Credit: DisneyDisney’s Cruella premiered simultaneously in theaters and on Disney+ on May 28, 2021, and immediately received rave reviews. Fans loved seeing Emma Stone’s portrayal of the legendary villain. Emma Thompson’s villain, Baroness Von Hellman, may also be one of the darkest in Disney’s history.
Cruella has been such a success that Disney has apparently green-lit a sequel to the story of Cruella De Vil — and a sequel is exactly what this movie needs.
While Disney’s Cruella was an amazing film with incredible characters and a great storyline, the movie ended and left viewers with a large gap between Emma Stone’s Cruella De Vil that viewers just watched on screen and the Cruella that people are familiar with in the Walt Disney Animation Studios classic, 101 Dalmatians (1961).
In both films, Cruella De Vil is known for her over-the-top fashion, but 101 Dalmatians focuses on her obsession with making a coat out of a litter of Dalmatian puppies. Cruella, however, only broaches on the subject.
At one point in the movie, Cruella steals the Baroness’s trio of Dalmatians and is then seen wearing a dress that looks like it is made from the coat of those exact same dogs. The Baroness is convinced that Cruella has killed her dogs and used them for her fashion — but Cruella secretly admits that the fur dress is in fact fake.
When we last see Cruella, and her henchman Horace (Paul Walter Hauser) and Jasper (Joel Fry), Cruella has just inherited Hellman Hall after the Baroness is arrested for murdering her daughter Estella, the rightful heir to the home. However, only a handful of people realize that Estella and Cruella are one and the same. Cruella has also taken on the responsibility of being the owner of Baroness Von Hellman’s dalmatians, as well as her beloved dog Buddy and Jasper’s Chihuahua, Wink.
Sounds odd right? Cruella De Vil, the woman who wants nothing more than to make a coat out of puppies, is actually a dog lover? Jumping from the Cruella in the prequel film to the Cruella De Vil met in 101 Dalmatians is the exact reason why the sequel to Cruella is absolutely needed. What happens in Cruella’s life after she inherits the house that changes her so radically?
Another more minor aspect of the prequel that also needs to be addressed, is the change that happens in Cruella’s sidekicks, Jasper and Horace. During Estella’s transformation into Cruella De Vil, Jasper sees the darkness threatening to overtake her, and he and Horace both walk out on her.
A sequel film can also give viewers the chance to find out how Jasper, and following suit Horace, went from being her moral compass to helping her kidnap Dalmatian puppies to kill. Darkness seems to overtake them as well as Cruella, and we need to know why.
All the main characters experience such a significant change from who we left in Cruella to who we see in 101 Dalmatians that a sequel film can only help explore their stories to tie the films together.
The Hollywood Reporter was the first to report on the news of a sequel being in the works, with director Craig Gillespie and screenwriter Tony McNamara both set to return.
Are you excited that Disney’s Cruella will be getting a sequel? Do you think it needs one? Let us know in the comments!