Disney has crafted a pair of videos pinpointing a number of Easter eggs to be enjoyed in Cruella, the blockbuster movie starring Emma Stone.The clips can be found on Disney's Twitter and YouTube pages, and they contain several delightful little surprises. Among these is the staggering number of costume changes Stone had to endure while filming, as well as which famous actor played a part in inspiring the Cruella de Vil character.
Boasting 80 costumes between Stone and co-star Emma Thompson, the mise en scène of Cruella is dominated by a palette of black, white, gray and red. Going through 47 different costumes herself, Stone had a difficult time keeping a straight face during the production, a prequel to 1961's One Hundred and One Dalmatians. Referring to the scene in which Thompson's Baroness tosses her napkin out a window together with her fork, Stone admitted, "It really made me laugh when we were shooting it. Every time she did it, it made me laugh."
One of the Easter eggs revealed that the Marie Antoinette Ball sequence required 152 wigs, and 88 were used in the Baroness' Viking Gala Charity Ball. Another described how the character of Cruella -- as she appears in the 1961 animated feature as well as 2021's live-action film -- is that she was partially based on Tallulah Bankhead. Making a brief appearance in Cruella (on a TV screen in one of her classic film roles), the high-living, adventurous actor was a veteran of the stage, playing Blanche du Bois in a 1956 production of A Streetcar Named Desire, another character she reputedly inspired.
Set in 1970s London, Cruella utilized 44 separate locations to stage around 130 different sets, resorting to some computer-generated imagery in order to replicate the London of that era. The production team had two cars manufactured for the shoot, each modeled off of the 1980 Panther De Ville, with replica IndyCar wheels and handmade license plates. While paying some homage to the past iterations of Cruella, Stone's portrayal of the diabolical heiress is strikingly new and has already sparked a sequel to the film. Stone remarked, "I think taking her and putting her in the '70s -- as much as she is Cruella from 101 Dalmatians, she's not also. You've taken this character and you've created this whole new story for her, with fun nods to 101 Dalmatians."
Directed by Craig Gillespie, Cruella stars Emma Stone, Emma Thompson, Paul Walter Hauser, Joel Fry, Emily Beecham, Kirby Howell-Baptiste and Mark Strong. The film is currently available in theaters and on Disney+ Premier Access.