Even the elaborate set design and sometimes spirited staging cannot disguise the children's overacting, very little of the video educates and in the couple of times it tries to it feels preachy and out of place and it's just far too removed from Disney to make one feel nostalgic. Disney's Sing-Along-Songs series often does a great job entertaining, educating and making one nostalgic, but '101 Dalmatians Pongo and Perdita' never really does either. The other eight songs are hampered by canine twists on standards that are not as clever as they'd like to think ("Hokey Puppy", "Pongo) or ridiculous, overblown and over-zany choreography with some sometimes painful hamming up and mugging from the children ("Take Me Out to the Ball Game", "Do Your Ears Hang Low"), while the rest are bland and forgettable with some of the shoutiest and out of tune singing of any of the Disney Sing-Alongs. Even the use of "Cruella DeVil" and introductions from Professor Owl and Ludwig Von Drake would have made it feel more like a Disney Sing-Along. Because of the theme it must have been a struggle to find songs that fitted the theme without being irrelevant, however it just feels like any old sing along video as apart from "Zip a Dee Do Dah", "Following the Leader" and the live action Dalmatians to a lesser extent '101 Dalmatians Pongo and Perdita' doesn't feel very Disney-like. The sequence of stupid dog tricks is fun too. Two songs are good, and they are "Zip a Dee Do Dah" and more successfully "Following the Leader", the most well sung, the catchiest and the most entertainingly staged. The dogs are adorable and show great personality, the video is beautifully shot, the set design is wonderfully elaborate and who can't help getting nostalgic in the "Following the Leader" number especially. '101 Dalmatians Pongo and Perdita' is not by all means unwatchable. Almost all of them are worth watching in fact, and most of them very good to great. There are some fantastic ones in the series, especially the Disneyland and Christmas outings as well as the 'Zip a Dee Doo Dah', 'Be Our Guest', 'Heigh-Ho' and 'Circle of Life' videos. ![]() A shame because even to a young adult who has been a huge Disney fan all her life the Disney Sing-Along-Songs videos are fun, charming, educational and nostalgic, with a great chance to bask in one's favourite childhood memories and know one's favourite Disney songs better. Fortunately, Perdita finds her much to everyone's relief.Well, there was also mixed feelings for 'Little Patch of Heaven', but at least there was much more of a Disney feel in that sing-along-songs video than in '101 Dalmatians Pongo and Perdita'. Missing Child: Jewel winds up still being missing after the hide and seek game, causing all the humans and dogs to worry.Go-to-Sleep Ending: The video ends with Pongo and Perdita and their pups all going to bed.Gender Flip: Fidget, who's male in the live-action movie, is female in the video.Dream Sequence: When Bobby gets knocked out by a baseball being thrown at his head, he dreams about himself and the other kids playing baseball.Crazy Cat Lady: The unnamed owner of the dogs (either referred to as Anita or Nanny according to some sources, including the back of the video box) is a crazy Dalmatian lady, her house and clothes being clad in Dalmatian spots and merchandise.Celebrity Paradox: Merchandise of the animated Dalmatian characters appears throughout the house and yard, despite the Dalmatians being live action and having the same names as their movie counterparts.Bowdlerize: As was the case in Disneyland Fun, the cover of "Following the Leader" replaces the line "We're off to fight the Injuns" with "We won't be home 'til morning".As Himself: The kids and dogs attending the Bow Wow Ball play themselves.Even of the six named puppies in the live-action movie, Wizzer does not appear at all (ironically, he was the one with the most screentime in the live-action movie). Adapted Out: Of the 101 Dalmatians, only Pongo, Perdita, and 5 of their puppies appear in this video."On Where, Oh Where Can Our Little Friends Be?" (parody of "Oh Where, Oh Where Has My Little Dog Gone?")."Hokey Puppy" (parody of "Hokey Pokey")."Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah" ( Song of the South).It is the only volume in the series to not have lyrics to the songs onscreen (though it is closed captioned) at least until the 2006 DVD release added most of the lyrics note said lyrics had also been added to the UK VHS release in 1997. Pongo and Perdita is the 19th volume of the Disney Sing Along Songs series, released in 1996 as a tie-in to the live action remake of 101 Dalmatians.
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