January 25 In History: Xerographic Technology Gives Life To The Making of 101 Dalmatians

101 Dalmatians (Sumber: The Walt Disney Company)

JAKARTA - The film One Hundred an One Dalmatians or 101 Dalmatians, was released for the first time on January 25, 1961, today, 60 years ago. In that era, making animated films was suicidal because the production costs were exorbitant. Luckily, xerography technology gave life to the 101 Dalmatians process by cutting down the time and cost of filming.

To quote Britannica, Monday, January 25, 2021, this Walt Disney's animated classic is based on a children's book written by Dodie Smith in 1956. 101 Dalmatians exploded into a box-office hit thanks in large part to the iconic character Cruella De Vil.

Cruella De Vil was inspired by legend Gloria Swanson's performance on Sunset Boulevard (1950). It also introduces a new animation technology called xerography, which is designed to reduce the skyrocketing costs of traditional animated films.

Veteran animator Floyd Norman, a young artist at Disney at the time, said the studio had serious concerns animation might not be financially viable. "We really need a beating," he said. "We have to come back strong."

Thanks to xerography

Ultimately Disney used xerography to make 101 Dalmatians, says Norman. This is the film that really keeps animation alive at the Walt Disney Studio. Also, due to the technology, 101 Dalmatians was created with half of the staff hired for the animation of 'Sleeping Beauty.'

"It was rigorous and cruel," said Norman. "We do it half the time and half the cost."

Xerography allows photocopied images to acetate sheets, saving time and money. However, this makes the image quality decrease because the film looks scratched.

Newer techniques were used in the 1980s to improve the appearance of animation. The film inspired the sequel 101 Dalmations II: Patch's London Adventure (2003), as well as the live-action remake of the film in 1996 featuring Glenn Close as Cruella De Vil.

Iconic figure

101 Dalmatians tells of the married couple Roger and Anita, who have Dalmatian dogs named Pongo and Perdita. The family is looking forward to the birth of the Perdita puppy. Likewise with Anita's old friend, Cruella De Vil.

But Cruella De Vil is an evil person with black and white striped hair who secretly wants to steal the puppies to make a mottled fur coat. "He is an amazing villain, beautiful animation," said animator and director, Frank Gladstone, of Cruella.

“Even children, they understand what he (Cruella De Vil) is trying to do. And they also understand he will not win, "he added.

To quote the LA Times, British actress Lisa Davis, the voice of the loving and caring Anita, actually auditioned for the role of Cruella De Vil. Davis appeared in the 1958 sci-fi film Queen of Outer Space with Zsa Zsa Gabor and he can make the perfect impression. Disney, he said, was considering Cruella to sound like Zsa Zsa and was about to call Zsa Zsa to voice Cruella De Vil.

"He (Walt Disney) read the role of Anita, and I struggled to do Zsa Zsa's Cruella," said Davis. "As she read Anita's part, I thought, 'Geez, I'm much more suited to be Anita than I am as Cruella.' So I took a deep breath and cut it off. That is a terrible dilemma. How do you tell Walt Disney he was wrong? " Davis said. The voice actor for Cruella De Vil was finally filled by Betty Lou Gerson.

Once Davis got his share, Disney had him spend nearly every day in a play studio with Dalmatian puppies. "What a wonderful job. That's me, sitting on the carpet surrounded by little puppies crawling all over me," he concluded.