Trivia / Cruella

---

• The Cast Showoff:
  • Joel Fry's real life guitar skills are used in the film when Jasper plays it at Cruella's guerilla fashion show.
  • John McCrea, known by musical theater fans for originating the title role in Everybody's Talking About Jamie, gets a chance to show off his singing at the fashion show (and on the Cruella soundtrack) as well.
• Celebrity Voice Actor:
  • In the Japanese dub, Cruella is voiced by movie actress Kou Shibasaki, better know for non-Japanese viewers for playing Mika in 47 Ronin, Mitsuko Souma in Battle Royale, and voicing Reina in Fist of the North Star: Legends of the True Savior animated film, as well as Nanami Fujii in Detective Conan Film 17: Private Eye In The Distant Sea.
  • In the Italian dub, Jeffery is voiced by Damiano David, the lead singer of Maneskin. He also covers “I Wanna Be Your Dog” in place of John McCrea.
• Dawson Casting: A milder case than most examples: Estella in her early twenties in the film. Emma Stone was 30 years old during filming.
• Fake Brit:
  • The American Emma Stone as the British Cruella. This is coincidentally following a trend of every other Cruella being one; her two voice actresses Betty Lou Gerson and Susanne Blakeslee were American, as was Glenn Close in the live-action remake, and Wendy Raquel Robinson in Descendants. Once Upon a Time likewise had the Irish Victoria Smurfitt in the role.
  • American Paul Walter Hauser as the British Horace.
• Follow the Leader: The marketing for the film was heavily influenced by that of Joker (2019), though the film itself was in development before Joker was released.
• God Never Said That: When the film was first announced, some people misconstrued a statement that it would be set during the birth of the punk rock movement, as meaning it would be about Cruella herself actually being the one who started it.
• Meaningful Release Date:
  • The film was released on May 28, 2021, which would have been the 22nd birthday of the late Cameron Boyce, who played Cruella's son Carlos in the Descendants franchise.
  • The film released during the 65th anniversary year of the original book, the 60th anniversary of the animated feature and the 25th anniversary of the live-action version.
• The Other Darrin: In stark contrast with the original English version, Cruella is voiced by different voice actresses from previous incarnations from the 101 Dalmatians in other foreign dubs:
  • In the Latin American Spanish dub, Cruella is voiced by Karla Falcón, rather than Yolanda Vidal from the 101 Dalmatians (1996) live-action film and Reina Reech from the sequel.
  • In the Japanese dub, the titular character is voiced by Kou Shibasaki, replacing both Kuniko Yamada (home video dub) and Tomoko Shiota (TV Asahi dub) from the 101 Dalmatians (1996) live-action film and its sequel, and that without mentioning other voice actress who had voiced her before in other adaptations of the franchise.
• Playing with Character Type: Emma Thompson in the last two decades has often shown up as 'that quirky Cool Old Lady' in various comedies - with the notable exceptions being Saving Mr. Banks (where she's The Comically Serious and defrosts) and Beautiful Creatures. The film is still comedic but she's an out and out sociopathic villain.
• Preview Piggybacking: Had an exclusive featurette on the film's fashion design attached to the penultimate episode of Pose.
• Production Posse: Director Craig Gillespie previously worked with Paul Walter Hauser (Horace) in I, Tonya.
• Queer Character, Queer Actor: John McCrea, like his character Artie, is gay in real life.
• Release Date Change: The film was originally scheduled to be theatrically released on December 23, 2020. It was delayed to May 28, 2021 around the time filming began; the COVID-19 Pandemic did not affect this date, aside from Disney+ Premier Access availability.
• Saved from Development Hell: The project was in development as early as 2011, and was passed through several possible writers and directors. Emma Stone was cast as the title role in 2016, and the film ultimately released in 2021.
• Typecasting: Emma Stone plays an English-accented character who undergoes a Protagonist Journey to Villain, much like her character in The Favourite. (Fittingly, Tony McNamara is a credited writer on Cruella, his first film project since Favourite.)
• What Could Have Been:
  • Nicole Kidman was the leading choice for the Baroness before Emma Thompson was cast.
  • In early development, the film was intended to be a direct prequel to the 1996 film, focusing on a younger version of Glenn Close's portrayal of Cruella. Later drafts abandoned this idea, placing the finished film in an Alternate Continuity from any other iteration.
• Word of Gay: Despite Artie being hyped outside of the film as Disney's "first gay character"^note Although the same was said of Le Fou in Beauty and the Beast (2017), he's never depicted as showing an attraction to men or any other kind of gay activities. The most he has to show for it is having campy mannerisms, but which could be as attributable to him being in a glam rock band, or a Metrosexual or even asexual.

---