User:BaldiBasicsFan/sandbox/101 Dalmatians: The Series

101 Dalmatians: The Series is an American animated television series that aired from September 1, 1997 to March 4, 1998 on the Disney-Kellogg Alliance and ABC. It is produced by Walt Disney Television Animation and Jumbo Pictures and is based on the 1961 Disney animated feature of the same name and its 1996 live-action remake. It features the voices of Pamela Adlon, Debi Mae West, Kath Soucie and Tara Strong, and is the first television series based on the 101 Dalmatians franchise, it was followed by 101 Dalmatian Street in 2019. Many staff members previously worked on the Timon & Pumbaa television show, Doug creator Jim Jinkins and his partner David Campbell both were developers of the series.

Plot
The show focuses primarily on three particular puppies; Lucky, TV addict leader and unconventional hero, Rolly, his fat cheerful laid-back and always-hungry brother, and Cadpig, their intellectual and fast-talking sister, who is the runt of the family. The three siblings are often joined by Spot, a chicken who wants to be a dog and a member of the Bark Brigade. Early promotional material had listed dictatorial Penny and mischievous Patch as two other puppy cast members, but the highlighted puppies were whittled down to three. The series is set on the Dalmatian Plantation, the farm where the dalmatians relocated after the end of the film; one episode features the dalmatians running away to return to the now-abandoned London flat where they were born, shortly after the events of the film.

Other puppies appearing in the show have included the fearless, three-legged Tripod, the friendly dim-witted Dipstick, the constantly urinating Wizzer, the fashion-conscious diva Two-Tone, and the Sheepdog mix, Mooch, who serves as the farm's bully. Patch also makes occasional appearances, though with a different personality than originally promoted. The show seems to be a blending of both the animated film and the live-action film, so the potential exists for other puppies from the films to appear, especially Freckles, Pepper, Penny, Jewel, and Fidget.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) Poor grasp on the original source material: It doesn't have the charm of the original movie or even the book it is based on to an extent. It instead wants to try to hip with the kids, but it fails at desperately doing so. It also doesn't help that this is from the same people behind the Disney version of Doug, which was another Disney show infamous for losing it's charm due to new directors and writers.
 * 2) Quantity Over Quality: The production of the show is rushed, having 65 half-hours produced in over one year. While 65 half-hours is a good amount for a television series, if the episodes are produced in this amount of the time, the show will often jump the shark or have a lot of goofs because of this. 101 Dalmatian Street instead managed to have some slow and not rushed story on the other hnd.
 * 3) Some of the characters were flanderized:
 * 4) *Lucky went from being a weak, yet cute and likable follower in the movie, to a Gary Stu egotist who claims to be the most adventurous of the pups, he also became more selfish and immature, making him a poor dog's version of Bart Simpson.
 * 5) *Rolly went from being a hungry, yet cute comic relief into another Gary Stu-type who not only now has a good sense of smell of some reason, but also can eat any treat that is in his way.
 * 6) *Cruella De Vil, despite being the main antagonist of the whole franchise, is for some reason portrayed into a comic-relief in this show, even more than the live-action movies.
 * 7) While the animation is not terrible, it is a pretty big downgrade from the original 1961 movie.
 * 8) *Animation errors are easily seen throughout the series.
 * 9) **Most notably when the collars of the dogs change.
 * 10) *The designs are more unpolished and cartoony, and could sometimes unintentionally, go off-model in a bizarre way.
 * 11) The show's plots are just bizarre and unnatural, which is shocking since even compared to 101 Dalmatian Street or the original movie, the unrealistic plots is beyond noticeable.
 * 12) There are several bad-or-mediocre episodes in this show, such as:
 * 13) *"Mall Pups"
 * 14) *"Horace and Jasper’s Big Career Move"
 * 15) *"Watch for Falling Idols" (which started the downfall of the whole series)
 * 16) *"Goose Pimples"
 * 17) *"Alive N' Chicken" (arguably the most notorious episode of the show)
 * 18) *"Food for Thought"
 * 19) *"Four Stories Up"
 * 20) *"Invasion of the Doggy Snatchers"
 * 21) *"Shipwrecked"

Good Qualities

 * 1) Despite its flaws, the animation (especially the episodes that are animated by Toon City) is passable for the most part.
 * 2) Some characters are still likable, such as Spot (despite being a butt-monkey), Pongo, Perdita, Roger and Anita Dearly, Nanny, The Colonel, Sergeant Tibbs and Captain.
 * 3) Admittedly, the theme song is quite catchy and fun to listen to.
 * 4) There are some good episodes in this show, such as:
 * 5) *"Home is Where the Bark Is" (which started this show on a positve note)
 * 6) *"Love 'Em and Flea 'Em!"
 * 7) *"Robo-Rolly"
 * 8) *"Un-Lucky"
 * 9) *"A Christmas Cruella"
 * 10) *"Dalmatian Vacation" (which ended the show on a high note)
 * 11) *Not to mention, the show was good during its earliest episodes, as they had better gags and animation, as well as the characters being more likable. It wasn't until "Watch for Falling Idols" when the show started becoming bad.
 * 12) It has an interesting concept about focusing on the dalmatian pups from the original movie (as previously they were one-demential) and even some of them from the original book (like Cadpig) but had poor execution.

Reception
The show received mixed reviews from critics and fans of the franchise, with praise being on more focus on the puppies, but was criticized for its nonsensical plots, animation and mean-spirited tone. It currently holds a 6.1/10 on IMDB.

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