The Cruella movie is a kind of prequel to the 101 Dalmatians series of cartoons and films. It will hit the big screens in the spring of 2021.
The closed premiere of Cruella took place in Los Angeles, where it was the first large-scale film event since the start of the pandemic. Simultaneously with the premiere in theaters, the film was also released on Disney+. For Russia, the film became available from June 3. Spectators and critics were completely delighted. For 2021, this film is the sixth in terms of box office.
Cruella. What is the movie about?
The movie tells us about the development of one of the Disney villains – Cruella de Vil. It all starts with the girl Estrella Miller, creative, talented and lively. But her mother nicknamed the girl “Cruella” because she had a penchant for violent acts. The girl started having problems at the next school, and now the two of them are moving to London. On the way, they stop at the Baroness von Hellman for help with money. The girl’s mother dies there – the Dalmatians of the mistress of the house push the woman off the cliff. The girl continues on her way alone.
Ten years pass and the girl becomes a criminal. While drunk, she remodels a shop window in a mall and gets a job from the Baroness. The girl’s life is gradually getting better, but one day she notices that the boss is wearing her mother’s pendant.
Later, the girl tries to negatively influence Helman’s party in order to steal this pendant. It turns out that the Baroness has a scroll for managing Dalmatians. It turns out that the woman deliberately killed the mother of the heroine. The girl begins to take revenge and with the help of a childhood friend, the image of Cruella becomes known. Estrella also kidnaps a Dalmatian who accidentally swallowed the pendant.
After another successful disruption of the event, the woman realizes that Cruella and Estella are two personalities of one person. The baroness sets fire to the heroine’s house and leaves her there. She is rescued by the baroness’s servant and reveals the secret that Helman is her real mother. The girl arrives at the party, where she tells the baroness that she is her daughter. The woman repents, but it turns out to be a lie, and Estrella is pushed off a cliff. The Baroness is arrested, and Estrella becomes the heiress of all her property.
The meaning of the film “Cruella”
This film was a continuation of the Disney villain series. We see before us an orphan who managed to fight and win what she deserved. Her revenge on her biological mother is quite normal, because the woman behaved incorrectly. The situation is aggravated by the fact that the main character is the child of the villain of the film. The film makes a clear emphasis on the fact that Cruella is really entitled to all the wealth that remains from her biological mother and father. Father – because she is his own blood, and he is no longer among the living. Mothers – simply because – she is a villain and has no right to anything at all.
And the heroine herself in the film is quite ambiguous. Estrella and Cruella are two different personalities: one is kind, the other is a villain. But alas, the life of a correct and hardworking person seems boring and mundane to the heroine. But the role of the villain, which is accompanied by success, money, influence is a completely different matter. Unfortunately, this moment with a rather low age rating was not thought out. If everything is so obvious for the heroine, then how can teenagers understand that the girl made the wrong choice? The film, as it were, hints that it is easier to follow the path of the villain, use it.
Another question arises – is it possible to call “Cruella” the prehistory of “101 Dalmatians”? This is exactly what Disney planned. It just creates a complete feeling that all the events of the film take place in some kind of parallel universe. Doesn’t the once great company want to “please” us with a remake in the near future?
At the end of the picture, Cruella gives Anita and Roger a Dalmatian puppy each. It can be assumed that dogs are brother and sister. Consequently, the further history of 101 Dalmatians unfolds with a rather strange “crossing” of two related dogs.
The backstory is meant to reveal everything that led up to the events of the original film. In this case, the movie skipped it altogether. After watching it, it remains unclear why Cruella hates Dalmatian dogs so much. It is hard to imagine that the resentment towards these dogs that killed her foster mother and hurt her more than once, suddenly resulted in the goal of life. And later, having received an inheritance, Cruella accepts dogs. Perhaps the answer will be given to us in some other part. Disney did not seem to have the courage to show something more serious about the fate of the character.
And in general, the further fate of the character is not clear. Will she follow in her mother’s footsteps? Or will he choose her as an anti-example? The viewer can only guess.
