You are probably well acquainted with the story and plot of the 101 Dalmatians but may be unsure of the names of the characters. Have no fear, we have you covered in this post.
First things first. Did you know that the 101 Dalmatians began with a book? In 1956, Dodie Smith wrote her wonderful children’s novel entitled “The Hundred and One Dalmatians” which was the original story about the kidnapping of a family of Dalmatian puppies.
The Walt Disney company secured the rights from the book and released their 17th animated Disney film, “One Hundred One Dalmatians”, on January 25th, 1961. Finally, fast forward to 1996 and and Disney released a live-action film, “101 Dalmatians”, as a remake of the 1961 animated film.
This is important for not only the historical record, but because there are subtle name differences between the three.
Human Characters in 101 Dalmatians
The main human characters in both the book and movies are the following:
Cruella de Vil
The most recognizable person in 101 Dalmatians next to the puppies is the wicked Cuella de Vil with her fur coat and over the top personality. Her name literally means “cruel devil” (Cruella Devil) which is the perfect name for this horrible lady who wants to steal puppies for her coats.
Can you think of a more perfect antagonist for a show? We think Glenn Close played her perfectly in the live action version. She is truly a Disney Character you love to hate!
Roger
Roger is another main character on the human side. Roger is Pongo’s owner (we will get to him in a bit) and though he has a heart of gold, he is a bit of a scatter-brain. He is depicted as a composer in the book and animated film, and depicted as a maker of video games in the live action film.
Anita
Our final human character is Anita who is married to Roger in most of the movie. Anita is the owner of Perdita (we will get to her in a bit). Anita is kind, sweet, and always looking for what’s best in every situation.
Jasper, Horace, and Nancy
Lesser importance are Jasper Badun and Horace Badun who are Cruella’s bumbling henchmen. Nanny is another character in the animated film as well as the Live-Action movie.
Names of the Dalmatian Dogs in 101 Dalmatians
There are two dogs that we consider to be the “main” dogs of the movie. We would consider them to be the protagonists in the storyline.
Pongo
Pongo is the main dog character in the book and the two Disney movies. He is the dog husband of Perdita.
Perdita
Perdita is the dog wife of Pongo and the mother of a litter of the original puppies (15 of them) in the book and movies. Perdita has a very different entrance in the book version compared with the movie version.
In the book, Pongo and a female Dalmatian named Missis have the puppies and Perdita helps as a wet nurse which is how she enters the picture.
The Dalmatian Puppy Names in 101 Dalmations
The names of all the puppies in the story of the 101 Dalmatians is a little more complicated than we’d prefer. There are three sets of names – the names of the puppies from the book, the names of the puppies from the animated movie, and the puppies from the live action film.
Original Puppy Names From The Book
In the original book there were only four of the fifteen puppies named. The book notes that there were eight male and seven female puppies in the original litter which belonged to Pongo and Missis. An interesting side note is of the 82 puppies rescued, only one was named and it was Gay. She later became Lucky’s mate.
The four named puppies of dog parents Pongo and Missis:
- Patch – He was born with a black patch over his eye which distinguished him from the others because Dalmatian puppies are born without spots.
- Lucky – Different from the movies, Lucky got his name in the book because he had an inverted horseshoe-shaped patch made with small spots.
- Cadpig – Cadpig is the runt of the litter and because of her small stature and spotted ears, got the name.
- Roly-Poly – A mischievous, playful puppy who seems to always find himself in trouble.
101 Dalmatian Puppy Names From The Animated Movie
In Disney’s animated movie, there were only six of the fifteen puppies who had names. These puppies belonged to Pongo and Perdita.
The six named puppies are:
- Lucky – Different from the book, Lucky was named for a different reason in the movies. He is sweet puppy they originally thought was stillborn but was able to survive.
- Patch – The most aggressive puppy of the litter. He is always chewing on things and a real rowdy pup.
- Penny – Only appearing once in the movie, Penny has small black spots on her body and sits quietly by her father.
- Pepper – The movie doesn’t reveal Pepper’s gender. He/she is mentioned by Pongo and Nanny once in the movie.
- Freckles – Freckles is a spotty pup with distinctive spots around his nose, between his eyes and even on his ears. He is also almost always hanging on his father’s head.
- Roly-Poly (Also known as Rolly) – “I’m hungry, mother!” If you have read our favorite quotes from the 101 Dalmatians then you know this is one of our favorites! Rolly (his name for short) is always hungry.
When the animated film was released, Disney also published a book associated with the film entitled “Lucky Puppy”. This book listed the following nine names for the other fifteen puppies:
- Blackie
- Blob
- Blot
- Dot
- Jolly
- Latch
- Lenny
- Salter
- Whitie
Disney put out promotional toys (shocker, right?!) for twenty-eight of the eighty-four rescued puppies. These include:
- Bravo
- Bulgey
- Bump
- Corky
- Dipper
- Disco
- Flapper
- Hoofer
- Hungry
- Inky
- Nosey
- Pokey
- Puddles
- Scooter
- Sleepy
- Smokey
- Sniff
- Spanky
- Spark
- Spatter
- Speedy
- Sport
- Swifty
- Tiger
- Tiresome
- Wags
- Yank
- Yoyo
Names for 8 of the puppies in the the supporting cast in the animated version of 101 Dalmatians are:
- Captain
- Colonel
- Danny
- Labrador
- Lucy
- Sgt. Tibbs
- Thunder
- Towser
That gives us a grand total of 51 names for the 101 puppies from the animated movie.
101 Dalmatian Puppies Names In The Live Action Movie
In the live action movie we have five names for the original fifteen puppies belonging to Pongo and Perdita.
The five named puppies are:
- Dipstick – Dipstick is known by his black tipped tail which is a good name for him.
- Wizzer – Poor Wizzer isn’t totally potty trained, thus his great name!
- Jewel – Jewel is a female puppy with spots creating a necklace for her.
- Fidget – Clumsy and often in a scratching position.
- Two-Tone – Two Tone is a female puppy with one black ear and one white ear.
As you can see, between the book, the animated movie, the Live-Action movie, and the merchandise the names of the dogs can get a bit overwhelming! We haven’t even mentioned the spin off shows, movies, books, and animated TV series.
Next to Pluto, probably the most famous Disney dog, the 101 Dalmatians are the most popular Disney dogs of the entire Disney movie franchise. They have a wonderful and heart-felt following.
Cruella de Vil is one of the most hated (or is it loved?) Disney villains! She and Maleficent are two of the most wicked. See the rest of our most evil villain list here.
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