When the opening shows Estella minutes after she's born, narrator Cruella asks if we really have to start here. At first, this just seems like a joke about her being embarrassed by her newborn self. Then you rewatch that scene with the knowledge of who Cruella's biological parents are. Of course she wouldn't want to start with her birth; she was born to a narcissist who tried to kill her literally the second she was out of the womb. She'd much rather skip ahead to the part where she was being raised by Catherine, who loved her and treated her well—and sure enough, that's where the film skips to after she protests.
When discussing Cruella after her first public appearance, the Baroness points out Cruella's hair to John, wondering if it's "her". John reassures her it isn't. At first, one might think they are talking about Catherine's daughter, since the Baroness mentions she knew of the Catherine's daughter's existence, and John had seen young Estella's hair that night while she was making trouble the night Catherine died. But when the Baroness traps Cruella in her flat, it turns out she barely remembers killing Catherine, as she was just another obstacle in her way - the "her" the Baroness was talking about was her daughter.
In addition, when John saw young Estella's hair, he shoved her hat back on her head and told her to not let anyone see. At first, he seems like just another person who thinks Estella's hair is strange and should be hidden. But after he reveals Cruella's heritage later in the film, one can see he was actually trying to make sure the Baroness didn't discover her daughter was still alive.
When the Baroness asks Cruella if she made her red dress, Cruella responds, "You did. 1965 collection." The Baroness responds, "Oh, no wonder I love it, it's mine." This parallels her reaction to Cruella being her daughter - she has a grudging respect for Cruella, but partially born from her own narcissism. She only appreciates what reminds her of herself, but not enough to let it upstage her. Cruella's response that she fixed the Barnoness's designs also parallels how Cruella decides not to be exactly like her mother.
Building on the previous entry, Cruella's colors perfectly illustrate her allegiance even before she understands her background. Cruella was born with black-and-white hair to the Baroness, a woman who hosts a black-and-white ball, and indeed, Cruella forms her fashion sense based on her hair and her decision to crash this ball. However, Cruella also sets herself up as an indecorous distraction by breaking the dress code with a bright red gown. Red happens to be the color of her mother's necklace, the item she's trying to steal back (and, side note, on that night, is the only thing interrupting the Baroness' colors, drawing a parallel between them before the film reveals they are blood relatives). Because Cruella incorporates red into her ensembles, it shows that she holds her mother close to her heart, and despite genetically and aesthetically getting her black-and-white colors from her birth mother, she breaks the look up with the red she associates with her adoptive one, throwing her allegiance to her adoptive mother before she's even aware she's the Baroness' daughter.
Estella’s early days at Liberty’s are scored to the Zombies’ “Time Of The Season.” The second and third verses go “What’s your name? Who’s your daddy? Is he rich like me?” Not only is this a signature line of 60’s pop, but it foreshadows that her new job will be the first step in Cruella finding out her true name and parents, who were rich indeed.
Catherine died hours after withdrawing Estella from school and packing up to move to a new city for a fresh start. Since they never made it, there was no one to come looking for Estella once she went on the run—as far as her old school was concerned, she'd moved to London and was out of their hair, and the schools and social services in London didn't know about her because she hadn't been registered as a resident yet. Thus Estella was able to stay relatively under the radar living in London, using her real name and only disguising her hair to hide from the Baroness's security, because, sadly, no one there even knew she existed.
Catherine left the necklace in the car with Estella on the night she died because she (or John) had stolen it from the Baroness and she didn't want the Baroness to see her with it.
It’s revealed that Estella and Buddy had nothing to do with Catherine’s death, and the Baroness killed her simply for having the nerve to ask for a loan. Now, imagine if little Estella had stayed in the car all night. Her mother would never come back. Or if she had come out later, she would have searched and searched the house and never found her. What would have happened to her then? What would she have thought of her mother?
Pongo and Perdita are both Genghis' puppies. That means their puppies are inbred.
