Post by Belchic on Jun 6, 2011 11:41:45 GMT -5
Hey! This is something I've been wondering about for quite a while about Disney characters who walk around and greet guests at the Disney theme parks, and I've been wondering why there never were any characters from 101 Dalmatians in the parks. The only character who I have seen in the parks was Cruella De Vil. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think she was added to the character roster in 1996 to promote the live-action movie. But never were the Dalmatians themselves featured in the parks. So I've come up with a possibile story of what would have happened if they DID have Dalmatian characters:
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In 1961, when 101 Dalmatians was first released in theaters, two new characters were added to the character roster for Disneyland: Pongo and Perdita. Some people thought it would be illogical to make quadroplegic animals into characters, but hey, they made Pluto into a character (and later, Eeyore), so why not?
In the early 70's, after the film's 1969 reissue, Pongo and Perdita discontinued appearing in the park since nobody seemed to be caring about the Dalmatians much anymore. However, after the film made it's 1979 reissue, Pongo and Perdita returned with brand new looks, but they still rarely appeared in the park throughout the 80's.
The 1991 reissue of the film was very well-promoted and did well in theaters, so starting then, Pongo and Perdita would show up more often at Disneyland and start showing up in the other Disney parks. Usually, they would appear together (much like Belle and the Beast).
In 1996, Cruella De Vil became a character to promote the live-action 101 Dalmatians movie. She would soon become a prominent Disney character and be the one who would appear the most often in the Disney theme parks.
In 1997, the debut of 101 Dalmatians: The Series inspired Disney executives to make characters of Lucky, Cadpig, Rolly and Spot. During the late 90's, they would often appear together, sometimes without Spot, and sometimes individually. Sadly, after the show had it's run, these characters would still appear in the park, but they'd appear less and less. In 2006, since the show was no longer being shown in the United States, these pups just stopped showing up entirely.
In 2008, the release of the platinum edition DVD of 101 Dalmatians did very well, welcoming Pongo and Perdita to appear more often in the Disney theme parks and become more prominent Disney characters.
In 2011, the return of 101 Dalmatians: The Series to the newly-launched Disney Junior welcomed the main pups from the series to come back to the parks. However, Spot still remained discontinued due to the fact that she was the least popular character in the series. While many fans of the series have been demanding Disney to make a Two-Tone character, Disney refuses to let this happen because first of all, Two-Tone is not as well-known as the other pups, and second of all, they don't want to push the Dalmatian franchise too far.
To this day, the characters from the 101 Dalmatians franchise still remain AWOL in the parks.
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So what do you guys think?
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In 1961, when 101 Dalmatians was first released in theaters, two new characters were added to the character roster for Disneyland: Pongo and Perdita. Some people thought it would be illogical to make quadroplegic animals into characters, but hey, they made Pluto into a character (and later, Eeyore), so why not?
In the early 70's, after the film's 1969 reissue, Pongo and Perdita discontinued appearing in the park since nobody seemed to be caring about the Dalmatians much anymore. However, after the film made it's 1979 reissue, Pongo and Perdita returned with brand new looks, but they still rarely appeared in the park throughout the 80's.
The 1991 reissue of the film was very well-promoted and did well in theaters, so starting then, Pongo and Perdita would show up more often at Disneyland and start showing up in the other Disney parks. Usually, they would appear together (much like Belle and the Beast).
In 1996, Cruella De Vil became a character to promote the live-action 101 Dalmatians movie. She would soon become a prominent Disney character and be the one who would appear the most often in the Disney theme parks.
In 1997, the debut of 101 Dalmatians: The Series inspired Disney executives to make characters of Lucky, Cadpig, Rolly and Spot. During the late 90's, they would often appear together, sometimes without Spot, and sometimes individually. Sadly, after the show had it's run, these characters would still appear in the park, but they'd appear less and less. In 2006, since the show was no longer being shown in the United States, these pups just stopped showing up entirely.
In 2008, the release of the platinum edition DVD of 101 Dalmatians did very well, welcoming Pongo and Perdita to appear more often in the Disney theme parks and become more prominent Disney characters.
In 2011, the return of 101 Dalmatians: The Series to the newly-launched Disney Junior welcomed the main pups from the series to come back to the parks. However, Spot still remained discontinued due to the fact that she was the least popular character in the series. While many fans of the series have been demanding Disney to make a Two-Tone character, Disney refuses to let this happen because first of all, Two-Tone is not as well-known as the other pups, and second of all, they don't want to push the Dalmatian franchise too far.
To this day, the characters from the 101 Dalmatians franchise still remain AWOL in the parks.
=============================================
So what do you guys think?
