Directed by Stephen
Herek and written and produced by “Home Alone” tycoon John Hughes, the remake
to this movie is relatively faithful to the spirit of the original (John F.Kelly said in his review, “though the animals don't talk -- unusual, and rather
refreshing, in this post-"Babe" era”). Roger, played by Jeff Daniels,
lives alone in London with Pongo, his noble Dalmatian. The similarly single
Anita, played by Joely Richardson, has as her only friend Perdy. Roger types
away at a computer, hoping to design a great computer game. (You’ll remember
that in the original he was a songwriter, a job that’s not cool enough for the ‘90s.)
Anita is a clothing designer, working away for Cruella De Vil, played by Glenn
Close, a fur-loving vixen who just may have some connection with the
disappearance of a rare white Siberian tiger from the London Zoo.
Roger and Anita’s Dalmatians
fall in love at the park and plan to bring their owners together. Kelly said, “Before
long, there's the pitter patter of little paws: 60 little paws to be exact.”
Cruella wants them for a fur coat, but Roger and Anita refuse to give them to
her.
However, nothing gets
between Cruella and her fur coats, so she sends a pair of incompetent thieves,
played by the great Hugh Laurie (who you might remember from “Blackadder” and
the main doctor in “House”) and Mark Williams, who kidnap not only Pongo and
Perdy’s 15 puppies, but 84 others from all around London. They’re all in a ruined
mansion, waiting for the arrival of Cruella and Skinner, the scar-faced
taxidermist she’s hired to turn the pups into furs, played by John Shrapnel.
Kelly noted, “At this point,
disparate members of the animal kingdom join forces to rescue the puppies and
"101 Dalmatians" becomes "Home Alone," with an Airedale in
the Macaulay Culkin role.”
Kelly continued, “Annoyingly,
the movie is marred by anemic connecting scenes and a seeming disdain for
something as simple as logic. Any 4-year-old who's seen Disney's own
"Pocahontas" knows there aren't any raccoons in Great Britain, and
yet the little varmints feature prominently in "Dalmatians." So does
a skunk, another creature unique to the New World. (Hey, why didn't the
filmmakers have a giraffe and a wallaby join the fun? Or a pterodactyl? That
would be cool!)”
A lot of the movie is
fine enough. The famous “twilight bark” is well done, as so many dogs
communicate across the cold areas of south England. Kelly said, “And it's hard
to resist saying "Awwwww" when dozens of pups pour down staircases
like spotted Slinkies or gambol about like furry balls of mercury. A
computer-generated scene of them zipping down a rain spout will make your
stomach flip.”
Children will probably
want to see the movie and will enjoy it (Kelly admitted, “though there was a
fair amount of fidgeting at the screening I attended”). It’s not that scary.
Skinner and his men of evil henchmen are a little disturbing and Cruella seems
very serious when she screams, “Get…the…puppies!”
Kelly said, “In the
end, though, "101 Dalmatians" comes across as one of those
second-tier mid-'60s Disney offerings, which makes Jeff Daniels the Dean Jones
of the '90s.” Here’s hoping there isn’t a live-action version of “The
Aristocats” in the works.
The famous
shrinking/expanding laser created by upstart inventor Wayne Szalinski, played
by Rick Moranis, has been banned by federal law. Szalinski has locked the laser
away in his attic, but he and brother Gordon (Stuart Pankin) playfully
reactivate the laser when Wayne’s wife Diane (Eve Gordon), demands he gets rid
of a tall, tacky Tiki totem Wayne strangely respected after buying it from a
golf course. Wayne’s plan to shrink and hide the object succeeds too well. The ray
shrinks Wayne and also Gordon while also automatically shrinking the next people
to enter the attic, Mrs. Szalinski and sister-in-law Patty, played by Robin
Bartlett.
Now the house gives a huge
and dangerous obstacle course for the Szalinskis as they struggle to get
downstairs and get the help from their children. Meanwhile, the kids aren’t at
all surprised by the disappearance of their parents. The adults were leaving
for a trip anyway. Adam Szalinski (Bug Hall) takes the chance to throw a huge
house party without permission, while Jenny (Allison Mach) invites friends for
a sleepover, unaware that their parents are, literally, right under their noses.
When not running for
his life, Wayne is shocked to hear that his son doesn’t want to be pushed into
attending science-computer camps, while Gordon and Patty watch vulnerably as
their vitamin-deficient boy, Mitch, played by Jake Richardson, tries to skip
his hated daily pills and faints. Fortunately, Jenny and Adam revive their
cousin.
TV Guide said in their
review, “During the party, both Adam and Jenny surprise their folks by standing
up to some gate-crashing bullies, but it takes the Szalinski men, rewiring the
family stereo from the inside, to produce the menacing voice of "God"
that scares away the interlopers. Communicating to their offspring through the
speakers, Wayne talks them through restoring the adults to their rightful
heights.” Now, the Szalinski parents have a better understand and respect for
their children.
TV Guide noted, “A
chronic problem with this series has been a domestic-sitcom sensibility
dictating that kids, shrunk or otherwise, be sassy and precocious, while
parents are nitwits and buffoons (an exception was Marcia Strassman, the
original Mrs. Szalinski, who played her part refreshingly straight). This is the
third time the emotionally clueless Wayne Szalinski has learned banal lessons
about Being a Better Father through a calamity with his laser. While HONEY, I
BLEW UP THE KID at least had the novelty of inverting the miniaturization
gimmick, there's little here as inspired or original.”
In “Honey, I Shrunk the
Kids,” the declined Szalinski children fight with an evil scorpion and a
friendly ant. This sequel replaces with a hissing cockroach and a benign daddy
longlegs (both stop-motion animated). In the first film, son Nick Szalinski, a
character written out of this movie, was nearly eaten by Wayne after falling
into a bowl of cereal. Now Wayne and Gordon face exactly the same thing in a
container of sour cream. TV Guide noted, “There is a fetchingly whimsical
visual in which the tiny adults float through the house, each inside a soap
bubble, and the special effects in general are excellent, but the vital sense
of wonder is largely lost in the small-screen medium.
Still, seeing the
nature of the movie, you could really blame Disney for the video trimming. This
sequel of the series had a budget of $7 million, as opposed to the past films,
which was made for $40 million.
Not trying harder is
another problem. Director Dean Cundey earlier did “Honey, We Shrunk the
Audience,” a 3D short that was at the Disney theme parks, and following plans
were for the next logical downward step – turning the franchise into a TV
series.
This one is obviously
the worst that people should never bother seeing.
Thankfully, we’re done
with that, so stay tuned tomorrow for more “Disney Live-Action Month.”
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