Cruella de Vil

fictional character in Dodie Smith's "The Hundred and One Dalmatians" and in the Disney animated film and franchise "101 Dalmatians"

Cruella De Vil (obviously a play on cruel and devil) is the villain in the Dodie Smith book The Hundred and One Dalmatians who kidnaps (dognaps) the puppies for their fur. She is described as having one half of her hair white and the other half black, an extreme fondness for pepper and a preference for elevated temperatures.

Cruella de Vil
First appearanceThe Hundred and One Dalmatians (1956)
Created byDodie Smith
Portrayed by
Voiced by
Based onCruella de Vil from Dodie Smith's 1956 novel
Information
Nickname(s)Ella de Vil
OccupationSocialite, fashion magnate
AffiliationDisney villains
TitleDevil woman
Spouse(s)Unnamed husband (in novel only)
ChildrenCarlos de Vil (Descendants)
NationalityEnglish
A cosplayer dressed up as Cruella De Vil

In the 1961 Disney animated movie her voice was played by Betty Lou Gerson. The movie featured a song about her sung by Roger whose lyrics begin:

Cruella De Vil, Cruella De Vil, If she doesn't scare you, no evil thing will.

Later, in the 1996 live-action remake, and its 2000 sequel, 102 Dalmatians, she was played by Glenn Close. In the 2021 Disney movie Cruella, the character is played by American actress Emma Stone. Shortly afterward, Cruella was a regular villain in 101 Dalmatians: The Series, where she was voiced by April Winchell. This time, though, she wanted to steal the Dearly Farm, seeing how killing animals for fashion was deemed politically incorrect. However, she returned to hunting dogs in House of Mouse (which features an ongoing joke in which she inspects dogs from other Disney movies with a measuring ruler) and 101 Dalmatians II: Patch's London Adventure, both of which had Susanne Blakeslee as her voice.