After three years in prison, Cruella de Vil has been cured of her desire for fur coats by Dr. Pavlov and is released into the custody of the probation office on the provision that she will be forced to pay the remainder of her fortune to all the dog shelters in the borough of Westminster should she repeat her crime. Cruella therefore mends her working relationship with her valet Alonzo and has him lock away all her fur coats. Cruella's probation officer, Chloe Simon, nevertheless suspects her, partly because Chloe is the owner of the grown-up Dipstick who moved from Roger and Anita Dearly's plantation to her house. Dipstick's mate, Dottie, has recently given birth to three puppies: Domino, Little Dipper and Oddball. To mend her reputation, Cruella buys the Second Chance Dog shelter, owned by Kevin Shepherd, to resolve its financial insolvency that is on the verge of eviction. Meanwhile, Dr. Pavlov discovers that when his therapy's subjects are subjected to loud noises, they revert to their original states but conceals this discovery. Inevitably, when Big Ben rings in her presence, Cruella reverts to her former personality and enlists the help of French furrier Jean-Pierre LePelt to steal 102 Dalmatian puppies for a new fur coat with a hood, specifically modifying the original design to use Dipstick's children. Kevin tells Chloe that if Cruella violates her parole, her entire fortune will go to him, since his dog shelter is the only one in the borough of Westminster. Knowing this, Cruella has Kevin framed for the theft of the puppies and invites Chloe and Dipstick to her house for a dinner party as a decoy to distract them while LePelt steals Dottie and the three puppies. Dipstick hurries back to the apartment and hides in LePelt's truck but is later captured at the train station. Chloe rushes home to save her pets but arrives too late. She is joined by Kevin, who has escaped from prison with help from his dogs and talking parrot, Waddlesworth, Kevin explaining that his past theft was just breaking animals out of a lab where they were being used for experiments. Upon finding a ticket for the Venice-Simplon Orient Express to Paris dropped by LePelt, Kevin and Chloe attempt and fail to stop Cruella and LePelt, but Oddball and Waddlesworth pursue their enemies secretly, Oddball having been ostracized due to her spotless status and Waddlesworth helping her get on the train while overcoming his belief that he was a dog himself. In Paris, Kevin and Chloe save some of the captive puppies, but they are seen and locked in the cellar just as the puppies flee. Cruella goes after the puppies alone. Alonzo, having been scolded beyond his patience and had enough of being abused, defeats LePelt and frees Kevin and Chloe. They later give chase to a bakery, where, led by Oddball; the puppies, Kevin's dogs, and Waddlesworth imprison Cruella in an immense cake. She and LePelt are thereupon arrested. Kevin and Chloe, with the former exonerated from the theft accusation, are personally awarded the remnants of Cruella's fortune by Alonzo himself and Oddball's coat finally develops spots.
On November 24, 1999, a teaser trailer was released with Disney/Pixar's Toy Story 2.
On May 19, 2000, a second trailer was released with Dinosaur.
Production
The early working title was 101 Dalmatians Returns. Production began in December 1998 and ended in mid-November 1999 without the use of John Hughes who produced the 1996 film, due to the critical failure of Flubber and the shutdown of Great Oaks Entertainment. The film was set to be released on June 30, 2000, but was pushed back to November 22. The film's teaser was released on the same month the film came out in 1999, and shows stock footage from The Shawshank Redemption. Oxford Prison was used for the scene as Cruella walked out of prison. The teaser appeared in theaters before Toy Story 2 and Stuart Little. 102 Dalmatians was filmed partially in Paris. On November 7, Disney released the soundtrack to the movie, including pre-eminently, a cover of Paul Anka's "Puppy Love" and original songs: Mike Himelstein's "What Can a Bird Do?", "My Spot in the World" and "Cruella De Vil 2000".
Reception
Box office
The film opened at the third position behind M. Night Shyamalan's Unbreakable and Ron Howard's How the Grinch Stole Christmas. The film did well at the box office, earning $67 million in the U.S. and $116.7 million in other territories, bringing its total to $183.6 million worldwide. Despite this, it grossed less than its predecessor.
Critical response
After premiering in New Zealand, the film received positive reviews and was described by media as a "howling success". In the United States, the film received generally negative reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 31% based on 90 reviews, with the site's consensus reading "This sequel to the live-action 101 Dalmatians is simply more of the same. Critics say it also drags in parts-- potentially boring children-- and that it's too violent for a G-rated movie". On Metacritic, the film has a score of 35/100, based on 24 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade B+. Roger Ebert gave the film 2.5 out of 4.
102 Dalmatians was released on VHS and DVD on April 3, 2001 and re-released on DVD on September 16, 2008.
Video game
A video game loosely based on the film, that was entitled , was released in 2000, with Frankie Muniz as the voice of Domino, Molly Marlette as the voice of Oddball and Susanne Blakeslee as the voice of Cruella de Vil. Horace and Jasper also appeared in the game despite not being present in the film.
