Passes the Bechdel test
101 Dalmatians
1996. Directed by Stephen Herek, written by Dodie Smith and John Hughes.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
5 women characters. 8 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 7 scenes out of 548. -
Yes
3. About something besides a man
In those scenes, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.
Second opinion
Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 3 out of 3.
The film
After a wild chase in the bustling streets of London, struggling computer game author Roger and his pet dalmatian, Pongo, by a welcome twist of fate, are dragged into St. James Park and meet with charming fashion designer Anita and her pet dalmatian, Perdita. Soon, one thing will lead to another, and before they know it, Roger and Anita get married, and Perdita gets pregnant. However, their short-lived joy is disrupted when Anita's glamorous but horrible boss, Cruella DeVil, dognaps the innocent fifteen puppies with the intention of making a luxurious coat with their fabulously spotted fur. Eventually, along with Perdita's, Cruella manages to bring the total to the staggering number of ninety-nine dalmatians puppies.
- Released
- 27 Nov 1996
- Genres
- Adventure, Comedy, Crime
- Rated
- G
- IMDb
- 5.8 / 10
- Metascore
- 50 / 100
- Awards
- Nominated for 1 BAFTA Award. 3 wins & 10 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Roger 93 lines, man
- Jasper 85 lines, man
- Anita 79 lines, woman
- Cruella 63 lines, woman
- Horace 63 lines, man
- Nanny 26 lines, woman
- Cu. Roger 7 lines, man
- Cu. Anita 6 lines, woman
- Cu. Horace 6 lines, man
- Cu. Kipper 6 lines, man
Full cast, 24 people
- Glenn Close as Cruella de Vil
- Jeff Daniels as Roger
- Joely Richardson as Anita
- Joan Plowright as Nanny
- Hugh Laurie as Jasper
- Mark Williams as Horace
- John Shrapnel as Skinner
- Tim McInnerny as Alonzo
- Hugh Fraser as Frederick
- Zohren Weiss as Herbert
- Mark Haddigan as Alan
- Michael Percival as Police Inspector
- Neville Phillips as Minister
- John Evans as Pensioner with Bulldog
- Hilda Braid as Woman On Park Bench
- Margery Mason as Woman On Park Bench
- John Benfield as Doorman
- Andrew Readman as Police Officer #1
- John Peters as Police Officer #2
- Bill Stewart as Arresting Officer
- Gerald Paris as Doctor
- Joe Lacey as Veterinarian
- Brian Capron as Television News Reporter
- Harry Fielder as Passerby (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 12 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 10% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 548
Hover, tap or tab to a bar to see those scenes: where they happen and who's talking.
Show the numbers
| Scenes | Women's lines | Men's lines |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 12 | 0 | 0 |
| 13 to 24 | 1 | 10 |
| 25 to 36 | 28 | 14 |
| 37 to 48 | 0 | 7 |
| 49 to 60 | 1 | 1 |
| 61 to 72 | 16 | 24 |
| 73 to 84 | 23 | 25 |
| 85 to 96 | 27 | 10 |
| 97 to 108 | 8 | 14 |
| 109 to 120 | 17 | 5 |
| 121 to 132 | 3 | 9 |
| 133 to 144 | 0 | 14 |
| 145 to 156 | 5 | 10 |
| 157 to 168 | 2 | 3 |
| 169 to 180 | 3 | 5 |
| 181 to 192 | 1 | 1 |
| 193 to 204 | 0 | 0 |
| 205 to 216 | 0 | 0 |
| 217 to 228 | 0 | 2 |
| 229 to 240 | 0 | 4 |
| 241 to 252 | 0 | 1 |
| 253 to 264 | 0 | 4 |
| 265 to 276 | 0 | 4 |
| 277 to 288 | 1 | 8 |
| 289 to 300 | 13 | 5 |
| 301 to 312 | 2 | 6 |
| 313 to 324 | 0 | 10 |
| 325 to 336 | 0 | 4 |
| 337 to 348 | 0 | 8 |
| 349 to 360 | 0 | 4 |
| 361 to 372 | 0 | 11 |
| 373 to 384 | 0 | 9 |
| 385 to 396 | 0 | 3 |
| 397 to 408 | 0 | 6 |
| 409 to 420 | 2 | 6 |
| 421 to 432 | 1 | 7 |
| 433 to 444 | 0 | 2 |
| 445 to 456 | 2 | 3 |
| 457 to 468 | 2 | 11 |
| 469 to 480 | 0 | 1 |
| 481 to 492 | 3 | 2 |
| 493 to 504 | 2 | 9 |
| 505 to 516 | 4 | 0 |
| 517 to 528 | 1 | 7 |
| 529 to 540 | 5 | 1 |
| 541 to 548 | 13 | 8 |
The evidence
- Straight from the script
- Counted from the script and the credits
Tap an exhibit to open it.
