A Cruella video reveals which dogs and dresses were created using visual effects. Disney's Cruella de Vil origin story was one of the first major releases to test the waters of the pandemic-era box office along with A Quiet Place Part II. Cruella ended up doing fairly well in theaters considering the circumstances, which included a day-and-date release on Disney+ Premier Access, grossing $233 million at the box office against a $100 million budget. In light of this success, Disney quickly greenlit Cruella 2 with Emma Stone set to return in the titular role.
From I, Tonya director Craig Gillespie and The Favourite scribe Tony McNamara, Cruella explores the origins of the iconic Disney villain from her childhood as Estella Miller to her days as an aspiring fashion designer in London amidst the backdrop of the 1970s punk rock movement. Estella begins to work under the tutelage of the narcissistic and evil Baroness von Hellman (Emma Thompson), who plays a key role in her transformation into Cruella. The film also stars Joel Fry and Paul Walter Hauser as her henchmen, Jasper and Horace, along with Mark Strong and Kirby Howell-Baptiste in supporting roles.
Now, a new behind-the-scenes video from Collider shows how Cruella's special effects team was responsible for creating some of the movie's most iconic scenes and costumes. The video strips down several shots from the film to demonstrate how digital models were used to represent dogs, dresses, and even buildings. Watch the video below:
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While one would likely never know by watching the film that many of these elements were created using VFX, this video lets audiences in on the secret. In fact, the Baroness' Dalmatians and Horace's chihuahua, Wink, were both created by visual effects for much of the movie. Perhaps more impressive is all the VFX work that was done to create costumes and settings that were specific to that era. Because Cruella was set during the 1970s, a lot of work had to be done to transform every modern-day shot of London to avoid anachronism.
At one time, there was some Oscar hope for Stone's performance in Cruella. While she did receive some recognition at the 2022 Golden Globes, her chances of scoring a nomination at the Academy Awards are much slimmer. Instead, look for Cruella to potentially make some noise in the technical categories like Visual Effects, Costume Design, Production Design, and Makeup and Hairstyling. This video is a testament to just how crucial a role special effects play in Disney's tentpole films across the board.
Source: Collider