Disney Made Cruella Hot in 101 Dalmatians Prequel

Disney Made Cruella Hot in 101 Dalmatians Prequel - Maybe Too Hot?

As far as classic Disney villains go, Cruella de Vil is probably the most sadistic of them all. Most of them, e.g. Jafar, Ursula, Scar, Maleficent, Hades etc. are known for their schemes and attempts at taking over a kingdom. Meanwhile, Cruella is out here trying to skin puppies alive just to make a nice coat. While she was originally depicted in 101 Dalmations as a gaunt, unsightly old bag to reflect her vile nature, Disney have decided to give her the Maleficent treatment with a live action prequel where she's younger and more sympathetic. But why would anyone want to sympathize with her?

Since the trailer for Cruella dropped a few days ago, the internet has been pointing out the dissonance between its tone and its main character. On one hand, it's a visually pretty looking movie about a hot young woman rebelling against the society that rejected her. But if you think about it, society's got a pretty damn good reason for rejecting her seeing as she's obsessed with killing animals for their fur. speaking of society, I've seen people pointing out the parallels to 2019's Joker, which on the surface was a gritty depiction of austerity and mental illness, especially the problems that could arise if it isn't handled properly. Yet it's still ultimately based on one of the most comically psychotic characters in fiction whose entire gimmick revolves around his insanity.

Birds of Prey is another DC movie people are comparing to Cruella. But the difference between Harley Quinn and Cruella is that the former's involvement in evil schemes is more often than not the result of the Joker manipulating and taking advantage of her infatuation with him. Take her away from Joker, give her some agency and Harley has been shown to evolve into a more sympathetic anti-hero like in BoP, Injustice or the great Harley Quinn animated series - still a criminal, but the audience can take her side knowing she's grown as a character and she's no longer a pawn in someone else's game, plus on her own she's nowhere near as dangerous as the rest of Batman's rogues gallery. So I'm wondering what the fuck Disney can do to make audiences root for a character who murders animals of her own volition. How can they give Cruella a villain when Cruella herself is already such an iconic villain?

Say what you want about the trailer but you can't deny that Emma Stone looks downright bangin'. Glenn Close had some GILF energy as Cruella in the older live action movies and Victoria Smurfit is no slouch in Once Upon a Time, but young, arthoe supervillain Cruella is something else entirely. Even if you don't care for the movie, the incoming R34 is something to look forward to.