Emma Stone addresses the effect Disney's smoking ban had on 'Cruella'

Cruella de Vil's cigarette holder is as iconic as the Disney villainess herself.

However, Cruella—the live-action origin story directed by Craig Gillespie and released to theaters and Disney Plus today—finds the titular character without her chain-smoking habit.

"That is not allowed in 2021," Emma Stone, who plays Estella-turned-Cruella, told The New York Times with a laugh. "We are not allowed to smoke onscreen in a Disney film. It was difficult to not have that cigarette holder."

The Oscar-winning actress added: "I was so excited to have that green plume of smoke in there, but it was not possible. I don’t want to promote smoking, but I’m also not trying to promote skinning puppies."

Walt Disney Co. became the first major studio to ban onscreen smoking in 2007, and the trend has continued as recently as Netflix banning smoking in all TV-14 and PG-13 productions in 2019.

Cruella works with much meatier material than smoking, anyway. How does a young girl in 1970s London morph so darkly into one of the most famous antagonists in history?