DVDizzy Forum

Interesting they went with Estella for her real name instead of Ella. Probably because they didn't want to give a villain the same name as Cinderella. Estella is not a common variation of the name; it's usually either Estelle or Stella. It's of Latin origin and it means "star".

Everything about it sounds terrible. Since they're setting it in the 1970s, I wonder if this really is acting as some sort of official or unofficial prequel to the Glen Close films.

Cruella is not going to be a redemption story. As we suspected, she'll turn "evil" by the end.

Q: The fact Disney is even attempting to get audiences to sympathize with a puppy killer disgusts me. I don't care what happened to her, nothing can make me feel sorry for that woman.

Skyler Shuler: You’re reading this all wrong. This isn’t Maleficent.

Q: Like Disney's gonna make a movie where the protagonist actually turns evil in the end...

Skyler Shuler: That is Disney’s plan with this film. It’s a one-off film.

Source: https://twitter.com/Skylerhxc/status/10 ... 8305636354

Skyler Shuler: This is a brand new synopsis, with production expected within the next 8 months.

Q: Is Emma Stone still attached to star?

Skyler Shuler: Yes.

Source: https://twitter.com/Skylerhxc/status/10 ... 9529926656

As long as she comes off as unreasonable as an animal killer is, and not force some "ooh poor her, if those dogs hadn't bitten her, she wouldn't have turned out like she is" bs excuse...

Then again, it's Disney, I really doubt we'll get some genuine sadistic interpretation of her. Wouldn't bother me if they didn't make empty and pretentious promises.

Wasn't this movie supposed to be a prequel to the one with Glenn Close? I really hope that's the case.
I wouldn't mind if they would give Cruella some sad backstory etc. like with Maleficent, I just don't want them to redeem her at the end.

I love how adamant they are in saying that this film isn't like Maleficent. Still, I have very little faith that Disney will do the character justice. At least the Once Upon a Time take didn't neuter the character unlike Maleficent and Ursula.

Sotiris wrote:Cruella is not going to be a redemption story. As we suspected, she'll turn "evil" by the end.

I'm glad about that. But if she's evil, I imagine there will be some characters in the film that are good (similar to Roger and Anita, but more secondary) so the public can identify with them. Come to think of it, Anita and Cruella were former schoolmates in the animated film, so maybe she appears in this film.

By the way, I agree with the comment someone made on one of the links. Cruella didn't hate Dalmatians, she just liked their fur and wanted to make a fur coat out of them for that reason. That's something I didn't like about that last synopsis.

Oh, so a puppy killer is inexcusable, but people who kill other people or curse babies, they can turn out good and that's ok but not the animal killers.

I also didn't like Maleficent, Duster.

Oh thank God. I have a like/hate relationship with it. I liked it, but really what they did to Maleficent's original character and Sleeping Beauty was terrible.

Disney Duster wrote:Oh thank God. I have a like/hate relationship with it. I liked it, but really what they did to Maleficent's original character and Sleeping Beauty was terrible.

The only part I liked about Maleficent is Angenlina Jolie bringing that classic baby cursing scene to life. Everything else, nope.

Even the beginning of that film, where Maleficent is portrayed as little miss sunshine, I looked at my girlfriend and muttered, just shoot me. I refuse to see the sequel.

I'm not sure about whether this Cruella movie will be good, but I'll wait to hear if fellow Disney fans like it or not before I waste money on Cruella, or at least see a trailer.

EDIT: If they're adamant this isn't Maleficent, why the heck is there a sequel being made?

I think the assumption from people here about Disney being ashamed of or attempting to distance this film from Maleficent is only projection of what they want to see. The above interview only emphasizes that Maleficent and Cruella will have entirely disparate depictions of two Disney villains. The two approaches to these kinds of backstories can co-exist.

My interest in this was never as high as it was for Maleficent back when that film was first announced. Cruella, while one of Disney's greatest villains/characters, is more comical than Maleficent and her plot more inconsequential than that in Sleeping Beauty, so creating a dramatic backstory for her always seemed like an odd thing to do. That said, I thought the same thing about Cruella before the character appeared on OUAT and was the focus of one of the best episodes of that series. I still wonder if that episode was a test-run on how a Cruella film could work considering Victoria Smurfit said she had auditioned for something else before she was cast on OUAT. Cruella wasn't sympathetic there either. The name "Estella" immediately made me think of Great Expectations; I wonder if Cruella's given backstory might be similar to the story of that Estella.

Following freaky, ethereal covers of both "Once Upon a Dream" for Maleficent and "Baby Mine" for the live-action Dumbo, I can picture a dark version of "Cruella de Vil" playing in trailers with a focus on Cruella's descent into insanity.

Almost two years ago it was reported that Emma Stone signed on to star in a Cruella De Vil origin story tentatively titled Cruella with Alex Timbers (Mozart In The Jungle) set to direct. Since then we have heard almost nothing on the project. Now we have learned some interesting details on a classic character. We have learned that Disney is looking for an African American to take on the role of Jasper. Partner of Horace (who is expected be Caucasian) and would go on to be Cruella’s henchmen.

Source: https://thedisinsider.com/2018/08/07/ex ... n-cruella/

The director has changed.

Craig Gillespie In Talks To Direct Emma Stone In ‘Cruella’
https://deadline.com/2018/12/emma-stone ... 202514016/

He did I, Tonya so I feel that correlates well with this film.

I LOVED I, Tonya so that's a good sign for me!

It has been a while since we have heard much on Disney’s live-action Cruella, a live-action take on the 101 Dalmatians villainess, starring Emma Stone. Now, we have a small update on the film. We have learned that the long in development film will finally start production this summer in London, England. The studio was hoping to lock down a 2020 release it has not been confirmed if that has changed as of yet.

Source: https://thedisinsider.com/2019/02/19/di ... is-summer/

One of the articles referenced on the movie's Wikipedia page says Glenn Close is one of the producers. I take that as a confirmation that the movie is a prequel to the 1996's Dalmatians.

I hope that's true. That really would excite me more about it. Disney has a good working relationship with Glenn Close as well so I could see them not waiving the other two films out of continuity out of good faith towards her.

I'd love if this film ended with a final scene of Glenn Close near the beginning of 101D (the re-make), just chewing the scenery up as her bats*** self.

Glenn Close was on The View a week or so ago and she was talking about mental illness in regards to her iconic character from Fatal Attraction. She said she would be interested to see the movie re-told from the perspective of Alex, which would have been a more tragic story rather than her just being some "evil, crazy person." Something about reading this makes me think those comments might be connected to this Cruella film in some way, since it sounds as if they're going to show how Cruella came to be the way she is (sort of like a Dorian Gray story) rather than a Wicked-esque re-telling her story. So, essentially, something similar to how OUAT's version of Cruella was surprising because it broke what had become the norm of sob story / the-villain-was-really-a-hero storylines with Cruella just being straight up disturbed.