The Starlight Barking (101 Dalmatians)

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The Starlight Barking is a 1967 novel that serves as the sequel to the first The Hundred and One Dalmatians.

Cadpig's Cabinet - The dogs belonging to the Prime Minister's Cabinet, who take over their masters' jobs during the Crisis: I thought the characters were simply delightful. While the book is written at a bit of a hire level for young children nowadays, we simply forget that children's books used to be written a lot different compared to those we see more often. As I said the characters were delightful and it was lovely to see much of the original cast and to meet some new faces as well which included the dog version of the British parliament. It’s also implied with Cruella, or at least her great grandfather who maybe the spawn of the devil. Malaproper: Missis isn't good with large words. For example, she gets offended when she learns the Dearlys will found a "nasty din" of dalmatians, only for Pongo to explain what a "dynasty" is.

Villain Ball: There was no reason at all for Cruella to kidnap the Dearly puppies. She already owned 82 dalmatian puppies, which should have been plenty to start her fur farm. The only thing that taking the Dearly puppies accomplished was 1) wasting money (she paid more to the dog thieves than she had for any litter), 2) bringing unwanted police attention (nothing she'd done before was illegal), 3) causing her husband's business to be destroyed by 99 extremely irate Dalmatians. All because she couldn't take "no" for an answer. The White Persian Cat - Formerly owned and abused by Cruella de Vil, she ran away to live with the Dalmatians and was made an honorary dog, thus making her immune to the "mysterious sleep". She becomes friends with The Staffordshire and also dislikes Sirius.

Hill Hall ("Hell Hall" to the locals), the country manor belonging to Cruella's family where the puppies are kept. Perdita and Prince - a married couple of liver-spotted Dalmatians, and the parents of eight of the stolen puppies from the first novel. They are left in charge of the Dearlys' household while Pongo and Missis go to London. Impoverished Patrician: Cruella De Vil. Her family's ancestral home is in disrepair, the servants working there receive no pay other than the right to live there and say the TV must be kept on at night because they don't have light bulbs. Most of her jewels are fake. When the furs her furrier husband keeps at home are destroyed by the dalmatians, it's revealed most of them aren't paid for and the De Vils must sell their ancestral home to pay their debts. Cruella also has to sell their real jewels to be able to start a new business. The anxious parents find that Cruella has imprisoned their puppies in her country estate (along with 82 she had previously acquired), with intent to make Dalmatian-skin coats. Pongo and Missis rescue them all and return triumphant with 97 puppies in tow. A rescued nurse-dog named Perdita and her long-lost beau round out their numbers to 101, Cruella and her husband end up financially ruined, and the Dearlys buy the same country estate where the pups were originally held prisoner.Took the Wife's Name: Cruella is the last de Vil and she brings it up as the reason she made her husband change his name to hers when they married. Noodle Incident: The Dearlys can afford a nice house near Regent Park because Mr Dearly, a financial wizard, had "done a very great service for the government". Later they can afford to move to the country (and buy Hill Hall) because he had done yet another "very great service" (something to do with "getting rid of the National Debt"). The story behind that must have been nearly as interesting as what his dogs got up to. Mr. de Vil - A small, worried, but equally evil man, from the first novel. He snores louder than anyone the dogs have ever heard. Genre Shift: The Starlight Barking, the sequel to the original book, is a fairly bizarre departure from the mundane (except for the sentient animals) setting of the first book featuring Sirius, Lord of the Dog Star, a Sufficiently Advanced Alien who, concerned about the possibility of nuclear war destroying dogkind, causes all humans and other animals to fall into an unnaturally deep sleep. This is likely a significant part of the reason why the sequel never saw a film adaptation and has subsequently been almost forgotten.

The General - formerly "The Colonel" in the first novel, before his promotion, the Old English Sheepdog who lives at Tompkins farm next door to Pongo and Missis. He is able to communicate with his owner's son, Tommy Tompkins, in a half-dog half-human babble. Humans - None actively speak in the novel, as most are sleeping when the dogs visit and attempt to interact with them.

Big Eater: Missis is rather obsessed with food, to the point where of all the weird things that happens in The Starlight Barking, the one thing that truly astonishes her is that she isn't hungry. The Spaniel who helps Pongo and Missis on their journey. He's ancient in dog years, and one of the most friendly, generous souls in the book. The premise of the plot of this book is decidedly bizarre; as if Mrs Smith was on an acid high at the time (1967). However, in the light of the wonderful “One Hundred and One Dalmatians,” I prefer to think (delude myself?) that fault lies with the erring and unnamed editor at William Heinemann whose imagination was no doubt entirely caught up in the Space Race, science fiction, and should instead have taken out and shot at dawn as a lesson to prevent Penguin from later adding the title to their Puffin range. Beyond the broken pacing, I can't help but notice how the themes are not really what you'd expect from the sequel to 101 Dalmatians. Between possible nuclear war and The Rapture (eternal bliss for all dogs while the rest of the world is left to stumble into possible war), there are also shorter "Wait, what?" moments like Patch being in love with his sister (the love of his life...) and opting for voluntary self-extinction because he doesn't want his imperfect DNA to persist in the genepool. Xtreme Kool Letterz: Kloes That Klank, Cruella's second business venture after the dalmations destroy her fur business, involving plastic raincoats that make clanking noises.