One Hundred and One Dalmatians[a] is a 1961 American animated adventure film produced by Walt Disney Productions and based on the 1956 novel The Hundred and One Dalmatians by Dodie Smith. Directed by Clyde Geronimi, Hamilton Luske, and Wolfgang Reitherman, it was Disney's 17th animated feature film. The film tells the story of a litter of Dalmatian puppies who are kidnapped by the villainous Cruella de Vil ("deVille"),[3] who wants to use their fur to make into coats. Their parents, Pongo and Perdita, set out to save their children from Cruella, in the process rescuing 84 additional puppies that were bought in pet shops, bringing the total of Dalmatians to 101.

The film was originally released to theaters on January 25, 1961, by Buena Vista Distribution,[4] and was a box office success, pulling the studio out of the financial slump caused by Sleeping Beauty, a costlier production released two years prior.[5] Aside from its box office revenue, its commercial success was due to the employment of inexpensive animation techniques—such as using xerography during the process of inking and painting traditional animation cels—that kept production costs down. Disney would later release a live-action adaptation named 101 Dalmatians in 1996 and its sequel, 102 Dalmatians in 2000. A direct to video animated sequel directly to film named 101 Dalmatians II: Patch's London Adventure was released in 2003. A live-action spin-off/prequel called Cruella directed by Craig Gillespie is scheduled to be released on May 28, 2021.