101 Dalmatians: The Series

101 Dalmatians: The Series is an animated television series produced by the Walt Disney Company based on the classic 1961 Disney animated feature of the same name and its 1996 live-action remake.

Premise
Set on a farm, the show focuses primarily on three particular puppies: Lucky, TV expert, leader, and unconventional hero; Rolly, his loyal, scholarly, and always-hungry brother; and Cadpig, their sister, 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.

Other puppies appearing in the show have included the brave, three-legged Tripod; Dipstick; the constantly urinating Wizzer; and Two-Tone. The show seems to be a blending of both the original animated film and the live action feature.

Production
101 Dalmatians: The Series debuted in syndication on Decmember 10, 1996 running new episodes five days a week. Less than two weeks later, the show came to ABC's One Saturday Morning lineup, airing original episodes that could only be seen on the network. Sixty-five episodes were produced: Twelve shows with 21 episodes on ABC and 53 shows containing 84 episodes in syndication. By March 2000 the show played its last episode in syndication.

Reruns continued to play on ABC until 2002, when the show was moved to the Disney Channel and then later to Toon Disney. On January 30, 2006, Toon Disney aired the show for the final time regularly, while four episodes were shown in March 2007 for the final time. As of that day, 101 Dalmatians: The Series is off the air in most countries with a Disney Channel franchise. It is currently being syndicated on the United Kingdom channel Disney Cinemagic and was also aired on the Latin American version of Disney Channel during 2008, then on January 2, 2010, Season 2 moved to RTE Two in Ireland. The series currently airs on Disney Junior; however, only several select episodes are shown, and some episodes are also abruptly edited for no good reason.

Characters
The main characters in the series are Lucky, Cadpig, Rolly, and Spot. Lucky is a runt and the most adventurous of the 99 puppies. He is unique in having his only spots in the shape of a horseshoe on his back. Cadpig is another runt of the litter and the smallest of the 99 puppies but quite possibly the most intelligent, if not deluded. She is unique in having long floppy ears and a big head and a kind personality. Rolly is the very hungry one. Almost all his decisions are based on food and this, at times, gets him and the pups into trouble. He is, however, a loyal and helpful sibling. Spot is a chicken who wants to become a Dalmatian. She is a voice of reason for the foursome but, more often than not, is ignored. She is easily frightened and is prone to literally bouncing off the walls. She is, however, a good dancer (which has to count for something, according to her) and appears to be good at math. She is also able to fly. Patch appears in the series in his look from the Dodie Smith novel; he appears to be more laid-back unlike his movie counterpart. Dipstick retains a bit of his movie look; he is portrayed as dimwitted but loyal. Wizzer changed quite a bit from his movie look, being smaller and with white ears and a red collar. He follows Mooch's orders without question and is still prone to having accidents as in the live-action movie. Two-Tone changed quite a bit from her movie appearance, now having two black ears, a gold hoop earring in her right ear, a blue collar instead of pink, and a lower black body with white spots. She was Mooch's girlfriend and second in command of his gang until she dated Lucky in "Love 'Em and Flea 'Em." Since then, Two-Tone has gone off on her own.

The main villains in the series are Cruella de Vil and her henchmen, Horace and Jasper. Cruella is now a corporate criminal and most of her plans revolve around getting richer, tormenting the Dalmatians, and plotting to steal the Dearly Farm. Horace and Jasper are usually hired to perform her plans, usually failing.

Other characters include Roger Dearly, Anita Dearly, Nanny, Pongo, Perdita, the Colonel, Thunderbolt, Sergeant Tibbs, Lt. Pug, Lucy, Mooch, Scorch, Swamp Rat, Steven the Alligator, Cydne the Snake, the Captain, Cruella de Vil, and the entire de Vil family.

Merchandise
Not much merchandise has been made of this series unlike other Disney series, the only ones being:
 * "A Christmas Cruella" VHS
 * "Dalmatian Vacation" Video CD
 * "Dalmatian Vacation" VHS and LaserDisc (Japan only)
 * "Surf Puppies" CD
 * "The Big Dig" (book)
 * "Cruella Returns" (book)
 * Rare episode cels
 * Car toys for McDonald's Happy Meals (sold in January 1998)
 * Beanbag toys included with Sweethearts candy (Caldor exclusive)

Continuity issues
The series does not take place in the same continuity as the movies; an example of which being the fact that everyone in the series (except Cruella) has American accents while the movie is set in London and its surroundings. The original animated movie is set in the early 1960s, while the live-action films and the series are set in a modern day world (1996 at the time). It is also notable that the movie is more realistic, while the series is very cartoon-like. The series comes closer to the essence of Dodie Smith's book than the movies and is based on everything 101 Dalmatians-related (Cadpig is one character that is not characterized in the movies). Therefore, all three mediums can be considered canon, even though they are not in the same continuity. Also, Roger and Anita the dog owners' last name has been changed to "Dearly" instead of "Radcliffe," as it is in the other movies and novels.

Trivia

 * Episodes "My Fair Chicken" and "My Fair Moochie" were based on My Fair Lady', a movie based on George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion.
 * As mentioned above, there were originally supposed to be 5 main characters: Lucky, Cadpig, Rolly, Patch and Penny. Patch was relegated to the role of a minor character and Penny does not appear in the series at all as it was feared that there would be too many main characters. Spot was added in later.
 * Most episode titles are based on dog-related puns.
 * In the episode, "Virtual Lucky," Lucky's name in Roger's video game is known as "Barkio" which is an obvious reference to Nintendo's Mario. The opening of Roger's game, featuring Barkio's floating head, is also a reference to Nintendo 64 launch title, Super Mario 64.
 * In "Valantine Daze" Roger says that he's working on a video game called "The Hunchbox of Notre Dame". This is a reference to The Hunchback of Notre Dame which is a 1996 Disney movie.
 * The episode "Twelve Angry Pups" is a courtroom drama named after the Henry Fonda movie, "Twelve Angry Men." The episode contains allusions to the O.J. Simpson murder trial, including Mooch escaping on a "white bronco," which in this case is a horse, not a 1971-1996 Ford 2-door SUV.