Developer(s) Media Station Initial release date March 1997 | Release date(s) March 18, 1997 Mode Single-player video game | |
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Genre(s) Point-and-click adventure, interactive storybook Series Disney's Animated Storybook Platforms Microsoft Windows, Macintosh operating systems Publishers Disney Interactive Studios, Disney Interactive Similar Disney's Animated Storybook games, Disney Interactive Studios games, Other games | ||
Disney's Animated Storybook: 101 Dalmatians is the sixth entry in the Disney's Animated Storybook point-and-click adventure interactive storybook PC game series, based on theatrical and home video releases. This game was based on the Disney franchise of One Hundred and One Dalmatians, which began with the 1961 film of the same name. Like that movie, the plot of the game sees villain and fashionista Cruella de Vil steal a series of dalmatian puppies from married couple Roger and Anita and their pets Pongo and Perdita, who then attempt to rescue them back. The game was developed by Media Station and published by Disney Interactive. It was released on March 18, 1997. The game is the only Animated Storybook title based on a Walt Disney Animation Studios film that was made before the Disney Renaissance (ignoring the two Winnie the Pooh-based titles).
Contents
Conception
The vision of Marc Teren, VP of entertainment for Disney Interactive, was to create games with a "true and fair representation of the original property", and aim to capitalise as "ancillary products to successful theatrical and home video releases". To achieve this, Teren helped ensure the games were animated by Disney animators. From December 1994 to February 1995, the company had hired 50 new employees. Children's Business suggests the series came into fruition because in the contemporary entertainment market, it was "customary now for entertainment companies to release CD-ROMs to support a film or TV show".
Development
Disney and Media Station collaborated to create more than 12,000 frames of digital animation for each game, as well as 300 music and vocal clips. Digital music and sound effects were composed, orchestrated, arranged, edited, mixed and synchronized at Media Station. The games had hundreds of clickable hotspots that produced animated gags, as well as many mind-challenging interactive games. The voice cast sometimes consisted of actors from the films reprising their roles; meanwhile, at other times voice soundalikes were used.
Gameplay
The game is within the adventure gaming genre and as such use a point-and-click interface. There are a series of icons that the mouse turns into when it runs over hotspots, depending on how one can interact with them. This can include interactions like a minigame, song or animation. The method of going from page to page is creative and unique to the storybook; in Disney's Animated Storybook: 101 Dalmatians there are a series of inked feet leading to the exit (a reference to when the dogs roll in soot to evade Cruella De Vil).
The game's plot and animation is similar to that of the 1961 film, albeit somewhat abridged for the limited medium. Roger's occupation changed from songwriter to video game designer. To appeal to 1990s kids, some technology of the original film's time were updated and new technology were added, including computers, video game consoles (supporting Roger's occupation change), larger screen television sets, and passcode-enabled security gates. The story is narrated in-game by Pongo, Perdy, and their pup Lucky. The game also features a soundtrack of sing-along songs, which includes five new songs and a new recording of the original film's famous song "Cruella De Vil".
Critical reception
A review in The Austin Chronicle said of Disney's Animated Storybook: Disney's 101 Dalmatians, "The dogs are adorable and Cruella is deliciously wicked. The style elements, too, are vividly woven in". Ot praised the inclusion of brain-stimulating puzzles, and a theasaurus feature for "highlighted words in the narration". It adds "the true genius of a disk like this is that Mom or Dad won't mind serving as a booster seat for son or daughter at the family computer hutch". When comparing the Hunchback and Dalmatians Storybooks (which were released around the same time in 1997), Sun-Sentinel said their experts "preferred [the] Dalmatians [storybook]", giving it a rating of 3 stars. AllGame gave 101 Dalmatians a rating of 3.5 stars out of 5. Computer Shopper favourably compared the game to Little Ark Interactive's Story of Creation. Chicago Sun-Times thought it was a "perfect digital playmate". The Washington Post said the illustrations are "nothing short of excellent", and deemed it "a cut above" the standard for educational video games.