Exhibit A: the passing scenes
The scene our parser counted as passing, word for word.
CRUELLA: Good morning, darling. CU. ANITA She quickly recovers from her surprise and greets Cruella with genuine warmth. She likes her and is pleased… ANITA: I'm sor:ry. Good morning, Cruella. I didn"t expect to see you so early.
CRUELLA: Well? Are you finished? ANITA: Yes, and I think you" re going t_o ll:lli it. A smile wiggles across Cruella's cheeks. CRUELLA: Let's go to my office. Cruella breezes off. Anita rolls up the drawing on her board and looks to her coworkers. HER POV The Staff turn away …
CU. CRUELLA: The beautiful solemnity of the wedding is vanquished by Cruella's hard, angry face. She's in her office. CRUELLA: ·, j I How could she do this to me? The narrow, flaming eyes tilt down.
CRUELLA: Are you mag? ANITA: I'm excited about it, Cruella. CRUELLA: I cannot imagine why. But life abounds with 11\YStery.
CRUELLA: .I can see that. ANITA: Cruella, they have to be with their mother for several weeks. They"re not ready to leave. Cruella stares at Anita. She has no idea or concer… CRUELLA: I'm reserving them all. She opens her purse and takes out her checkbook and pen. CRUELLA: I'll write you a check. She crosses to the table.
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 38 are women's.
186 lines from women, 298 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
5 women and 16 men in the cast. 8 women and 13 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 4 of 537.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 69 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 39% of the words (2,381), men 61% (3,721). Women have 38% of the lines, so their lines run longer than men's.
Exhibit E: the test the other way
Two named men talk to each other about something besides a woman. It passes the reverse test.
Conversations between two named characters
Two women
12
Two men
41
Exhibit F: behind the camera
5 of the 13 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 21% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Stephen Herek (man)
- Written by
- John Hughes (man)
- From the novel by
- Dodie Smith (woman)
- Produced by
- John Hughes (man), Ricardo Mestres (man)
- Shot by
- Adrian Biddle (man)
- Edited by
- Trudy Ship (woman)
- Music by
- Michael Kamen (man)
- Production design by
- Assheton Gorton (man)
- Costumes by
- Rosemary Burrows (woman), Anthony Powell (man)
- Cast by
- Celestia Fox (woman), Marcia Ross (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Sound
0 women, 11 men, 2 not listed
-
Production
4 women, 4 men
-
Visual Effects
0 women, 2 men, 5 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
2 women, 2 men, 2 not listed
-
Other crew
0 women, 2 men, 4 not listed
-
Directing
0 women, 4 men, 2 not listed
-
Art
1 women, 4 men
-
Writing
1 women, 1 men, 1 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 49 on average. Men: 43 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Joely Richardson 31, Glenn Close 49, Joan Plowright 67
Men
Hugh Laurie 37, Mark Williams 37, Tim McInnerny 40, Jeff Daniels 41, Hugh Fraser 51, John Shrapnel 54
Exhibit H: the money
It made 5.9 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $54 million
- Box office
- $321 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 548 scenes and 537 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
