The Starlight Barking (101 Dalmatians)

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Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: There are hints that "de Vil" is not just a Meaningful Name but is a literal description of the members of the family ("de Vil" = "devil"). Cruella is always too cold, loves blazing fires, eats nothing but spicy foods and tastes of pepper when one of the puppies nips her. The sheepdog also tells Pongo stories about an ancestor of hers with "a long tail". However, the difference between those books and this one is that here, we have a REALISTIC world that suddenly TURNS surreal, and for the readers to accept that, they need some kind of explanation: Who did this, and how/why? And this is where this book fails to deliver: The initial sense of wonder doesn't last long, and for more than half the book, our characters are wandering around with no real sense of purpose. Then we finally meet Sirius... but instead of exploring this marvelous character any further, the book hurries the plot along, squeezing the revelation, offer, resolution and epilogue into roughly the last third of the not-so-long book. The Hundred and One Dalmatians is a 1956 children's novel by Dodie Smith about the kidnapping of a family of Dalmatian puppies. It was originally serialized in Woman's Day as The Great Dog Robbery, [1] and details the adventures of two dalmatians named Pongo and Missis as they rescue their puppies from a fur farm. A 1967 sequel, The Starlight Barking, continues from the end of the novel.

Flipping further I found a visit to a sleeping Cruella de Vil, and a pseudo-religious Voice (Sirius Lord of the the Dog Star) entering the storyline, to warn the ‘caninecade’ that he can save them from the destructive nuclear forces about to be unleashed by humans. It would appear that the book then rapidly descends into farce as a number of ownerless dogs instead opt to seek a life at Battersea Dogs Home (a highly reputable establishment in real life). Hmm. Better the Devil You Know: Upon learning Cruella isn't the sequel antagonist, Pongo "almost wished she were" since she's "the devil he knew" and he felt someone unknown and more powerful was in charge. Hill Hall ("Hell Hall" to the locals), the country manor belonging to Cruella's family where the puppies are kept. This Is My Human: The dogs refer to the Dearlys as their pets. They are aware that the Dearlys believe it's the other way around, but they find it charming and let their humans continue to believe so.

Perdita and Prince - a married couple of liver-spotted Dalmatians, and the parents of eight of the stolen puppies from the first novel. They are left in charge of the Dearlys' household while Pongo and Missis go to London. Roly Poly - a fat and accident-prone Dalmatian, one of Pongo and Missis' adult sons. He teaches George how to swim, and the two of them soon discover they have a lot in common and spend the day of magic visiting Paris together. George, the Foreign Minister - a fat, clumsy but cosmopolitan Boxer. He and Roly Poly become good friends after realizing they are much alike, and together they take a short visit to Paris. Named for Foreign Secretary George Brown. Right from the outset the reader is presented with a mystery as to why all humans, birds, insects, horses, mice, pigs, cows, cats … etc have fallen into a deep sleep. But not, of course, dogs, and oddly one child and one cat. Served with this utter look, our ostensible hero Mr. Dearly, whose dogs Cruella will shortly steal, peers down his nose and says, “Isn’t she a bit showy?” and truly, I don’t see how Smith could have expected anyone to root for him after that.

Regardless, by the end of The Hundred and One Dalmatians, the Dearlys and their dogs do defeat Cruella, leading her to flee England in disgrace. But Cruella makes a triumphant return in the sequel, 1967’s The Starlight Barking.

The 1956 children's book and its 1967 sequel contains examples of:

Big Eater: Missis is rather obsessed with food, to the point where of all the weird things that happens in The Starlight Barking, the one thing that truly astonishes her is that she isn't hungry. Major/Mrs. Willow - formerly Lieutenant Willow in the first novel, before her promotion. She is a farm tabby and the General's strong right paw and closest friend. She was made an honorary dog after her part in the first novel, and thus is immune to the "Mysterious sleep". She openly dislikes Sirius. Took the Wife's Name: Cruella is the last de Vil and she brings it up as the reason she made her husband change his name to hers when they married. Sirius - the powerful, telepathic, but intensely lonely "Lord of the Dog Star", who can assume the form of any breed of dog and has loved dogs for millennia. With the threat of possible nuclear war looming, he fears what will happen to Earth's dogs, and he uses his magic to "freeze" Earth and give the dogs the power to flee with him if they so choose, setting off the events of the novel. No Celebrities Were Harmed: The Foreign Secretary and the Minister of Transport in Cadpig's Cabinet in The Starlight Barking are gentle parodies of the actual Cabinet ministers at the time.