Three years ago Disney broke the news that La La Land star Emma Stone was set to play the evil fur-wearing Cruella de Vil in a live-action prequel of the classic 1996 movie starring Glenn Close.
We couldn’t really imagine the fun-loving, hilarious and slightly goofy Stone playing such a deliciously wicked character. Well, until Disney just released a first look of Stone in full costume and we are kind of terrified.
Over the weekend Disney’s official social media account tweeted a snap of Stone in character and on the set of Cruella in London with some serious punk attitude, sporting the villain’s signature black-and-white frizzy hair and a modern chequered leather jacket. Disney wrote: “Here’s your first look at Emma Stone as Cruella de Vil in Disney’s Cruella. The film, also starring Emma Thompson, Paul Walter Hauser, and Joel Fry, comes to theaters May 28, 2021.”
The new film is set in the late 1970s and will serve as a precursor to the 101 Dalmatians story we saw in 1996 (and the original 1961 animated classic), following a young Cruella and her life before she became a shifty dog-napper. It’s being directed by I, Tonya director Craig Gillespie – so we’re expecting this to be pretty epic.
Some Disney fans however feel that this new backstory is troublesome. Since this is a film where the evil Cruella is the protagonist, viewers might be led to sympathise with the character and possibly even end up liking her, despite knowing that this is a character who is pro-fur and goes on to murder puppies.
The Hundred and One Dalmatians was originally a children’s book published in 1956 by Dodie Smith about the kidnapping of a family of Dalmatian puppies. In Smith’s books, Cruella is depicted as a mean heiress and former “menacing” classmate of Mrs. Dearly, the dogs’ gentle and kind human owner.
We’ll be keeping our eyes peeled for more Disney teasers and a peek into Emma Stone’s first role as a proper villain.
