When the word, “Dalmatian” is murmured there is only one Disney movie that comes to mind, One Hundred and One Dalmatians (often abbreviated as 101 Dalmatians). As Disney’s seventeenth animated feature, most of us can remember the cartoon pups running wild trying to keep up with their parents and escape from danger. One character from this legendary story was particularly hated. She became famous trying to capture the adorable Dalmatians, the puppies in particular, for the purpose of using their fur to design herself a new coat. 

Perhaps one of the most hated villains, Cruella De Vil, kidnaped Dalmatian puppies in particular because when shorthair dogs grow older their fur becomes very coarse, not selling as well as the soft fur coats of puppies. The actress is perhaps most recognizable for her two-toned hair style; the left half dyed white and the right half black. As if requesting puppy fur wasn’t enough to give the character a devilish persona, her name, Cruella De Vil, is a play on the words cruel and devil. 

De Vil wasn’t created entirely by the minds of the writers. What many people may not know is that the immoral character was inspired by flamboyant actress Tallulah Bankhead. As Hollywood was becoming increasingly conservative, Bankhead led an outspoken and uninhibited lifestyle, especially for the mid 1900s. She was openly bisexual and was linked romantically with several famous women in the day. Openly admitting to her lifestyle choices and disregard for anyone else’s opinion of her, she was a rebel of sorts for her time. One time hospitalized for a serious sexually transmitted disease that almost claimed her life, Bankhead cast off the incident saying, "I hope you don’t think this taught me a lesson." She was also famous for exposing herself at parties and living her life however she pleased.

It was Bankhead’s ability to live a life under complete scrutiny, never making excuses for her actions, which led to the portrayal of the famous villain, Cruella De Vil. Bankhead was heavily into drugs and alcohol causing a difficult rehearsal experience for everyone involved. She refused to listen to the director and most of the cast and crew believed she would arrive already inebriated. Amazingly, Bahkhead had the skill to effortlessly memorize a script, therefore, often times taping went off without a hitch. It was this behavior that inspired the crazy, yet put together, despicable character in 101 Dalmatians. 

Many film villains have been inspired by the lives of real movie stars. Other notable villains include, Scar from The Lion King, Captain Hook from Peter Pan, Man from Bambi, and Stromboli from Pinocchio. Geppi’s Entertainment’s Hake’s Americana & Collectibles is currently holding an auction offering a high quality set of Fossil watches created exclusively for the Disney catalogue of 1995. Each of the above mentioned movies is depicted in one of these exquisite watches. The 6 X 7.5 X 2" deep box that each watch comes with is cleverly designed like the corresponding book. To find out more visit Hakes.com.