The live-action movie Cruella tells the titular Disney villain’s origin story, and while set in the past, a lot of it was filmed in the real-life locations seen on screen. Emma Stone leads the cast of Cruella as the title character, with the movie showing how she went from a poor thief named Estella to the villain seen in the 1961 animated feature One Hundred and One Dalmatians. Set in London in the 1970s, Cruella’s story reveals how the punk era influenced her haute-couture style and built her identity.
Cruella uses a variety of locations to create a world of exclusive and expensive fashion that the main character is trying to break into. Estella’s boss, the Baroness (Emma Thompson), plays a huge role throughout the future villain’s life, with the elder fashion icon’s home and workplaces being crucial to the plot of the movie. As Estella rises from poverty to notoriety as a rebellious fashion designer, Cruella‘s locations include a showcase of the poorer side of her home life, which contrasts sharply against the grand buildings that the Baroness owns.
Shepperton Studios, Surrey, England
The majority of Cruella was filmed at Shepperton Studios in Surrey, England. Over 130 sets were designed to film the interior shots of the locations used in Cruella, designed and decorated by Fiona Crombie and Alice Felton. One of the most recognizable interior sets shot at Shepperton Studios is Cruella’s loft, which she shares with Jasper (Joel Fry) and Horace (Paul Walker Hauser), her fellow thieves.
The interior of the Baroness’s country home was shot at Shepperton Studios, as was the interior of The House of Baroness. All the sets built at Shepperton Studios reflect the characters, as can be seen by the stark contrast between Cruella’s loft and The House of Baroness’s offices.
London, England
Cruella may have used over 130 sets, but the movie still managed to film in nearly 40 different locations in London itself. Throughout Cruella, famous streets and buildings in the city can be seen, such as Tower Bridge, the mall to Victoria Memorial outside of Buckingham Palace, and Regent’s Park. One scene shot as Regent’s Park, however, was actually filmed in Greenwich, and so was the red-carpet scene where Cruella turns up standing atop a car. This moment was filmed outside the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich.
Another iconic location is Liberty, London, a department store on Great Marlborough Street where Estella gets her first job as a cleaner. Although many of London’s iconic buildings and streets could be used for Cruella due to its variety of architecture and streets, CGI was still used to adapt the scenery. Cruella’s 1970s setting means London’s skyline and modern advances had to be edited out to make sure Cruella is consistent and fitting with the period.
RAF Halton Hall, Buckinghamshire, England
England is not short of grand houses but not so much in the center of London, so Cruella filming had to move a bit farther out of the capital for some of its filming locations. The Baroness forged quite a successful career, which meant she owned two grand houses in Cruella. The Baroness’s London home had plenty of scenes for which the interior was shot on sets, but for the exterior, the RAF Halton Hall in Buckinghamshire, England was used.
Englefield House, Reading, England
For the Baroness’s Hellman Hall, otherwise known as her country home, filming took place at Englefield House near Reading, England. Hellman Hall was taken from the later-set original One Hundred and One Dalmatians where it was named Hell Hall and shows how Cruella came to own it. Hellman Hall was a major part of Cruella as it is where Estella’s mother dies and haunts Estella’s life. Englefield House is a popular filming location and has been used for X-Men: First Class, The Crown, The King’s Speech, and Black Mirror, though CGI was employed to create the dark, eerie atmosphere seen in Cruella.
Aldermaston, Berkshire, England
Anita Darling (Kirby) is a classic One Hundred and One Dalmatians character and an old friend of Cruella’s. In Cruella, Anita is still an old friend, but she is also a journalist for the “Tattletale” newspaper and reports on Estella’s endeavors as Cruella. When Estella ropes Anita into her plan to overshadow the Baroness, she visits Anita’s office. The exterior of this office was shot at an old cement business in Aldermaston, Berkshire, England. The exterior fits the style of the other London buildings in Cruella and creates the idea that they all exist in proximity in England’s capital.
