"London, We Have A Problem" is the twenty-seventh episode of 101 Dalmatian Street. It premiered on Disney Channel UK on September 15, 2019 and premiered on Disney XD in the United States on April 26, 2021[1].
Synopsis[]
As Dylan begins to find his family life constricting, he meets a human named Hunter and quickly befriends him. However, Hunter's goals are not wholesome and soon Dylan finds his family in conflict with their family's greatest enemy.
Plot[]
Part One[]
The episode begins with Hunter & Cuddles spying on the Dalmatians' house, having discovered where the Dalmatians live in the previous episode: "Doggy Da Vinci". Hunter sends Cuddles in for recon, but when Cuddles tries to get in using the Paw Scanner, they get sprayed with water.
Inside, Dylan is excitedly awaiting the postman, who is set to deliver his Dog-Star 3000 Space Helmet. Dylan explains to Dolly that since Delilah & Doug are home this weekend, he gets the day off from chores to do his Astro-Dog training, much to Dolly’s annoyance. The helmet arrives (as Dylan tells the other Pups to get off the postman), and just as Dylan is about to begin his training, Dolly suggests that he, at least, should help until after breakfast. All the pups arrive for breakfast, but Dylan thinks they’re missing one. Dolly comments that Dylan always thinks that before realising, and the missing pup turns out to be Dorothy, who nips at Dylan’s tail, having run out of chew toys to gnaw on.
At breakfast, Dylan is shocked to learn that Delilah & Doug will actually be working this weekend (since Doctor Dave, whom Delilah works with, got beaten up at Boxercise, and half of Doug’s fire crew has the flu), meaning that Astro-Dog training is cancelled.
Dylan goes outside for some space, and soon runs into Hunter. Hunter seems to be trying to charm Dylan, claiming to be into space too, before the other Dalmatians arrive and glomp Dylan from the roof of the house. Hunter invites Dylan to hang out with him later at their building, to talk more about space.
As Dylan is getting the other pups in the house, Hunter phones someone to tell them they found the Dalmatians and that there are so many they'll need to come back with the Puppy Pump. While the one he is talking to is skeptical as to whether his plan will work, Hunter continues his plan by instructing Cuddles to grab Dorothy, which they do.
In the garden, Dylan sees Dolly using the bowl flinger to launch the other pups onto the roof, before using it to launch multiple puppies on top of Dylan, much to his anger.
At Hunter’s building, Dorothy has already gnawed through most of his things, including Cuddles’ tail. Hunter throws Dorothy into a cage, in a room full of them, and tells her that tomorrow he is shipping her and the other Dalmatians off for six months of "fur optimization" before then sending them to Switzerland.
Back at the Dalmatian house, Dylan catches Triple-D using his helmet as a bathing bowl. Dylan grabs his helmet back, with Déjà Vu apologizing and offering a cuddle, which Dylan accepts before the other pups glomp him for one too. Dylan’s helmet lands on his tail and at first he thinks it’s Dorothy, but then he and Dolly realise that they have not seen Dorothy all day. They search the entire house and she is nowhere to be found, so they send a message on the “World Wide Woof” to find her.
The barking chain starts, and Hunter has Dorothy bark a response to lure Dylan to them.
Part Two[]
Dolly & Dylan learn where Dorothy is, but when Dylan realises it’s where Hunter lives, he chooses to go alone; Dolly, however, follows behind him.
When Dylan arrives at Hunter’s place, he finds Dorothy. Hunter claims that Dorothy must have followed him home. Dorothy tries to tell Dylan about the cages, but Cuddles closes the door to the room containing them before Dylan can see.
Hunter then says that since Dylan is there, they can use this opportunity to “hang out”, and gives Dylan some kibble, lets him look in his telescope and gives him a ride on a G-force simulator (Part One implies Hunter only recently purchased these to butter Dylan up).
Outside, Dolly sees more cages being delivered (with the postman saying that Hunter has now ordered 101) and tries to get into the building, but the bouncer throws her out. Dolly then finds a window cleaner’s cradle that she can use to get up to the top. As she ascends, however, she notices a computer screen inside, showing a photo of Pongo & Perdita (whom Dolly recognises as the pups' great-great-great-grandparents), as well as the details of Hunter’s plan to capture the Dalmatians and send them to Switzerland.
Inside, Dorothy tries to warn Dylan about Hunter, but Dylan does not realise what she means. Hunter suggests that it means that she wants to head home, so he readies a car for them. Dolly sees Dylan, Dorothy & Hunter board his car and chases after them to try to warn Dylan about Hunter too; however, Hunter keeps Dylan distracted.
They arrive back at the Dalmatians' house and Dylan opens the door, and Dolly jumps on him and warns him about Hunter. However, Dylan has already been wooed by Hunter, and lets him in. With the door now open, Hunter reveals his plan and pulls out a large pump to vacuum up the other Dalmatians into a large glass tube.
Dolly, Dylan & Dorothy are able to escape to the bedroom, but Hunter soon finds them and vacuums Dorothy up. Dolly almost gets sucked in too, but Dylan is able to use his helmet to block the air flow of the Puppy Pump and save Dolly.
