Movies Like Cruella

Frequently asked about Cruella

Common questions people search for, with answers written by us at MoviesPack.

• Why is half of Cruella's hair white?▾

  Cruella's hair is half black and half white because she was born with that natural two-toned coloring, a congenital trait shown from infancy in the film. The split-colored hair is a hereditary feature inherited from her birth mother, the Baroness, and becomes part of her signature look once she stops dyeing it.

• Are there two Cruella movies?▾

  As of release, there is one live-action Cruella film (2021) starring Emma Stone, though a sequel has been announced by Disney with Emma Stone and director Craig Gillespie set to return. The character also appears in the earlier live-action 101 Dalmatians (1996) and 102 Dalmatians (2000) played by Glenn Close, as well as the animated 101 Dalmatians (1961).

• Was Cruella based on a true story?▾

  No, Cruella is not based on a true story. It is a fictional origin story for Cruella de Vil, a character created by author Dodie Smith in her 1956 novel The Hundred and One Dalmatians and later popularized by Disney's animated adaptation.

• Did Cruella hit or flop?▾

  Cruella was a financial success given its pandemic-era release, grossing over $233 million worldwide against a roughly $100 million production budget, with additional revenue from Disney+ Premier Access. It also received generally positive reviews and earned two Academy Awards nominations, winning Best Costume Design.

• How is Estella connected to the Baroness, and what is the twist about her true parentage?▾

  The film reveals that Estella is not the daughter of the woman who raised her, Catherine, but is in fact the biological daughter of the Baroness. The Baroness had Estella thrown off a cliff as a baby to eliminate her, but she survived. Catherine secretly took the infant and raised her as her own, never revealing the truth.

• Why did the Baroness have Estella's mother killed?▾

  The Baroness pushed Catherine off a cliff at Hellman Hall after discovering that Catherine had taken Estella — the baby the Baroness herself had tried to dispose of years earlier. The Baroness saw Catherine's presence as a threat to her secret and acted to silence her permanently. Estella, who was present as a child, blamed herself for her mother's death because she believed her own mischievous behavior had led them there that night.

• What is the significance of the dalmatians in the story, and why does the Baroness use them as a weapon?▾

  The Baroness's three dalmatians are trained attack dogs she weaponizes against enemies, and it was her dalmatians that chased young Estella to the cliff edge as a child, indirectly causing Catherine's fall. At the film's climax, Estella turns this dynamic around by using the dogs as part of her scheme to expose and humiliate the Baroness. The dalmatians serve as a recurring symbol of the Baroness's cruelty and her willingness to use living creatures as tools of control.

• How does Estella publicly destroy the Baroness at the end, and what legal trap does she set?▾

  Estella engineers a scheme where the Baroness, believing Estella is dead, attempts to push her off a cliff just as she did to Catherine — this time with witnesses and a hidden recording that captures her confession to both murders. Estella had secretly worked with the police to set this up, and the Baroness is arrested on the spot. Before vanishing, Estella also releases a press statement and evidence to the public, permanently demolishing the Baroness's fashion empire and reputation.

• Why does Estella fully embrace the Cruella persona by the end of the film?▾

  Throughout the film, Estella suppresses her rebellious, chaotic "Cruella" side in favour of fitting into society, but the revelation that the Baroness is her mother — and that the Baroness tried to have her killed — severs any remaining tie Estella had to her old self. She concludes that Estella was the identity built on trauma and survival, while Cruella is the authentic, fearless version of herself. The final scenes show her legally changing her name and fully committing to the Cruella identity, setting up the character audiences know from 101 Dalmatians.