puppies.
• The police officer's big smile when he sees all the Dalmatians. Then the bobbies load them into a car and drive them back to London. Once Anita and Roger are reunited with Perdita and Pongo, the cops kindly ask if they could adopt the remaining puppies since they didn't have owners.
• Anita is at first hesitant about adopting 84 more puppies because their apartment is too small. Roger reassures her they can get a bigger place with Nanny mentioning they can find lots of huge areas for puppies. Perdita then barks. Anita kneels next to her and says, "You're going to have a lot of children." Perdita indicates that she's fine with that, and they share a look of mutual understanding.
• Roger finally makes a villain that impresses the kid testing his various video games, and it's thanks to Cruella. He and Anita are thrilled when the kid says, "Excellent villain, mate!" which means that it will get greenlit, implying a possibility that Roger will generate enough money to help support his family, including all of the Dalmatians.