Cruella de Vil him that the purchaser of a house in Piccadilly, London is "a foreign nobleman, Count De Ville". Count De Ville, however, proves to be an alias for Count Dracula himself. It is also believed that the inspiration for the name began in 1939 when Dodie Smith purchased a new Rolls-Royce 25/30 "Sedanca de Ville" motorcar in which she and her pet Dalmatian "Pongo" frequently travelled, which also formed the basis of the cartoon imagery of Cruella's own motorcar. In the original story, Cruella is depicted as a pampered and glamorous London heiress who knows the owner of the Dalmatian puppies
Cruella de Vil and shut down the electricity, allowing Maleficent and Chernabog to escape their cells. In the following book "Shell Game", she assists the Queen and Maleficent in stealing Walt's original notes on Chernabog from the Archives. She then boards the "Dream" for the two-week cruise, along with the rest of the Overtakers. She commands the "Lion King"' hyenas, Happy and Howley, having them patrol the ship to keep the Keepers from finding Chernabog. In the seventh book "The Insider", Cruella joins Tia Dalma, the Queen and Judge Doom's group in Toontown; she calls an army of animals to the area with