By There’s this weird scene in the trailer for the 1996 live-action 101 Dalmatians. Besides how weirdly terrible all 90s movie trailers are, all-time Disney great villain Cruella De Vil gets kicked by a horse into a vat of manure. Wikipedia says it’s molasses but, c’mon guys, that’s just viscous poo and we all know it. By the way, that was legendary actress Glenn Close getting dookie dumped, so we can only hope Emma Thompson receives the same kind of treatment esteemed British women deserve when acting in a Dalmatians film.
Variety reports that Thompson, who’s having a busy year, has signed onto the Disney prequel Cruella, which delves into the origin story of the detestable fashionista. Emma Stone (this won’t get confusing) is supposedly going to be a young de Vil, but otherwise no roles are set, including a possible foil to de Vil called The Baroness. That’s right, let’s go, The Favourite Part 2, you didn’t think Stone could waltz into a period piece and not get her comeuppance from a proper British leading lady, did you?
With I, Tonya‘s Craig Gillespie at the director’s helm and it not being a remake, we got a shot here. 101 Dalmatians has always been a more sinister Disney film with how much attention is paid to Cruella’s devolution into insanity as she tries to murder puppies. When murder puppies is the central point of conflict, maybe shoot for a PG rating at least, so hopefully Thompson can put her raw force of will she’s known for into the movie. I want full cruelty, both Emmas trying to out-insult each others fashion while rabid Dalmatians tear their closets apart. 90 minutes of a smug Thompson looking regal and beautiful as always will work too. Cruella is set to relase December 23, 2020
Emma Thompson in Talks to Join Emma Stone in Disney’s ‘Cruella’ (EXCLUSIVE) [Variety]