'101 Dalmatians' is doggone great

"101 Dalmatians" (Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, rated G, $29.99).

Did you know that in Disney's "101 Dalmatians":

• if you could count the dogs' spots throughout the movie, it would total 6,469,952;

• if you watch closely you can see characters from Disney's "Lady and the Tramp" in the "twilight bark" scene and;

• if you could ask the movie's artists you would find that 1,218,750 pencils were used in creating the artwork.

These are among the 202 pop-up trivia facts contained in the bonus features of the DVD release this week of the Disney classic, "101 Dalmatians."

It's been nearly a decade since the 1961 animated feature, one of the last personally supervised by Walt Disney, was available. The new two-disc set, digitally restored in vibrant color with enhanced sound, is doggone great.

Besides the well-known tale of Pongo, Perdita and their 99 puppies — and that cruel villainess with her lust for a spotted coat — the set contains a bonus CD filled with interesting and entertaining featurettes, interviews, activities and facts that will delight both adults and children.

Among them:

At first Disney wasn't as enamored with "101 Dalmatians" as his previous lush, romantic interpretations of fairy tales such as " Sleeping Beauty." "Dalmatians" marked the beginning of a new era where technology met art. The Xerox innovation came to animation. It replaced the expensive, painstaking ink re-tracing of the artists' pencil drawings by scores of employees. The DVD gives the viewer a behind-the-scenes look at animation more than 40 years ago.

Flamboyant actress Tallulah Bankhead, who starred in films starting in the 1920s, was the "inspiration" for the evil Cruella De Vil. However, a young Mary Wickes, the talented character actress (Sister Mary Lazarus in "Sister Act" among scores of films) was the live-action model for the animators.

Also, the familiar Cruella De Vil song was not the original. Songwriter Mel Leven's first version was supposed to sound spooky. While driving to work he decided a bluesy feel would work better. The DVD contains both versions, as well as other deleted songs.