This great animated classic by producer Walt Disney, was released in theaters on January 25, 1961, and due to it’s great success having been the tenth highest grossing film of that year, they re-released it four more times: on January 1969, June 1979, December 1985, and July 1991. On its last release in theaters, it became the 20^th highest grossing film of the year, and even today it still entertains and delights hundreds of families all over the globe.

The film was based off of Dodie Smith’s novel One Hundred and One Dalmatians. It was written during the production of Sleeping Beauty in 1956. When Disney caught attention of the book and read it, he acquired the rights to make it into a film the very next year.  Dodie worked with the writer of the film, Bill Peet, to make the enjoyable story we all know today. 101 Dalmatians was a giant success, andacquiring  $6,400,000 at the box office in USA and Canada in the year it was first released. Along the rest of its journey, the film acquired $215,880,014 in the domestic box office.

Years later, the world of the famous Dalmatians was taken in very diverse directions, including 2 live-action remakes: 101 Dalmatians, released in 1996, and 102 Dalmatians, released in 2000. A T.V animated cartoon series called 101 Dalmatians: The Series, was made and shown on the Disney Channel in the 90’s. And finally, a sequel to the original film, 101 Dalmatians II: Patch’s London Adventure, was a direct-to-video/DVD release on January 21, 2003. 

A little fun fact: There were 6,469,952 spots shown throughout the entire movie!

Technical Description

Country of Origin: USA
Producer: Walt Disney
Directors: Clyde Geronimi, Hamilton Luske, Wolfgang Reitherman
Music: George Bruns
Sound: Robert O. Cook
Length: 1 hour, 19 minutes
 

English Voices

Rod Taylor………………..….Pongo
Cate Bauer……………………Perdita
J. Pat O’Malley……………....Jasper
Betty Lou Gerson……….....Cruella De Vil
Ben Wright………………......Roger Radcliffe
Lisa Davis…………………….Anita
Martha Wentworh………..Nanny/Queenie/Lucy
Fredrick Worlock………….Horace
Barbara Baird……………….Rolly
Mickey Maga…………………Patch
Sandra Abbott……………….Penny
Mimi Gibson…………………..Lucky
 

USA

Original Theatrical Release: January 25, 1961
Release in VHS: April 10, 1992
Release on DVD: December 19, 1999
Release on 2-disc Platinum Edition DVD: March 4, 2008

France

Theatrical Release: December 20, 1961
Re- Release: December 13, 1972