The 101 Dalmatians Part 2: Disney’s Audiobooks and Other Adaptations
I know I really enjoyed this film when I was younger. Cute puppies, a crazy fashion-forward villain, and a unique style help this movie stand out among other animated classics. The film also has a lot of heart, and I always liked the depiction of Perdita and Pongo as a married couple. Without further ado, let’s get into the adaptations.
Title: Walt Disney's 101 Dalmatians: In Story and Song
Label: Disneyland
Identification: ST-1908
Released: 1960/1963
Format: Vinyl
As far as I can tell, this is the first audiobook based on the Disney film of 101 Dalmatians (1961). This story record is so early, it seems to have been released before the movie. It also doesn’t seem to have a book that goes with it and might only be a recording. The first Disney Read-Along book was not released until 1965.
The story in this version is being told by the puppy Rolly, and as it implies on the cover, there are plenty of songs along with the story. He introduces the Jaunty song that Rolly says was written by Roger. This song is called “Playful Melody” and is only heard as an instrumental in the original film. The song is very catchy and will probably get stuck in your head. It does capture the feeling of a playful dog really well, with how bouncy the notes are.
Rolly says Nanny Cook looks after them. He also introduces Cruella de Vil, whom they fear. They have an alternative dialogue from the film. Rolly talks about their favorite time in the evening when they watch Thunderbolt and even includes the full jingle of the “Kanine Krunchies Kommercial”. This is a completely different recording (composition and lyrics by Mel Leven) than the one used in the film, and in my opinion, it is much less annoying.
Cruella’s henchmen, Horus and Jasper, show up and have a similar exchange as in the movie with Nanny Cook before stealing the puppies. Pongo initiates the Twilight Bark and names the breeds and locations of each dog in the barking chain. We get to hear the exchange between the Colonel and Sgt. Tibbs. Rolly glosses over Tibbs finding them in the mansion, and we cut to Pongo and Perdita leaving to find them. The story pauses for a moment for the song “Cruella de Vil”.
Meanwhile, Cruella shows up at the mansion and demands that the puppies be killed in order for them to be turned into a fur coat. Again, it is interesting to hear the lines being delivered in a way different from the movie. There is a fun moment when the crooks turn on the TV and the Zorro theme plays. Pongo and Perdita reach the mansion just in time to free all the puppies. In this version, Rolly tells his parents everything that happened.
A wind sound effect plays as the puppies walk down the frozen creek, which adds to the cold feeling. In Rolly’s version, he is the tired puppy who lags behind the others in the snowstorm, rather than Lucky. They stay with the cows and the next day try to avoid Cruella driving her car around, complete with screeching tire sound effects. Rolly, the star of our story, is the one who falls into the ashes and gives Pongo the idea to disguise the puppies. According to Rolly, Lucky is the one the water dripped on to reveal they were dalmatians. At this point, I’m not sure he’s a reliable narrator, though.
They hitch a ride in a moving van with Cruella close behind. The bad guys crash their cars into each other complete with Cruella yelling at the end, and the puppies are saved. They make it home and are accepted by the family. The record goes out on the song “Dalmatian Plantation”. Only this is a completely different version from the one in the movie. It has a laid-back country sound to it. In the documentary Redefining the Line: The Making of 101 Dalmatians, Hans Perk (Animation Producer/Historian) and Russell Schroeder (Disney Historian) say the song was changed because Bill Peet, who was in charge of story development, wanted a different version. Both versions were composed and written by Mel Leven.
Title: Walt Disney's 101 Dalmatians: In Story and Song v2
Label: Disneyland
Series: Disneyramd, Storyteller
Identification: ST-3934
Released: 1965
Format: Vinyl
This one isn’t just a reissue. It’s a rerecording of sorts that follows the same story as 101 Dalmatians: In Story and Song, but cuts off Rolly’s first line and is narrated by a different reader. I think the narrator is Robie Lester from other titles in the Disney Read-along book series. This edition does come with a book, but Rolly’s narration is much better in the first one.
Title: Walt Disney's Story of The 101 Dalmatians
Series: Storyteller
Label: Disneyland
Identification: 305
Year: 1965/?
This one also has songs from the film, but the story focuses on Lucky this time. One of the nice things about this book is that it names all fifteen of the original Dalmatian puppies. They are Penny, Lenny, Salter, Pepper, Jolly, Rolly, Patch, Latch, Spot, Dot, Blob, Blot, Blackie, Whitey, and Lucky. All of the puppies except Lucky have names that come in pairs. For instance, Rolly’s pair is named Jolly. Also, the narrator pronounces Rolly with an ‘ah’ sound.
