From Cruella to Estella

My first dog was a dalmatian. I was three years old when the 101 Dalmatians live-action film
from Walt Disney Pictures was released, and I was obsessed with it. So, it's no surprise that I had
to see Cruella on opening week, a movie about the life of the infamous villain of 101
Dalmatians, Cruella de Vil.

Remakes from animated movies and live-action films from The Walt Disney Company have
become more common and frequent. But, in the past years, a new trend has started, and it's the
reimagining of the classic Disney villains. Cruella is part of Disney's attempt to create a
sympathetic backstory for their villains; we saw this as well with Maleficent, the villain
of Sleeping Beauty.

Because of this trend, in the past years, rumors surfaced that Walt Disney put a clause in his
testament requiring the studio to remake their movies every ten years to update the stories for
new generations to enjoy. Still, if that were the case, and it isn't because it is not in his will, a
film like Snow White (1937) would've had already been remade around eight times.

In reality, remaking Disney classics is important to the Company because it's a way for them to
have significant earnings by appealing to those above 25 years old by hitting the sentimentality
of simpler times and appealing to a younger audience at the same time.

I don't mind the nostalgia of seeing my favorite characters from my childhood years on the big
screen again, but why make classic villains good or make them the underdog?

I realize that some of the movies have young viewers as the target audience. The Company is
trying to create teachable moments with those considered flawed or evil before; not all villains
turn into snakes, steal your voice, or try to rob a hundred and one dalmatians to create a fur coat.
Sometimes the villain can turn out to be the most unexpected person.

In our day by day, the villain isn't necessarily trying to kidnap your dog or steal your voice. Real
villains are people who may not even see themselves as the villain of their own story, and the
studio is exploring this with their reimagining of classic villains, this time with the
movie Cruella.

The main character of the movie, Estella, was a creative girl that was pretty good at fashion but
had a mischievous side. Because of this, her mom pulls her from school and plans to move to
London. On their way there, the mom stops at a house to meet up with someone that would help
them get their life started in London and asks Estella to stay in the car. Unfortunately, Estella
disobeys her mother and decides to go inside the house; at a mischievous moment of hers, three
dalmatians start to chase her, and they ultimately end up killing her mother. Our main character, now an orphan, makes her way to London, where she meets two orphan boys that become her
best friends and master thieves along with her.

At that moment, we think Estella will become the infamous villain that skins dogs, Cruella de
Vil. It makes sense for her to end up that way, but as events unfold, the audience is presented
with the predicament of figuring out if a villain is born evil or made evil.

It's interesting to compare the current Cruella de Vil character with the 1993 movie or the 1961
animated version. Earlier versions of Cruella de Vil were just wicked because that was their
nature. Bad guys or villains in classic Disney movies would indulge in their evilness, and for the
longest time, they have just been seen as the individuals created to help the hero grow. Villains
like Cruella, Ursula, Hades, Jafar, or Maleficent had these excellent, unique personalities that
made them the stars of the movies but carried no character depth.

It makes sense for the Company to try to step away from that and develop stories for their classic
villains exploring their origins. It's their way of humanizing characters instead of demonizing
them.