‘Cruella’ Trailer Mixes ‘Maleficent,’ ‘Joker’ And ‘Minions’

“We live in a society… where fashion is a distant memory.”

We now have this stylish, campy and visually scrumptious teaser trailer, selling essentially a prequel to One Hundred and One Dalmatians explaining how young fashion tycoon Estella de Vil ended up becoming the kind of woman who would murder and skin puppies for a fur coat. That’s not exactly a sympathetic end point no matter how traumatic her backstory might be. Despite the clear marketing similarities, I’m assuming that Disney isn’t trying to make their own version of Joker.

We’ll see if this goes the Wicked route whereby we realize that she wasn’t quite as evil as we presumed. Craig Gillipse is helming this one, and that makes sense. I, Tonya (starring Margot Robbie as Tonya Harding) deconstructed the conventional wisdom behind the circumstances that led to Nancy Kerrigan being attacked prior to the 1994 Winter Olympics. Maybe we’ll find out that Cruella was also at least partially a victim of patriarchal circumstance (or in this case diabolical doings courtesy of Emma Thompson).

At a glance, Cruella seems to be a mix of three incredibly successful prequels. You’ve got Maleficent, mixed with Joker with a dash of Minions (villain prequel set in pre-Thatcher era England). Those films respectively grossed $758.5 million in 2014, $1.073 billion in 2019 and $1.1159 billion in 2015. Once again, Film Twitter can complain about these kind of IP cash-ins, but the audience is clearly there.

Amusingly enough, while Disney would like you to think of a kid-safe Joker, the trailer structure (including the music) also plays a little like the Birds of Prey trailer. Meanwhile, the “she’s ugly or an outcast because she has messy hair and glasses” bit seems straight out of the DC Comics movie (Batman Returns, Batman Forever, Batman & Robin, Catwoman, Wonder Woman 1984 and, yes, Marvel’s Amazing Spider-Man 2) playbook. Maybe Cruella really is Disney doing a DC Films flick?!

While 101 Dalmatians doesn’t have the nostalgic pull of the Katzenberg-era Disney toons, it is one of the highest-grossing movies, in terms of domestic inflation, of all time. The film earned $14 million domestic in its initial release in early 1961, with another $18 million in 1969, $18 million in 1979m $19 million in 1985 and $61 million (!) in 1991. That summer was so adult-skewing (Terminator 2, City Slickers, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Backdraft, Boyz in the Hood, etc.) that the Disney toon was one of the only options for young kids that season.

All told, the animated comedy adventure has earned $144.8 million over sixty years for an adjusted cume of around $937 million. That’s 12th overall right between The Force Awakens ($1.013 billion adjusted) and The Empire Strikes Back ($920 million adjusted) and just below Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs ($1.021 billion adjusted). So yeah, years of reissues and its lifespan in a pre-VHS era notwithstanding, One Hundred and One Dalmatians is the second-biggest animated movie of all time, having sold around 99.9 million tickets in North America.

Helping matters is that Cruella has a “star+character” hook, so it’s not just relying on “Hey, it’s a live-action version of that Disney toon you kinda-sorta like” (think Dumbo). Emma Stone as Cruella de Vil has a certain marquee value, as does the notion of a “young Cruella doing her thing in 1970’s London” regardless of your personal attachment to the 60-year-old animated feature (or the blockbuster live-action remake which starred Glenn Close).

Assuming this cost closer to Cinderella ($95 million) than Dumbo ($175 million), well, it would’ve have been okay in conventional theatrical times. But now? It’s a coin toss. Cruella opens on May 28, 2021. You’ll note that the marketing material neither states “only in theaters” or “coming to Disney+.” Its exhibition destination seems to (understandably) be in limbo. Either way, I’m thinking a “Best Costumes” Oscar nomination for Jenny Beavan is in the bag.

From Disney:

_{Academy Award® winner Emma Stone (“La La Land”) stars in Disney’s “Cruella,” an all-new live-action feature film about the rebellious early days of one of cinemas most notorious – and notoriously fashionable – villains, the legendary Cruella de Vil. “Cruella,” which is set in 1970s London amidst the punk rock revolution, follows a young grifter named Estella, a clever and creative girl determined to make a name for herself with her designs. She befriends a pair of young thieves who appreciate her appetite for mischief, and together they are able to build a life for themselves on the London streets. One day, Estella’s flair for fashion catches the eye of the Baroness von Hellman, a fashion legend who is devastatingly chic and terrifyingly haute, played by two-time Oscar® winner Emma Thompson (“Howards End,” “Sense & Sensibility”). But their relationship sets in motion a course of events and revelations that will cause Estella to embrace her wicked side and become the raucous, fashionable and revenge-bent Cruella.}

_{Disney’s “Cruella” is directed by Craig Gillespie (“I Tonya”) from a screenplay by Dana Fox and Tony McNamara, story by Aline Brosh McKenna and Kelly Marcel & Steve Zissis. It was produced by Andrew Gunn (“Freaky Friday”), Marc Platt (“Mary Poppins Returns”) and Kristin Burr (“Christopher Robin”), with Emma Stone, Michelle Wright, Jared LeBoff and Glenn Close serving as executive producers. Two-time Oscar®- winning costume designer Jenny Beavan (“Mad Max: Fury Road,” “A Room with a View”) creates the dazzling and imaginative costumes, which take on a life of their own.}