Subscribe!101 Dalmatians: The Series (1997)
Originally posted on 06 June 2026First episode title: Home is Where the Bark Is
How familiar with the show am I?: I've seen the original movie, and I think I saw occasional episodes of this show as a kid.
Is this the first episode?: This episode is listed as the first episode of Season 1, but I've seen some indications that some episodes of Season 2 aired first, in a similar situation to Cro. However, in this case, it looks like the episode I've chosen definitely takes place first in-universe.
In a show that isn't quite in continuity with either the 60s animated film or the 90s live-action film, a human couple still find themselves with an extraordinary number of white dogs with black spots, and Cruella De Vil still wants them out of the way.
The fact that this is the 101st show I'm writing about is a complete coincidence, by the way.
The main trio of Dalmatian puppies in this show are:
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Lucky, the brave, adventurous leader
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Cadpig, who is manically cheerful
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Rolly, who is always eating
They live with their human owners Roger and Anita Dearly and their housekeeper Nanny, and parent dogs Pongo and Perdita, as well as ninety-six other puppies. And as always they are pursued by Cruella De Vil and her minions Jasper and Horace. The dogs are all portrayed with voices from our point of view, but the humans in the show only hear barking.
To start this episode, in the big city where the family live, Nanny is taking all of the puppies for a walk when a mugger steals her purse, and the puppies chase him and get it back. When they get home they learn that this was the final straw for their owners, and they're going to be moving to the countryside, living on a farm. Once they arrive, the trio find that they don't get along with any of the animals that already live there. To make things worse, their new neighbour is Cruella De Vil, Anita's boss who Roger hates. She tells them she wants to buy their new place from them, and that the old owner always refused her offers, but Roger also refuses. She leaves, telling herself that she'll find a way to steal the farm from them somehow.
At night, while everyone else is sleeping, the three main puppies find themselves unable to. In the morning, they decide they have to get back to the city, and they do so, stowing away on a ferry. Their old home is all boarded up, and Cruella happens to be lurking around. Spotting the three puppies, she chases them, but only manages to grab their collars as they slip away. The dogs escape into the house to find it empty, and Cruella locks the door behind them. At Cruella's office, she gives Horace and Jasper an envelope containing a ransom note and the three collars, thinking that the Dearlies will need to sell the farm in order to pay the ransom for the puppies. The two goons deliver the envelope but accidentally give away that it's from Cruella in the process. Pongo and Perdita overhear what's happening, so, that night, they send a message via the barking chain (dogs communicating over long distances by passing a message along using loud barks). In the old house, the trio of puppies are now finding themselves lonely, cold, and hungry.
The next morning, the puppies try to leave the house only to find the door locked, and they also fail to leave via the chimney or the toilet. But then Cruella sends Horace and Jasper into the house to grab the puppies, and the puppies successfully trap the men in a locked room and escape the house. Cruella makes it to the ferry before they do, but an old dog on a small fishing boat, who'd heard about them from the barking chain, gets them across the water right behind her. He also passes another message on so that the dogs and farm animals ahead are aware of the need to stop Cruella. She ends up encountering a series of diversions and obstacles set by the animals as a result, culminating in her car being crushed by a combine harvester. This means that the trio catch up to her right outside the farm, and she grabs them in full view of the Dearlies - she has to pretend to have just happened to find them there. Roger and Anita are relieved that they don't have to sell the farm, and the puppies see the place in a new light after their experience.
There's something interesting going on with the animation here. In 1997, we're right in the middle of the switch from traditional cel animation to digital animation. I think what's happened here is that the show itself uses cel animation, but the opening sequence uses digital backgrounds and then represents the characters by overlaying cut-out clips from the show. What results is a noticeable difference in the qualities of the picture all in the same shot, with sharper colours in the background and softer lines on the dogs.
One thing about this show that sets it apart from all other versions - the original novel and both Disney adaptations - is that, instead of being set in London, England, it appears to be set in America. According to signs seen in the episode, the big city where they initially live is called Topstown, and the neighbourhood around the farm is called Grutely. As a result of the change in setting, almost all of the characters have American accents. The exception is Pongo, who still sounds British - since he only has one line and it comes quite late in the episode, it's a little bit of a surprise!
Also, in the Disney film, Lucky was the runt of the litter and almost died, but was revived through the efforts of Roger. However, in the book, this same sequence of events had instead happened to a female puppy named Cadpig. This series seems to have decided to give us the best of both worlds by using both of them as characters, although it means we can't tell from this episode whether either of them went through that experience - Cadpig is pretty tiny though, perhaps indicating that she's the runt here.
So Lucky's thing here is being brave and adventurous, but not in a smart way. Most of the plot happens because he thought running away back to the city would be a good idea even though obviously their old house would be empty. But at least he's an endearing idiot.
Cadpig, at times, between the incessant cheerfulness, has that meta kind of "therapy-speak" thing going on that I mainly associate with kids' cartoons that came a bit later - yet another way this show shows how it's on the cusp between the 90s and the 00s.
Cadpig: Bring back that purse, you big jerk! Hm. I've really gotta work on my underlying hostility.
And Rolly is the fat one who spends a lot of the episode complaining, about the lack of food, about having to run, about anything. After chasing the robber, he complains that he pulled his groin. I didn't need to hear that.
Cruella has a thing about making memos to herself on a little tape recorder. It adds to the image of her as this rich businesswoman type, and conveniently for the viewer means that she can openly talk about her plans when no-one else on her side is around to hear them - but it's also something squarely placing this show in the 90s, before smartphones.
Cruella makes quite a dark joke while talking to the Dearlies early on. There's no mention of her attempts to skin puppies to make a coat in this episode, so I don't know whether it's a feature of this show or whether it was considered too disturbing to include, but this certainly clues you in on the fact that she doesn't wish anything good towards the dogs.
Cruella: The Dalmatians... yes. Tell me, are there still a hundred and one, or did I manage to take out a couple of the mutts when I drove in?
Still, something quite like the movie must have happened in this show's past. The original story and the animated movie both have an episode where the dogs get covered in soot. When the same thing inadvertently happens to the puppy trio in this show as they try to escape the house through the chimney, Lucky remarks that this feels familiar.
Roger is suspicious of Cruella throughout, whereas Anita remains oblivious and doesn't even believe him about the ransom note. All of the other versions have the humans learn of Cruella's crimes during the story - I suppose the reason they haven't had that happen here is (a) so that Cruella isn't already being scrutinised by the police, and (b) so that there can be a source of continued conflict amongst the Dearlies.
None of the farm animals does much that's memorable here. One of the characters called out by name in the show's intro is a chicken called Spot, but in this episode she only has an unvoiced cameo. Rolly meets some pigs where the joke is that their eating habits are even more disgusting than his, and Cadpig eagerly tries to befriend a couple of cows who aren't at all interested.
Overall, the show was entertaining. The decision to focus on one particular trio of puppies is a sensible one, since there certainly isn't room in a TV series to try and distinguish 101 different dogs' personalities. What would have made it better is if they had started with this show's version of the original story instead of kicking off after it, because, as we've seen, it leads to so many questions about exactly how it all went down in this continuity.
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