Cruella is back as we look at how Cruella became Cruella in the latest Disney live action film. Before the dalmatians and the puppy coat dreams, Cruella was just Estella as the tale shows Cruella as a mistaken baby and child who tragically loses her mother. Now vengefulness sets in as Estella grows up hating herself for her mother’s death but loving the only thing that her mother showed her, fashion design. She ends up working for the deceitful Baroness until she realizes that in fact it was never her fault for her mother’s death but that of the one whom she admires. Thus, the double personalities emerge as Cruella is born as a way to poke fun of the powerful baroness. The plot thickens even more when she discovers just who the baroness is and what it means in the long run for her.
The 2021 Disney Live Action film, Cruella stars Emma Stone who definitely has a knack for being bad. She captures every essence of what makes Cruella, Cruella and she does it in a way that has audiences actually rooting for her and sympathizing with her pain and loss that she had to do with. Similarly, the film also stars Emma Thompson as the baroness and the resemblance between both Stone and Thompson are uncanny. They definitely paint the picture of the full revelation of mother and daughter.
Finally, the writers, do an outstanding job of answering questions which 101 Dalmatians leave audiences wondering, including why Cruella hates Dalmatians so much as well as how she meets and forms a family with her cronies, Jasper and Horace, which credit must also be given to the actors portraying them. The resemblance and mannerisms of Joel Fry as Jasper and Paul Walter Hauser as Horace makes the storyline that much better and more believable.
Honestly Disney has outdone themselves with this latest version. Even the slight diversity change in that of Anita being portrayed by Kirby Howell-Baptiste doesn’t even take away from the writers attempt to show also the relationship between Estella/Cruella and Anita. Additionally, there is an end credit scene that is a pleasant easter egg as we see both Anita and Roger getting Perdita and Pongo as gifts from Cruella itself.
All in all, the film which came out in theaters last Friday, May 28, 2021, is a fun film for the entire audiences. It shows the human side to what makes one of the toughest villains the person that they turn out to be. The film is currently playing in a theater near you as well as on Disney + when you subscribe with premiere access. It’s definitely not a film one should miss.