New Clip Reveals How Cruella De Vil Got Her Car

Few villains in film history have been as irrefutably evil and irresistibly endearing as the bane of all house pets, Cruella De Vil. This wicked old woman from the 1956 novel "The Hundred and One Dalmatians" (and the many Disney film adaptations which followed it) is as cruel and ruthless as they come, preying on innocent dogs and cats for the sake of her custom-made, avant-garde fashion sense. Her motives are far from being as relatable or complex as someone like Darth Vader or Thanos.

However, that is about to change. Releasing May 28, Disney's new film "Cruella" expands on the once one-sidedly devilish character. Now set in 1970s London, Emma Stone stars as Estella De Vil, a seemingly unhinged fashionista who goes from seamstress to sinner after adopting the alias "Cruella." Despite taking place well after the original film's time period, "Cruella" acts as a prequel for the character, explaining her origins and deepening her motivations.

Based on what has been released so far, the film is doing a fair job at fleshing out Cruella's character. The two trailers released by Disney hint at a few details that explain some of her characteristics. Apart from becoming a criminal, we see when and why she dons her unique hairstyle, and how she meets her future sidekicks in the Badun brothers. More recently, however, footage has been released revealing how Cruella came to possess her famous car.

Having crashed her car in several adaptations, "Cruella" would be remiss if it didn't explain how she obtained her signature ride. A clip recently shared by Fandango reveals the story behind Cruella and her car. As it turns out, Cruella steals and hotwires what would become her car after her crew's van gets towed in the midst of stealing someone's prized pet. On top of that, it also explains why she crashes the 1930s-esque automobile so frequently.

In many of the films, it seems like Cruella drives recklessly simply because she doesn't care. Her technique gives new meaning to the term "driven insane." Red lights are a mere suggestion and pedestrians are just shy of speed bumps to Cruella when she's behind the wheel. However, "Cruella" reveals another detail about De Vil that encapsulates just how careless she really is: she's not just a bad driver, she never even bothered to learn in the first place.

While the clip treats the detail as a one-off joke, it adds more depth to the character. Before, viewers simply had to assume that Cruella drove dangerously on purpose, and now we know she's just incompetent. Combined with the other bits and pieces we expect to learn throughout "Cruella," details like this come together to be more than the sum of their parts. The character becomes more real, and less of a simple (albeit entertaining) caricature of evil.