Characters like Cruella have grown beyond their stories.
www.vox.com
Vox wants to know why Puppy-skinning villains are so likeable! (Disney embedded ad campaign in full push).
As said, this isn't some conspiracy theory--they literally go over their ideological views in the making of Frozen.
Cruella is merely the latest example of Disney’s enthusiasm for catering to fans of the bad guys, a stance it has increasingly leaned into over the last decade as it’s started to craft franchises around villains after defining itself by its princesses. Frozen’s Elsa was originally intended to be the villain of that film, before the narrative shifted to make her the sympathetic antihero instead. Angelina Jolie headlined two live-action films exploring the backstory of Sleeping Beauty’s evil dragon Maleficent in 2014 and 2019.
Frozen was going to be a by the book Disney movie until the female empowerment theme took over and the 'bad guy' was swapped to the man, so they woman could be the anti-hero. And then romance was stripped from it, and the sisterly love saved her (Maleficent, same formula--motherly love saved her instead of the prince; you know, because strong women don't need no man!)