Disney has introduced us to the new Cruella De Vil, and for a dog-killing, fur coat-wearing maniac, I’ve got to say she looks pretty cool.
Emma Stone is set to play the classic 101 Dalmations villain in 2021’s Cruella. It appears that the project will not retell the events of the 1961 original but may be an examination of who Cruella is and why she turned evil instead. Although, being named Cruella is probably an indication that you’re not going to be much of a people person.
Perhaps an explanation might come from the film’s 1970s setting. Set in the middle of late 70s British punk, the picture shows a Cruella clearly influenced by the aesthetics and fashion of the era. Her makeup and hairdo look like a take on Siouxsie Sioux, while her bondage-chic dress looks like it could have been taken off the peg of Vivienne Westwood’s iconic SEX boutique.
But while punk rock was known for self-destruction, drug-taking and aggressive music, one thing it wasn’t particularly associated with was the fur trade. In fact, this incarnation of Cruella even appears to be keeping three Dalmatians as pets, which indicates that she’s as yet not obsessed with turning them into a fine fur coat. Who knows, perhaps ‘Cruella De Vil’ could even be her stage name?
Cruella won’t be the first live-action take on the character, though. The 1996 live-action 101 Dalmations (which now seems rather prescient given Disney’s strategy of adapting all its animated classics into live-action) featured Glenn Close as the murderous fur-loving villain, and she was widely considered to have done excellent work in the role. I’m sure Emma Stone will do a great job here, too, though I wish we had a little more to go on than this one picture.
