Anita Dearly is the human deuteragonist in the 1996 live-action remake of 101 Dalmatians.
Background[]
Anita Campbell-Green (which is changed to Dearly after marrying Roger) was born in England. She eventually became a fashion designer, working in the House of DeVil where she became one of the company's top employees.
Role in the Film[]
She works as a fashion designer for Cruella in the House of DeVil. As she works for the fashion house, Cruella catches her drawing a sketch with a Dalmatian-spotted coat for fun (which inspires Cruella). Later Cruella asks Anita to meet her in her office where Cruella praises her talent and notes that Anita wasn't famous despite being talented, to which Anita replies that she isn't very interested in fame and Cruella states her fears about Anita going to work somewhere else, Anita claims she'll only retire if she met someone and working clashed with their plans and then suggests Cruella to make her coat design with linen, but Cruella would rather it to be made with real fur, which leaves Anita worried.
She later meets Roger in St. James Park when she hits him with her purse after a misunderstanding of her thinking Roger was abducting Perdita (as Roger mistook Perdita for Pongo). After Roger apologizes for the mistake, he asks her what she has in her purse, thinking it's rocks. She replies that they're bricks; she's been repaving her garden, and whenever she sees a discarded brick, she picks it up (and also revealed she had collected three on that specific day). Roger remarks, "Oh, that's what I would've guessed."
After she crashes her bike into the pond because of Perdita, Roger rescues her and tries to give her mouth-to-mouth, but wasn't able to do it well, since Anita's arms were around his neck. Anita apologizes for that later, and Roger accepts. She and Roger later marry and move into their own house, where her old Nanny from her childhood comes back to work for them. Nanny realizes, whilst diagnosing Perdita to be expecting, that Anita is pregnant too.
Cruella comes to visit and feels that Anita just sending the sketches of her designs because she is on leave from work isn't the same as the interaction they had together. She mocks Roger for his job and for starting a family which makes his respect for her, turn to hatred. When she hears that Perdita is having puppies as well, she tells them to let her know when the event will take place.
After the fifteen puppies are born, Cruella comes barging in, wanting to buy them in advance when they get their spots and are ready to leave their mother. Roger angrily tells her that they are not selling them at any price. Anita tries to keep her relationship with Cruella by claiming that they do not mean immediately to sell them, and is suspicious as to why Cruella would want to adopt the puppies at all. But after Cruella frightens her when she doesn't take the check she writes out, Anita ultimately gains the courage to stand up against her and agree with Roger that they are not for sale. A furious Cruella then fires Anita from her job and leaves, vowing revenge.
When the puppies have their spots grown, she and Roger go out for a walk in the park, taking Pongo and Perdita with them. Two bandits named Jasper and Horace break in and lock Nanny in the closet before stealing the puppies. They return home, hearing the barking of the Pensioner's bulldog (who had been barking angrily at Jasper and Horace and is the witness). Realizing what she and Roger had done - leaving the puppies unprotected - Anita and Roger call the Metropolitan Police.
When Pongo and Perdita run off to rescue the puppies right in front of their eyes, Nanny notes that the Dalmatians just went to go find the puppies. After she also notes that they were also able to sense ill-intentions in Cruella, Anita asks Nanny where her portfolio is. After opening it, Anita looks at the Dalmation fur coat she made for fun back when she was working for Cruella, making her realize that Cruella is behind the dog-napping and what she plans to do. Anita takes the drawing back to Roger and Nanny and tells them, "She did steal the puppies and this is why." After showing them the drawing, Anita tells the pair that Cruella's going to kill the puppies so she can use their fur to make it. The trio then notify the Metropolitan Police and tell them Anita's suspicions.
When she and Roger go to Cruella's London residence with the police, they find the pelt of the missing Siberian tiger from the London Zoo. Anita and Roger sadly hug each other, feeling regretful for going out for a walk to the park instead of staying home and protecting the puppies. The constable in charge tells Anita that her suspicions about Cruella were justified as they found evidence that proves her to be the mastermind behind not only the dognapping but also other animal-related crimes that they were never able to solve. He also informs them that Cruella left for a residence she has in Suffolk, and that he's already alerted the Suffolk Constabulary there to be on the lookout for her.
When the Dalmatians are returned, Roger convinces her to keep the other puppies, but she cautions Perdita that she won't have the pups chewing up the carpets and barking into the night.
After Roger's new video game starring the puppies as the main characters and Cruella as the villain becomes a worldwide success, they become billionaires, and they buy a huge mansion on the outskirts of London. Anita has her baby; a girl and it's implied that she is pregnant once again.
Trivia[]
- In the animated movies, Anita's maiden name was never mentioned. However, in the 1996 remake, her maiden name is revealed in a newspaper to be Campbell-Green.
- In the 1996 remake, she and Roger told Cruella the puppies weren't for sale. However, they seemed to have later changed their minds as it is implied they did sell Dipstick to Chloe Simon. It's also possible that they had more trust in Chloe to take care of Dipstick rather than Cruella.
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