Rolly

This article is about the Dalmatian character. For the Japanese musician see Rolly Teranishi.

Rolly is a fictional character in the 101 Dalmatians movies created by Disney and based on a charcter from Dodie Smith's book, "the Hundred and One Dalmatians", and also appeared in the Disney animated series 101 Dalmatians: The Series.

The Book

Rolly does not appear in the book but a character similar to him has appeared: Roly-Poly. In the book, Roly-Poly was also one of the original 15 puppies born of Pongo and Missis. He was a mischievious puppy who often got into trouble. It was he who inspired Pongo to tell the others to roll in the soot to disguise themselves from the Badduns and Cruella de Vil after falling in the soot and playing around in it.

The Movies

The character Roly-Poly was adapted from the book and into Walt Disney's 1961 classic animated movie One Hundred and One Dalmatians. His name was changed to Rolly and he was given an extra trait: an enormous appetite. He has a red collar (as do all the male puppies in the movie) and spotted ears and can be recognized easily because he is rather plump. His mischieviousness was also toned down. He was also one of Pongo & Perdita's 15 puppies who were kidnapped by Cruella de Vil. Rolly also made an appearance in 101 Dalmatians II: Patch's London Adventure, the direct-to-video sequel to the 1961 movie, as a minor character.

The Animated Series

Rolly was one of two characters from the 1961 movie to be adapted as a main character in Disney's 101 Dalmatians: The Series. He still retains the spotted ears from the movie but he now wears a blue collar. He kept his big appetite but was made to look even fatter in the series. Rolly is a loyal brother to his siblings but does hesitate when it comes to going on an adventure with his brother, Lucky, and he prefers to remain out of conflicts even if his friends could really use his assistance. He spends most of his time eating and watching food commercials on TV, if he is not on an adventure with the gang.

Rolly’s biggest asset is his acute sense of smell, which is something that is unique to him as his sense of smell is much more refined than that of the rest of the Dalmatians on the farm. In one episode, this ability was the one thing that kept him on the Bark Brigade, despite the fact that he tends to fail nearly every test and he has no desire to perform the physical mandates required of the service. He has used his sense of smell in many situations to help his friends out, such as when they need help finding a specific object, such as Anita in the 3-part Dalmatian Vacation movie when she ran away from Roger after a misunderstanding with him, or if they need to find their way out of a location, though his nose isn’t perfect and he can’t always use it to his advantage.

Rolly's biggest flaw is still his appetite. In fact, his strong desire for food has caused many problems for himself, as well as his friends and family, as he tends to go out of his way to find an easy meal, even in situations that require his utmost concentration and best behavior. Several examples are when he was captured by P.H. deVil with a sausage tied to a fishing line and subsequently used as the basis for a corporate espionage robot built for Cruella and the second was when he was captured yet again by P.H. deVil, this time disguised as an ice cream truck man, and used as a test subject for his junk food industry. Another would be during Bark Brigade missions. However, if there is one thing Rolly dislikes most, it is being reminded that he is fat.

However, despite this major flaw in regards to his personality, Rolly is well liked by a vast majority of the Dalmatians and Lucky even considers him to be his best friend; though there are several Dalmatians, as well as other animals such as Mooch and Lt. Pug on the Dearly Farm, who mock him for his weight, which often causes him to become depressed. While he may not be the best of friends, Rolly has proven time and time again that he does try to do his best to make others happy. Lucky, Cadpig and Spot tend to forgive their friend whenever he does make a mistake, as since they have more enjoyable times than bad ones, they usually overlook his failings without giving it much thought, though they still sometimes poke fun at Rolly being horizontally-challenged.