101 Dalmatians
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A comparison of the narrative methods of the novel The Hundred and One Dalmatians, by Dodie Smith, and the film 101 Dalmatians, directed by Stephen Herek, produces a fascinating demonstration of how cinematic narratological code differs from the code of a written text. The key to the demonstration is that both works involve the presence of dogs that understand human speech and can interpret each other's barks in a 'linguistic' fashion. Both works were created for a primary audience of children. The novel could be read to smaller children but its level of difficulty is high enough that children would have to read at least at a third-grade level in order to enjoy it by themselves. It was clearly intended, however, to be read to younger children as well and Smith displays a fairly high level of anxiety in assuring that the terms of her fictional world of dogs who communicate with abstract language are fully understood by readers/listeners. The film, however, was designed to be viewed by children from age 4 and up and yet it employs a far more sophisticated cinematic narrative code than the book does, dispensing with explanations of the fantasy ground-rules regarding canine communication and simply showing it in action. This can be demonstrated in the "Twilight Barking" sequence at the center of the film. Ultimately, however, the film betrays its own logic and provides a scene that undercuts this premise. Although this may not interrupt the viewing experience of its desi
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Cruella De Vil is the young woman's employer rather than a social acquaintance. The villain is portrayed in both cases in comically exaggerated form, but the exaggeration in the film is many times greater.
From the beginning of the novel Smith strenuously works to establish the conventions of her fantasy world in which dogs (and cats) can acquire comprehension of human speech while humans never understand that they are being understood in this way. The novel employs such comic touches as the dogs' benevolence in taking their 'pets' for walks and pitying them for being unable to understand canine speech. The degree to which these terms are reiterated is rather extreme, albeit understandable, perhaps, in a book intended for a very young audience. The following example occurs after the ground-rules have already been established and reiterated numerous times:
Pongo stood on his hind legs and kissed the wet dog on the nose, telling her how glad he was to see her and how grateful his wife would be. (But no human heard him.) The stray said, "Well, I'll do my best, but I can't promise anything." (No human heard that either.) (Smith 33).
Thus when Smith arrives at the episode of the Twilight Barking she gets herself into a tang
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 2309
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page)
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