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 furiously leaving the house. The next morning, Cruella learns that the puppies have escaped the house in the night and she and her henchmen begin a perilous search for the puppies on the snowy country roads through Cruella's roadster and Jasper and Horace's beat up truck. Cruella shouts at Jasper and Horace for reckless driving, despite her obviously worse driving skills. The next day, on Christmas Eve, Cruella, Jasper, and Horace realize that the puppies have fled to Dinsford and they begin searching there. While driving her car across town, she sees a long procession of black puppies walking past