“The One Hundred and One Dalmatians” franchise has never been about the dogs. Its real star is Cruella de Vil, the acerbic antagonist with a fur obsession.

Betty Lou Gerson voiced the character in the 1961 Disney animated film, investing the villain with wit, haughtiness and an understated charm. Glenn Close came next in 1996’s live-action “101 Dalmatians,” all but revolutionizing the role. Here enters Emma Stone, Disney’s new Cruella.

Stone’s task in this fitfully fun, beautifully costumed version directed by Craig Gillespie (“I, Tonya”) is to help us understand a Cruella-in-progress — the person she was before she started kidnapping and skinning puppies.

Running roughly two hours and 16 minutes, “Cruella” pursues a long path to the titular figure’s origins. The film begins in 1960s England with young Cruella (Tipper Seifert-Cleveland), birth name Estella, struggling to fit in. There are early signs of the woman she will become: When her mother (Emily Beecham) admonishes her for not following a prescribed pattern while sewing, Cruella snaps, “That’s ugly,” before ripping her mother’s work to shreds.

She doesn’t fare much better at school, where her bicolored hair makes her a target for bullies and her attempts at self-defense land her in the dean’s office. Her only friend is Anita Darling (first played by Florisa Kamara, later by Kirby Howell-Baptiste). With Cruella on the verge of being expelled, her mother pulls her out of school, packs their bags and off to London they go.

On the road, the pair stop at a magnificent country home. Cruella’s mother commands her daughter to stay in the car. But Cruella, with her rescue puppy in tow, sets out to explore the grounds. What she finds in the house — an opulent fashion show with gorgeous gowns — blows her mind and warms her aspiring-designer heart. “For the first time in my life,” she marvels via voiceover, “I felt like I belonged.”

Chaos follows and Cruella finds herself running from security guards and three angry Dalmatians, ending up on the estate’s veranda, where she sees her mother talking to a mysterious figure. In an unexpected turn, the dogs attack Cruella’s mother, pushing her off the terrace’s edge.

Her death haunts Cruella, who goes to London, where she links up with a band of orphan thieves (Ziggy Gardner’s Jasper and Joseph MacDonald’s Horace). Now played by Stone, our protagonist also spends much time at war with herself: Should she embrace Estella, the kind, well-behaved girl her mother wanted her to be, or go all in as anarchic, angry Cruella?

As the story moves into the 1970s, Cruella, thanks to Jasper (now played by Joel Fry) and Horace (now played by Paul Walter Hauser), lands a job at a prestigious fashion house. Here the film turns into “The Devil Wears Prada” terrain — Aline Brosh McKenna, who wrote that 2006 hit, has a story credit on the film. Stone and Emma Thompson, who’s in charge of the house, gnash their teeth at each other.

Their interplay is the main attraction in a film that wavers between dark comedy and heist thriller. The extent to which the titular figure has been softened is also a bit disappointing: This Cruella is more revenge-seeking designer than morally bankrupt dog murderer.

What Cruella lacks in script, however, it makes up for in sheer visual punch. Costume designer Jenny Beavan’s exquisitely detailed gowns are architectural and aesthetic feats that pay homage to designers from Vivienne Westwood and John Galliano to Alexander McQueen.

(SD-Agencies)