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101 Dalmatians II: Patch’s London Adventure Movie Review

101 Dalmatians II: Patch’s London Adventure is a 2003 animated direct-to-video movie. It’s one of the better Disneytoon Studios sequels.

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“Do you think I’m one of a kind…

or just… one of a hundred and one“

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I actually really liked this one. I know that many disagree, but this is clearly a pretty solid sequel when it comes to the low standards of direct-to-video sequels. The plot is very much a rehash of the original, especially in terms of action scenes, but that only made it more enjoyable as I love the first movie so much, and some of that spark was at least a bit retained in this instance.

Patch got a big role in this movie as he gets lost in the shuffle while the rest go to their Dalmatian Plantation. He is very well developed as a character and the highlight of the movie for sure. Other Dalmatians are also highly cute and fun. But I did not care for Thunderbolt and such a big focus on him frustrated me. He should have remained just a commercial.

Unfortunately, Roger and Anita are utterly underused here, which was a problem, but at least the villains are once again great. Jasper and Horace appeared in the second half and they’re again a lot of fun, but Cruella herself is per usual terrific. Yes, the new voice is far from great, but her wild and maniacal personality is retained in this sequel and she’s a joy to watch throughout.

I also liked Maurice LaMarche as this artist who paints spots. His role was very good and his scenes with Cruella are a delight, but he was not that well utilized in the second half unfortunately.

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101 Dalmatians II: Patch’s London Adventure features a very weak soundtrack, but thankfully we only got a couple of songs to endure here. The pacing is also a mess as is the direction, but I did like most of its plot points, though the third act is clearly the weakest. The action is solid, but far from the greatness of the original’s action. The animation, though, is absolutely splendid for direct-to-video standards as they brought back the 60s pointy aesthetic wonderfully.

101 Dalmatians II: Patch’s London Adventure is a pretty solid sequel. Certainly the action is weaker and some characters are quite badly utilized, but Patch is good and Cruella is again a delight to follow. The technical aspects aren’t great, but the animation is so faithful to the original that it made the movie very charming to watch.