- I don't have high hopes for this movie, but since it's supposed to be a prequel, I think they'll actually keep her bad. At the same time though, I think they'll try to chalk up her villainy to the same old "I'm misunderstood, somebody else did something bad to me" shtick of these stories.
- Confirmed or Jossed depending on how you see it. Cruella has a fleshed out backstory that's somewhat tragic and is definitely the hero compared to the Baroness, but there's some minor tacked-on moral ambiguity to her actions.
It will be set in the same continuity as the 1996 live-action version.
The timeline checks out. The live-action 101 Dalmatians came out in 1996 and was set in the contemporary '90s. Cruella is set in the '70s, about twenty years before the setting of the '96 version, and Emma Stone is about twenty years younger than Glenn Close was back then. And really, what other reason could Disney have for choosing the '70s? If it's supposed to be a prequel to the book or the animated version, it should be taking place in the '30s or '40s. The fact that Glenn Close herself is an executive producer of the film lends this credence.- If it's really in that continuity, then the real reason Cruella wanted to go by "Ella" while under Dr. Pavlov's therapy in 102 Dalmatians is because it's a shortened version of "Estella".
- Gotta explain the Race Lift of Anita Darling then, from Joely Richardson to Kirby Howell-Baptiste...
- Upon release of the movie, there appears to be little if anything to suggest this movie is a prequel to the 1996 movie.
- Even setting aside the racelife, it's impossible. Perdita and Pongo are born shortly after the movie, which would make them impeccably old for Dalmations to still be around in the 90s.
Glenn Close will have a Remake Cameo.
Maybe as Estella/Cruella's grandmother?- Jossed.
There will be a Dark Reprise of Roger's song about Cruella from 101 Dalmatians.
- Confirmed, kind of. The "Meet the Villain" teaser
has a Dark Reprise of the song's melody. - Confirmed to an extent. The Stinger has Roger writing and performing a bit of the song after Cruella gives him Pongo as a gift, though the scene is given a much creepier vibe than it had in the original film.
Cruella only thinks she's fighting against the patriarchy because Society Is to Blame.
She had to take at least one Dead End Job once, and was treated like dirt at it (a man even crushed her hand under his shoe and didn't even care apologizing). But to everyone else, she's just as insane as we expect her to be.- Jossed, all her bad actions are based on a personal vendetta and have nothing to do with feelings against society.
Cruella will frame The Baroness for her crimes.
Since it’s Disney and she isn’t likely to publicly murder her, Cruella will probably pull off some big crime for the climax and use it to ruin The Baroness and her fashion empire.- Jossed to an extent. Cruella doesn't frame the Baroness for her own crimes, but she does trick the Baroness into trying to murder her in full view of the partygoers, which ruins what little remains of the Baroness' reputation.
Horace and Jasper won’t be as bad as previous incarnations.
Not that they’ll undergo Adaptational Heroism but perhaps they’ll be more sympathetic enough to understand why they join Cruella.- Confirmed. They're shown befriending Estella as children and later express disapproval when she takes on her Cruella persona.
Cruella is an Unreliable Narrator.
She is one of Disney's most popular villains. We're looking into the mind of a narcissistic sociopath, so of course she is going to exaggerate some things to make herself look sympathetic and innocent. Unlike Arthur Fleck (Joker) who is mentally ill and delusional, Cruella is purposely leaving out important information and smearing the people who "wronged" her. If Captain James Hook was telling you his life story, do you really think he is going to be 100% truthful with you and make Peter Pan the hero in HIS story?- Serena Valentino is doing a book based on Captain Hook called Never Never, so THAT could be Hook’s life story.
If Cruella succeeds, then Cruella 2 would be a live action from 101 Dalmatians.
At the end of the Film, Cruella already transformed into the iconic Disney villain, She will finally receive a call from her old friend Anita Darling and she will probably tell her that she and her dalmatian dog Perlita got partners while walking one day in the park. Anita's boyfriend is man named Roger and Perlita's boyfriend is a male dalmatian dog named Pongo.- Not confirmed, but still a possibility with the film's ending. Roger and Anita have not yet met by the end of the film, but in The Stinger Cruella gives them Pongo and Perdita respectively as gifts, possibly hinting that she'll come back for their future offspring.
Cruella will accomplish one of her goals in the end, but she'll also be humiliated in big fashion
The ending can't just be The Bad Gal Wins. And maybe she'll gain a new Canon Foreigner rival/enemy along the way after the possible demise of Baroness von Hellman.- Jossed. Cruella ends the film as the biggest name in the fashion industry, with no new rivals yet.
Cruella's breaking point will involve her mother.
Maybe her mother is ill and the Baroness forces her to work overtime and Cruella is too late to see her mother before she passes away, leading her to snap and set out to ruin her boss.- Confirmed, although not quite as described. Cruella begins to plot her revenge against the Baroness when she discovers that the Baroness was responsible for the death of her mother as a child, however it’s revealed that the Baroness herself is in fact Cruella’s birth mother, and who she thought was her birth mother was actually her adopted mother. The Baroness wanted to get rid of her as an infant, only for her valet to instead hand the baby Cruella over to her adopted mother Catherine to care for.
Cruella will be a Darker and Edgier version of the 101 Dalmatians family story.
It was already confirmed that Cruella will be rated PG-13, Cruella's trailer had a darker tone than most Disney films, live-action or animated. The film had previously been marketed as a comedy and family film similar to its original film, 101 Dalmatians. Many viewers have compared the trailer to the DCEU's Joker and Birds of Prey. The trailer has a playful dark side and it certainly embraces that angle more than its other villainous prequel, Maleficent. One particularly villain-esque DC moment from the trailer features Cruella grinning menacingly in a ballroom packed with guests as she sets her dress on fire. Another includes her recklessly driving around town. Even smaller elements, from her deranged and comical demeanor to the dark music playing in the background, emulated the villain vibe of the DCEU.The PG-13 rating is peculiar not only because it is a Disney film, but also because the recently released trailer does not feature any violence. The closest the Cruella trailer gets to violence is when a car drives through a store and a building is shown on fire, presumably thanks to Cruella. There may be more violent elements in other parts of the film; However, one would think that if there were, Disney would include these eye-catching moments in its trailer.
Still, if the movie takes the DC villain route similar to Joker or Birds of Prey, the PG-13 rating may be justified. After all, both movies are R-rated. While Disney obviously wouldn't go as far as an R-rated Cruella.
Anita's Named by the Adaptation not only facilitates the "Anita, my darling" line, but will also make her Related in the Adaptation to the Darling family in Peter Pan & Wendy.
The version of Cruella from the animated film is who she would've become if she'd been raised by the Baroness
Had she been raised by a sociopath who probably would've encouraged her nastier instincts it is likely that Estella would've grown up to become the more outright villainous version of the character seen in the animated film. Cruella at some point read/saw a production of The Winter's Tale
The plot about a princess abandoned as an infant just spoke to her. And inspired her to name one of the Dalmatian puppies Perdita. Perdita and Pongo might not be littermates. They may not even be related.
Or even full blooded Dalmatians for that matter! Wink (Chihuahua) and Buddy (terrier mix) might be intact males. A female dog in heat can be quite accommodating for a male smaller than her. Not sure what gender the three Dalmatians are, though logically at least one is female and Genghis sounds like a male name. (Genghis Khan is the namesake?) Disney will make a spin-off focused on those dalmatians and how they became violent after their mother got killed by a redhead.
