Is Cruella de Vil truly a Villain?

Cruella was a drastically different movie from the 101 Dalmatians that we are so accustomed to! This is a tale-tale origin story giving a nice beginning to the esteemed dog-napping, coat skinning, Cruella de Vil. It gives “The Devil Wears Prada” X “Maleficent” and I for one think it was worth the $30 spent on Disney+. 

The film really brings into question is Cruella truly a villain and does she really hate Dalmatians like the animated version of her suggests? In my opinion the answer is no to both. Born Estella but nicknamed Cruella by her mother for her less than posh behavior and her two best friends by chance are thieves by circumstance. They were all young orphans doing what they had to survive. When Estella got the chance, she worked hard as a janitor to hopefully one day be able to present her designs in a fancy store. By happenstance she gets extremely drunk, creates a masterpiece and gets her dream job designing for House of Baroness. 

Estella spent a lot of her life riddled with guilt believing she killed her mother only to find out that the Baroness was in fact a murderous fashionista. So when Cruella takes over (split personality much), everything she does  is to avenge her mother. Does revenge make you a Villain? 

Also a huge contrast to the animation is the fact that Cruella doesn’t seem to actually hate Dalmations. Yes the dalmations killed her mother and  while she does still have her friends dognap them, she learns to control them even bringing them to live in her grand mansion. She even gifts two of the puppies to Roger and Anita, the sweet loving couple (although they are not together in this film) we know as the parents to both Pongo and Perdita. She also isn’t obsessed with spots, she is however all for embracing her natural black and white hair – the one thing that makes her stand out from all the rest. 

There are a ton of additional twists and turns in this movie, like why the Baroness kills Cruella’s mom, how she got her infamous name de Vil, and who created the oh so catchy original Cruella song. There are pranks and illustrious entrances, punk rock looks and performances, a little dark gothy movie for the edgy Disney lovers of the world. 

You guys know I always have to have my deep takeaways even for the edgy films, so here they are.

• Everyone has a story, don’t be too quick to judge! 
• Baby – FLAUNT your differences at the end of the day people ALWAYS have something to say! Give em something to stare at too! 
• Don’t give up on your dreams, they are just one drunk night (one encounter, one lucky day, one moment) away from coming into fruition!