Ah, Cruella De Vil, one of the most wicked, but fashion forward Disney villains there is. Besides her appearance in the multiple versions of 101 Dalmatians and brief time on ABC's Once Upon A Time she's all but forgotten, overshadowed by the likes of Maleficent and Ursula. But since I was a child I've always wondered: what makes Cruella the cruelest devil of them all?
Side note: I have always been obsessed with 101 Dalmatians, as evidenced by this little gem I got from my parents house a few weeks back. This was the cake topper on one of my childhood birthday cakes, and now it sits at my house because I refuse to throw it away. I'm sure if I dug around enough, I would find even more childhood treasures.
After all this time, our questions are finally being answered not only with the new live-action film Cruella, but the release of Maureen Johnson's newest YA novel, Hello, Cruel Heart. Once I got a few chapters in, I absolutely devoured this novel. It took me a little bit to get into it simply because it is written in third person, which I usually tend to avoid, but once I did I couldn't put it down.
Set in swinging London in the summer of '67, it encapsulates the atmosphere of the city in all its fashionable and music-centered glory. Think iconic Rock N' Roll....ladies and gents swooning over the Beatles. The story follows Estella and her duo of thieving misfits, Jasper and Horace. Estella is determined to join the ranks of the design elite among the high society of London no matter what it takes. She encounters siblings, Magda and Richard Moresby who may just make all her dream come true. But, by the end of the summer will she truly have what she desires?
After reading Maureen Johnson's version of de Vil's origin story I am interested to see where Disney will take the story. Honestly, I am still fangirling over the fact that we are getting a Cruella origin story and that it's played by the always aMaZiNg and stunning Emma Stone.
-Ashleigh Edwards
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