The latest unprompted sequel to take a spill from the Disney assembly line, 101 Dalmatians II: Patch's London Adventure is better than it has any right to be. I guess it makes dollars and sense to continue pillaging Walt's vault for sturdy brands, but this dishonourable practice has led to some pretty awful pictures, most of which have gone directly to video; last year's ghastly Return to Never Land debuted in theatres in an experiment not quite successful enough, evidently, to spawn a trend, thus 101 Dalmatians II premieres on disc and tape. It's worth your time, however, long before said misbegotten follow-up to Peter Pan, a cartoon ode to fascism if there ever was one.

Forgoing the anthology format of 2002's Cinderella II and The Hunchback of Notre Dame II while maintaining the sixties setting of its predecessor (though much closer in tone to Disney's 1970 beatnik spoof The Aristocats), 101 Dalmatians II begins with a classic Mouse-House hook of a misfit trying to prove himself to--in this case a small nation of--inattentive siblings. À la Home Alone (2), the Dalmatian pup Patch misses the ride with his family to the groomer's and subsequently embarks on a big city adventure, ending up at a casting call for his favourite television show, "Thunderbolt", a kind of "Lassie" meets "The Lone Ranger" serial starring a narcissistic Doberman (or is he a greyhound?) possessed of considerably less bravery than his alter ego. Thinking he's about to get canned, thanks to the duplicitous actions of his envious on-screen sidekick (voiced by Jason Alexander), Thunderbolt (Barry Bostwick), inviting his biggest fan Patch to tag along, goes to London in search of danger: he will prove his mettle in real life, too.

The filmmakers' obligation to include Cruella DeVil (Susan Blakeslee) is wryly commented-upon when she climbs into her truck, turns on the radio, hears the song that always greets her entrance in the original film, and kicks the radio to smithereens; it's a moment that epitomizes 101 Dalmatians II, really, a picture that makes the best of artistic limitations. In London, of course, lives Cruella--she's taken up residence with a modernist painter (Martin Short) who attracts her, in another scene of exuberant wit, with a work featuring a tiny black dot on a giant white canvas. Can Patch and Thunderbolt foil her latest kidnapping attempt and blah blah blah? And blah blah blah redemption? Disney films have a tendency to disengage me as they grow louder in volume--by 101 Dalmatians II's cacophonous climax I was mentally showering with Anna Paquin. But the film is inoffensively familiar and often clever prior to the (competently animated) pandemonium; I can't find reason enough to tip this cash cow.

Disney's simply gorgeous 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen presentation of 101 Dalmatians II: Patch's London Adventure (not to be confused with, now's probably the time to say, the live-action 102 Dalmatians) contains two excellent, rambunctious 5.1 mixes, the DTS soundtrack louder though qualitatively indistinguishable from Dolby Digital's. Rear-channel/split-surround usage is surprisingly aggressive. The disc opens with trailers for Piglet's Big Movie, Inspector Gadget 2 (aside: is it just me, or does French Stewart look more suited to the role than the actor he replaces, Matthew Broderick?), Beauty and the Beast: Belle's Magical World - Special Edition, Atlantis II: Milo's Return, and The Lion King: Special Edition. Within the menus of the DVD, you can also access a preview of Finding Nemo.

Bonus material is kid-oriented to the max: a "Lost in London" multiple-choice game; an interactive tour of Thunderbolt's trailer ("Thunderbolt: An Inside Look"); a "Behind the Scenes 'Dog-umentary'," an excruciating seven minutes featuring the animators pantomiming what they do for an audience of dogs that keep begging for treats; and the videos for Will Young's "Try Again" and LMNT's "You're the One."-Bill Chambers