The 101 Dalmatians recap

Pongo and Missis live with the Dearlys in London and have fifteen puppies, aided by a lost Dalmatian named Perdita. Fur-obsessed Cruella de Vil tries to buy the litter and, when refused, has the puppies stolen. Pongo and Missis use the Twilight Barking, a canine message network, to trace them to Hell Hall in Suffolk. There they learn that Cruella has collected ninety-seven Dalmatian puppies and plans to have them killed for their skins. Helped by country dogs and a courageous cat, the parents free every puppy and lead them toward London. Farms along the route provide shelter and food, while soot temporarily disguises the spotted dogs from Cruella. Her pursuit ends in a road accident, and the whole company reaches the Dearlys at Christmas. The Dearlys adopt all ninety-seven puppies and buy Hell Hall as a country home. Perdita later finds her lost mate Prince, whose arrival brings the extended family to one hundred and one Dalmatians.

Dalmatians Pongo and Missis live near Regent's Park with their human pets, Mr and Mrs Dearly, and the two devoted Nannies. Missis gives birth to fifteen puppies. Because the litter is so large, the Dearlys take in Perdita, an exhausted liver-spotted Dalmatian who has lost both her own puppies and her mate, and she helps nurse the litter. Mrs Dearly's wealthy former schoolmate Cruella de Vil visits and tries to buy all the puppies. Cruella is obsessed with fur and shows no concern for the dogs themselves; the Dearlys firmly refuse her. The puppies thrive in a crowded but affectionate household, while Perdita becomes part of the family, yet Cruella's desire to possess the young Dalmatians remains an obvious danger.

Cruella hires the criminal Baddun brothers to steal the fifteen puppies while the adult dogs and humans are away. The police and the Dearlys search but find no useful trail. Realizing that people may not be able to solve the disappearance, Pongo sends an appeal through the Twilight Barking, the network by which dogs pass news across London and into the countryside. Replies eventually locate a large group of Dalmatian puppies at Hell Hall, Cruella's remote ancestral house in Suffolk. Pongo and Missis decide to leave their comfortable home and make the long winter journey themselves. They slip out at night, trusting other dogs along the route to guide, feed, and shelter them while the Dearlys continue their own anxious search.

Pongo and Missis travel through cold and snow toward Suffolk, relayed from one helpful dog to the next. At a farm near Hell Hall, an Old English Sheepdog known as the Colonel and his animal companions have already investigated the strange activity at the abandoned-looking house. The parents are given food, warmth, and the first reliable account of what awaits them. From a nearby folly they can see the estate and plan an approach. The discovery is larger than their own loss: Hell Hall contains many Dalmatian puppies gathered from different homes, not only the Dearly litter. A White Cat inside the house has been protecting the captives as far as she can and provides essential local knowledge. The Baddun brothers guard the building, and Cruella's plans give the rescuers little time.

Pongo and Missis learn that ninety-seven puppies are imprisoned at Hell Hall and that Cruella intends to have them killed for their spotted skins. Leaving the unrelated puppies behind is impossible, so the rescue must include every one of them. With the White Cat and the country animals helping to distract the Badduns, the adult Dalmatians enter the house, find their own fifteen, and organize the entire group. The puppies are frightened and not all are strong enough for a winter march, but remaining means death. The rescuers get the dogs out of Hell Hall and begin the road home on Christmas Eve. Pongo and Missis now have to move and feed an enormous company without letting Cruella or the Badduns discover which route they have taken.

The ninety-seven puppies and their two leaders make slow progress toward London, aided by animals and sympathetic people at farms along the route. Transport and shelter are improvised for the weakest puppies. Cruella and the Badduns search the roads, and a moving crowd of white dogs with black spots would be easy to identify. Pongo devises a disguise after noticing a soot-covered dog: the Dalmatians roll in soot until they appear to be black dogs. The disguise lets the company pass observers who are looking for spots, though snow and damp threaten to expose them. Cruella closes in during the final stages of the journey, but her pursuit ends with vehicles wrecked and the dogs still moving toward the Dearly home.

At Christmas the soot-blackened, exhausted company reaches the Dearlys' London house. The family recognizes Pongo and Missis and learns that their missing fifteen have returned with eighty-two other rescued puppies. Rather than separate the group, Mr and Mrs Dearly adopt all ninety-seven. Including the three adult Dalmatians already attached to the household, the home now holds one hundred dogs. Cruella's pursuit has failed, her vehicles and fur collection are ruined, and she is forced to dispose of Hell Hall. Mr Dearly buys the estate and plans to turn it into a spacious country home for the Dalmatians, with a safe place for the White Cat who helped save them. Perdita is then reunited with Prince, the mate from whom she had been separated. He too joins the family, bringing the final number of Dalmatians to one hundred and one.

Pongo and Missis lead all ninety-seven rescued puppies back toward London. To pass unseen beneath Cruella's attention, the spotted dogs roll in soot and resemble black dogs until melting snow begins washing the disguise away. Cruella pursues them, but the Badduns' van and her car are wrecked, ending the immediate chase. The exhausted dogs reach the Dearly home at Christmas, where the humans recognize Pongo and Missis despite the soot and willingly adopt every puppy. The rescue therefore creates a household of one hundred Dalmatians: ninety-seven puppies, Pongo, Missis, and Perdita. Mr Dearly uses his resources to buy Hell Hall after Cruella is forced to sell it, planning a country home with room for the dogs. The White Cat is given a safe place there. Perdita is also reunited with her lost mate, Prince, who joins the family and brings the Dalmatian total to the promised one hundred and one. Cruella survives but loses her furs and her power over the animals she intended to kill.