What Is the Thing Cruella De Vil Smokes?

What Cruella De Vil Smokes and Why It Matters

In Disney’s 1961 animated classic One Hundred and One Dalmatians and its many reinterpretations, the thing Cruella De Vil smokes is most commonly a cigar, used as a visual shorthand for her villainous sophistication, wealth, and theatrical cruelty. The specific style of cigar, length, and whether it is lit or unlit have varied across animated and live-action portrayals, but the cigar remains the consistent prop associated with her character. This article explains how the cigar functions as a storytelling device, how the prop has been executed across versions, and what this small detail reveals about Cruella’s personality and design.

The Animated Original: 1961

Visual Storytelling Through Props

In One Hundred and One Dalmatians, animators give Cruella a long, ornate cigar she often holds but rarely inhales, emphasizing her performative menace. The cigar is part of her carefully constructed silhouette—high collar, severe hairstyle, and elevated posture—creating a figure that feels both arch and menacing. Because the film targets family audiences, the cigar is more symbolic than realistic; it signals an older, wealthier, and more reckless character without explicit dialogue explaining her immorality. This use of a luxury object to telegraph personality became a template for later versions.

Live-Action Interpretations

Glenda Jackson’s 1996 Version

In the 1996 live-action film 101 Dalmatians, Cruella, played by Glenn Close, smokes cigarettes rather than a cigar, reflecting a shift toward a more modern, predatory sexuality. The cigarettes are typically held loosely, sometimes lit, aligning with her impulsive, risk-taking behavior. Close’s portrayal emphasizes businesslike calculation mixed with theatrical rage, and the cigarettes function as a rhythmic prop during negotiations and villainous monologues. While the cigar of the animated film is a symbol of old-money theatrics, Close’s cigarettes suggest a nouveau-riche impatience.

Emma Stone’s 2021 Reimagining

In the 2021 sequel Cruella, the title character, played by Emma Stone, is a younger, rising designer who favors cigarettes and later a pipe in select scenes. These smoking moments are tightly edited to highlight transitions between creative inspiration and moral compromise. The pipe in particular evokes artistic temperament, while cigarettes underscore her rebelliousness and outsider status. Unlike the older Cruella icons, this version treats smoking as part of a broader lifestyle aesthetic, complete with fashion and attitude, rather than as a singular villain shorthand.

Why the Prop Endures

Across formats, the thing Cruella De Vil smokes works because it visually communicates control, time, and intention. Lighting and holding a cigar or cigarette creates a pause in pacing, allowing the audience to read cruelty or calculation in body language. It also anchors the character in a specific social context—luxury, adulthood, and access to vices—without requiring exposition. Because the prop is repeatable and recognizable, it survives redesigns and reinterpretations, making it a durable storytelling tool.

Quick Comparison of Smoking Props

Common Misconceptions

Because the phrase what is the thing Cruella De Vil smokes can lead to simple answers, some assume the character always smokes a cigar. In practice, the choice has shifted with platform, audience expectations, and character age. It is equally incorrect to claim she never smokes cigarettes, given several live-action scenes. The throughline is not the object itself but the function it serves: marking Cruella as calculated, stylish, and unafraid to wield vice as part of her power.

Behavioral Context and Narrative Function

Pacing and Power

Directors use smoking props to control screen time and attention. By cutting to Cruella slowly lighting or tapping ash, filmmakers add beats that would otherwise require exposition. In tense negotiations, the act of smoking creates silence, giving other characters room to react and underscoring Cruella’s comfort with pressure. Whether it is a cigar or a cigarette, the prop turns her into a focal point of stillness amid chaos.

Design and Costuming

Costume designers coordinate the smoking prop with clothing silhouettes. In the 1961 film, the cigar extends the vertical lines of her headdress and collar, intensifying her angular menace. In modern adaptations, cigarette holders and sleek cases replace the cigar case, but the principle stays the same: the prop must be legible from a distance and reinforce the character’s status. Even non-smokers watching can read the visual code because it has been repeated so consistently across decades.

Lasting Influence on Pop Culture

Cruella’s smoking habits have influenced how later villainesses are costumed and lit. The idea that a luxury object like a cigar or cigarette can telegraph sophistication and danger persists in other characters across film and television. While public health conversations have reduced on-screen smoking, the narrative template endures; creators often substitute the cigar with another controlled, luxurious object that signals power. The result is a lineage of characters linked by a shared visual grammar that began with one animated woman and her unmistakable prop.

Conclusion

The thing Cruella De Vil smokes is most often a cigar in the original animation and cigarettes or a pipe in later live-action films. The prop is less about the substance and more about how it visually communicates control, timing, and class. By anchoring her villainy in recognizable objects, the character remains legible across generations and mediums. Understanding what she smokes—and why—clarifies how design, performance, and storytelling work together to create a lasting icon.