The two hide in the bathroom, where they ambush Hunter by spraying toothpaste in his eyes, then trip him on Dolly’s skateboard and send him flying out of the house.
Despite being unable to capture Dolly & Dylan, Hunter activates a chain pulley to load the tube with the other Dalmatians into a shipping container behind his car. Dolly & Dylan yell a trigger word and the sudden excitement from all the puppies is strong enough to break the chain and have them escape from the tube. Hunter tries to prevent this by pulling on the chain himself, but gets trapped in the container when the puppies escape, with said container being carried off by a helicopter.
Delilah & Doug return home, and Delilah notices the remote which Hunter had dropped on the ground. The scent she picks up worries her.
Delilah & Doug take Dolly & Dylan up to the attic, and they go through an old chest to grab a vial containing a black piece of hair and a white piece of hair. The two compare the scent of the remote and the scent from the vial, and they recognise it to be a De Vil!
Meanwhile, Hunter is still trapped in the container, which is now on a freight ship, calling for help from the one he is truly working for: his great-aunt Cruella De Vil...
Cast[]
- Josh Brener as Dylan
- Michaela Dietz as Dolly
- Ella Kenion as Delilah
- Rhashan Stone as Doug
- Nikhil Parmar as Deepak
- Kyle Soller as Dante
- Margot Powell as Dorothy
- Rhys Isaac-Jones as Dawkins
- Rocco Wright as the Dimitri Trio
- Abigail Zoe Lewis as Dallas
- Lauren Lindsay Donzis as Destiny and Déjà Vu
- Nefeli Karakosta as Dizzy
- Florrie Wilkinson as Dee Dee
- Bert Davis as Diesel
- Joshua LeClair as Hunter De Vil
Pilot Version[]
This episode was one of the first produced and presented in an animatic format, to demonstrate the storytelling potential of 101 Dalmatian Street.While the general premise is mostly the same, there are notable differences:
- The delivery of lines is different.
- Triple-D jump the postman rather than the Dimitri Trio.
- The dog food for the Kibble Pump comes in cans rather than bags.
- Doug is able to dodge the dog food flung at him.
- Delilah’s reason for double-shift is that the hospital is overcrowded, instead of Doctor Dave getting beaten up at Boxercise.
- The reason Dylan goes outside, where he meets Hunter, is to give Triple-D their lunches, rather than needing some space.
- Hunter’s conversation with Dylan is different and he admits he’s a De Vil from the start (as well as his building being called “De Vil Tower”).
- Dawkins has a different, more childlike, voice, potentially because early in development, Dawkins would have been a girl.
- There’s a scene where the pups get hyped up on sugar when Triple-D return home with Pupichinos.
- It shows Delilah & Doug at work, with circumstances that prevent them hearing the “World Wide Woof” about Dorothy being missing.
- Fergus makes a cameo during the "World Wide Woof" sequence.
- A different postman delivers the cages to Hunter.
- Hunter pretends to be a fan of Triple-D as a way of getting into the Dalmatian house.
- We see portraits of Hunter’s parents, and they appear to be separated.
- Hunter's motives would not have been connected with Cruella, but more to become popular online by taking selfies with cute animals!
- Hunter doesn’t get lock in the crate.
- Cruella isn’t mentioned.
- Delilah & Doug are none the wiser on what happened when they return home.
Trivia[]
- According to show director Miklos Weigert, this episode was first created as the pilot for the show. When the show was given the green light, it was pushed back to later in the season, as they "wanted to have fun with the pups before (they are thrown) into deep despair".
- According to the original pitch document, this episode was originally called "Spaced Out".
- This is the third two-part special for the series.
- This episode reveals that Hunter is actually working for Cruella De Vil, who is also his great-aunt.
- Subsequently, it is revealed that Cruella is the main antagonist of the series.
- A photo of Pongo & Perdita is seen in this episode, with Dolly referring to them as great-great-great-grandparents.
- When Doug goes through the chest, a photo of the double wedding between Pongo & Perdita with Roger & Anita can be seen.
- The chest is also shown to contain Anita’s reading glasses and Roger’s sheet music.
- When Doug & Delilah identify the De Vil scent and when Hunter is calling Cruella for help, an instrumental version of Cruella's theme song plays in the background.
- When Hunter chases the Dalmatians through the house, at one point he sticks his face through the bedroom’s doggie door, in a similar manner to the "Here’s Johnny" scene from Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining.
- This episode is presumably set before “Long Tongue Day”, since that episode shows Triple-D bathing in the space helmet, which Dylan receives in this episode.
- When Dylan uses the noise-cancelling feature on his helmet, his breathing sounds like that of Darth Vader.
- When Delilah and Doug recognize the scent of a De Vil, Dolly and Dylan ask who they are talking about. This is a reference to Avengers: Infinity War, with Delilah and Doug (Bruce Banner) introducing the villain of the series to Dylan and Dolly (Doctor Strange and Wong).
- The title is a parody of the line "Houston, we have a problem" from Apollo 13.
Gallery[]
Concept Art[]
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Pilot Version[]
References[]
