Cruella DeVil, also known as the white and black-clad wanna-be puppy killer, needs no introduction. As one of the vilest and evil Disney villains, she has already made a name for herself around the world. After all, she tried to kill puppies; Dalmatians, who of course, outsmarted a grown woman. However, the fashionista herself will be receiving an origin story style film coming this year, with a large portion of the trailers clad in obvious feminist girl power light.
According to Disney themselves, the new film will be set in the home of the punk rock revolution in the 1970s, London. We follow a young creative girl named, Estella, a likable and lovable character from what can be seen from the trailers. However, after being noticed by fashion icon Baroness von Hellman, life changes for the young creator. As the story progresses, the lovable Estella turns into the vengeful Cruella, bent on revenge for those who have wronged her.
But Disney seems to be making this cruel, unlovable person into a redeemed feminist figure. According to North By Northwestern, the trailers portray an attitude that many feel came out of the blue. Lines such as “ I am a woman. Hear me roar” seem better suited for a hero-type character, not a woman who tries to murder puppies for their skin. While this type of, “watch the main character’s descent into madness to explain their evil tendencies'' trope worked well for Joker, audiences don’t need this visual to understand Cruella’s evil motivations
To many, the new movie remains an obvious cash grab from the mouse; nothing that hasn’t already been seen through the years of reboots and sequels. The trope of a #girlboss ran rampant through cinema and pop culture. The trope became defined by a slim, wealthy, white woman climbing up the ladder of oppression, not caring who she steps on; Cruella fits perfectly into this mold. Movies that used this archetype of a character made a substantial amount of money at the box office, pushing towards the argument that Disney might not truly care about “redeeming” Cruella, rather seeing how much money they can make off of her.
Cruella’s a character perfectly understood in her portrayal in 101 Dalmatians; the audience understood her to be the villain, without a sappy coming of age style prequel. She resonates as evil because she tries to skin puppies, and the audience understood this; those who liked her as a villain loved her for the traits she has easily shown in one movie. She doesn’t need a cheesy revitalization for audiences to understand her and why she has done what she has, again all very well received from the original film. Not to mention how little chronologically these films make sense; she somehow goes from being an intelligent woman taking down a fashion system, yet in 101 Dalmatians she was outsmarted by a group of actual dogs.
All in all, this new movie seems to be unwanted by many of the Disney fanbase; some even calling it out for being a thinly veiled cash grab. However, whether we want it to or not, the movie will be released on May 18th for premium members of Disney’s streaming platform; many viewers won’t have access to the movie for a few months.
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