101 Dalmatians II: Patch's London Adventure - Plot

Plot

The Radcliffe family and their 101 dalmatians are preparing to move to their "Dalmatian Plantation", a home in the countryside with plenty of room for all of them. However, one of the puppies, Patch, feels lost in a sea of spots and wishes to be unique like his television hero, Thunderbolt. While watching the Thunderbolt Adventure Hour, Patch hears about a chance to appear on the show while it is filming in London. When the family accidentally leaves him behind during the commotion of the move, Patch heads for the audition to meet his hero and win a guest spot on the show, but his squeaky bark gets him laughed off the stage. Simultaneously, Thunderbolt's sidekick, Lil' Lightning, who is actually jealous of him, tricks him into leaving by making him believe the producers plan to kill off his character and replace him with a younger dog. This allows Lil' Lightning to manipulate the producers into recasting him as the hero.

While out adventuring in an attempt to prove himself, Thunderbolt meets Patch. As Patch teaches Thunderbolt how to act like a real hero and Thunderbolt in turn teaches Patch how to bark properly, the two bond over their mutual fear of being "just another dog".

Elsewhere in London, Cruella de Vil has returned, but she is under probation and a restraining order to avoid imprisonment for her past behavior. Her previous lifestyle is in shambles. She is initially able to calm her frenzy through an affiliation with a spot-fixated German artist named Lars, but despite his best efforts, he is unable to recreate the look she desires. In order to inspire him, she restarts her hunt for the dalmatians, using a newspaper picture of Patch to find their new address.

Patch's family finally becomes aware that he is missing. They begin their search for him. Cruella bails her former henchmen, Horace and Jasper Badun, out of prison. She sends them in a stolen dog food truck to steal the remaining puppies. The Baduns succeed after dealing with Nanny, and they take the dogs to Lars, who quickly becomes enarmoured with them. When Cruella requests she be made a masterpiece from the puppies' fur, Lars refuses, not wanting the pups to be harmed. Angered, Cruella has him bound and gagged. Out of alternative options, she returns to her original plan of making a dalmatian fur coat.

The captured puppies use the "Twilight Bark" to send a distress signal, which is picked up by Patch and Thunderbolt, and the two set out to save Patch's family. On the way, the encounter Lil' Lightning, who follows them and convinces Thunderbolt not to use Patch's stealth plan but to openly attack. Thunderbolt frightens the Baduns, but Cruella knocks him unconscious and he and Patch are captured. Lil' Lightning, believing his own scheme fulfilled, sneaks into the building and reveals that Thunderbolt is a fraud before fleeing. Crushed by this revelation, Patch falls into despair, but his brothers and sisters restore his spirit by reminding him that Thunderbolt escaped a similar predicament in one of the TV episodes. Patch breaks out and releases his family, but Thunderbolt remains behind, ashamed of himself for disappointing Patch. The Baduns discover the puppies have escaped and inform Cruella, but Patch tricks the them into going downstairs. The dalmatians then escape through the building's roof to a double-decker bus. Meanwhile, Thunderbolt escapes from his cage and frees Lars.

Cruella and the Baduns discover the escape, and a chase ensues through the streets of London, crashing through the filming of Lil' Lightning's new show in the process. Cruella and the Baduns finally corner the dogs in an alleyway. Patch tries to hold them off while the others escape, but they are undaunted. Luckily, Thunderbolt arrives, having being driven to the scene by Lars, and fakes a heart attack, briefly gaining Lil' Lightning's sympathy and causing Cruella, in her distraction, to knock out the Baduns and incapacitate herself while Patch retreats back to the bus. He puts the bus in reverse, sending Cruella, the Baduns, and Lil' Lightning scrambling into the River Thames.

The police arrest Lil' Lightning and the Baduns, while Cruella, now driven completely insane, is sent to a mental institute. The Radcliffes and Nanny arrive (who been told by Jasper and Horace that it was Cruella who made them to do it), along with Patch's parents Pongo and Perdita, whom he introduces to Thunderbolt. The elder dalmatians thank Thunderbolt, but he dismisses himself as simply an actor. Patch, on the other hand, is, in Thunderbolt's eyes, "a real, one of a kind wonder-dog". After a newspaper montage reveals the fates of the characters, a post-credits scene shows Thunderbolt in his TV show with Patch as his new sidekick and the other puppies as extras.