Cruella Sequel

Deadline reports that Disney is working on a sequel to Cruella, due to its good box office performance. I did like the movie, and would like to see how they continue the story, because when she gifts the Pongo and Perdita puppies at the end, it doesn't really make sense for how it connects to 101 Dalmatians. Someone online suggested that the sequel could have the Baroness come back wanting to kill the dalmatians in revenge, while blaming Cruella, so that might work. The music and costumes were great, and I'd love to see more about Anita and Roger.

They revised Cruella's origin story like Maleficent did, so she's no longer a puppy-killer (not that she ever succeeded in skinning the puppies in the Dalmatians movie). In the new movie, Estella/Cruella likes dogs, and even though she witnesses a pack of dalmatians killing her mother, Estella blames herself for the death, not the dogs. (So it's not as simplistic and stupid as the memes make it seem. It's not "I hate dalmatians and want to kill them because they killed my mother"; it's "I don't hate dogs. I hate the Baroness and want revenge.") She starts blaming the Baroness when she sees the heirloom necklace and remembers more details from the cliff murder. At no point does she blame the dogs for the murder, recognizing that they're not culpable for human actions.

Anyway, a lot of the movie is the Baroness being evil, while Cruella stages elaborate heists and spectacles with Jasper, Horace, and Artie. (Her school friend Anita Darling also helps publicize Cruella's stunts.) At one point Cruella does ask Jasper and Horace to kidnap the dalmatians, but only because one of the dogs has swallowed the necklace, and she doesn't know which one. Still, Cruella doesn't suggest disemboweling them to speed up retrieving the jewelry. She does make a joke about making the dogs into coats, but that's all it is. She wears a spotted coat once, but it is very clearly only fake fur and she confirms it later in dialogue. It's the Baroness who accuses Cruella of killing and skinning the dalmatians, but they are clearly alive at the end of the movie, so that's false. The dalmatians even want to stay with Cruella when the Baroness takes them back, and they later obey Cruella's command instead of the Baroness. So clearly they didn't just bond as pets with Jasper and Horace. I was surprised that I liked the new character John the valet, and that there was a nice found family at the end.

Speaking of dogs, the CW is ordering a Scooby Doo special; no details on when it will air, but there are hints there will be a mystery plot, not just tributes to the franchise like how the HBO Friends reunion was. I hope it will be better than the Scoob! movie that wasn't a mystery at all.