This story doesn’t follow the movie, but is more like a side story about Lucky and his love of television. Lucky wants to be a TV star and doesn’t bother to learn tricks. One day, he gets lost trying to find the TV station. Apparently, Lucky learned fancy television tricks but not normal puppy tricks, so people don’t understand what he is doing. A police man finds him and, thanks to his dog license, takes him home. Lucky goes straight to bed and misses the Thunderbolt show.
The next morning, Lucky gets up early and learns his puppy tricks. From out of nowhere, the song “Cruella de Vil” plays. There is no context for this, like in the first Disney record. A new song plays afterward, simply called “101 Dalmatians”. The song is about what one hundred and one puppies might get up to and has lines in the chorus like “who can they be?” and “Their 101 bundles of fun.” This song was written by the Sherman Brothers, who joined Disney as staff writers in 1960. They were asked to write a song for the opening credits, but it was too late to include it in the film.
The record ends after the last song. The puppies are really cute in this one, but I’m not too keen on the moral. It seems like a very simple story about conformity. I don’t know why it was so wrong for Lucky to learn different tricks than his brothers and sisters. I think it would have been better if the story had focused on a moral about making sure to do different kinds of activities and not just watch television.
Title: Walt Disney's Story Of 101 Dalmatians
Series: Storyteller
Label: Disneyland
Identification: 305
Released: 1982?/199?
Format: Vinyl/Cassette
No, I didn’t make a mistake. At least I think I didn’t. There are two nearly identical covers for two completely different recordings. I have no idea how to distinguish between the two. Good luck with that if you are a collector. At least the neon pink/magenta 90s cassettes are hard to mistake for anything else.
This time, Pongo gets to be the storyteller, like in the movie. There are sound effects like Roger’s piano, birds, dogs barking, and a lot more. There is also voice acting for individual characters and background music. Pongo starts by telling how he helped Roger meet Anita in the park. This book is mostly a straightforward abbreviation of the movie, so I’ll just point out a few odd details.
When Cruella shows up, Perdita calls her an “evil woman” instead of a “devil woman”. This version doesn’t have Lucky’s backstory. When Cruella is in their home, she sees Perdita with all the puppies in a basket, instead of them being in another room. The book says Nanny watched over the puppies like a proud grandmother. We get the details that Lucky gets into mischief, and Penny and Patch are always together. There’s a new recorded sound for the game show Horus and Jasper are watching.
Perdita calls Cruella a devil and a witch after they get the puppies out of the mansion, making the earlier changed line a little confusing. Maybe I’m imagining things, but it seems like all of Perdita’s lines about being angry or worried were included in this one. The puppies play in a pile of coal to disguise themselves in the dairy barn after getting milk from the cows, cutting out the portion where they go to the town. This time, a drop of melted snow lands on Pongo and reveals him as a dalmatian.
The last bit of oddity is that the early version of the “Dalmatian Plantation” song from 101 Dalmatians: In Story and Song is here instead of the version from the final movie. The same recording of the song “Cruella de Vil” is here as well. This version of the story has good production values, but the story feels rushed, even for one of these short read-along books.
Title: Walt Disney’s 101 Dalmatians
Series: Storyetter – Storyteller Series
Label: Walt Disney Records
Release: 2004
Format: CD/Digital
This is a Storyette, a short story version (usually 10 to 20 minutes) of a Disney Storyteller recording. The 101 Dalmatians only received a short version in this series. At least I can’t find a longer version. Michael Gough narrates the story. This is a re-recording of the Disneyland Storyteller Read-along book from the 80s and 90s. The one with the magenta color. The words of the narrator are identical, although some of what the characters say is different. This recording has sound effects and background music, but they are different from the earlier version. The picture book for this one actually shows Perdita in the room she is supposed to be in when Cruella tries to buy the puppies.
The pictures here are much closer to the films in general, although the page where Cruella sees them getting into the van doesn’t match the narration. The picture shows that Pongo is still completely brown, and Lucky is the one Cruella spots. No songs at the end of this one.
This is where I’ll end the exploration for today. This is one popular franchise, and I have enough material for at least three more articles on the topic, including more from the animated movie, adaptations of the live-action movies, and interactive book versions. Let me know in the comments if you would like to see more 101 Dalmatians in the future.
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