Footrot Flats: The Dog's Tale - Plot

Plot

Wal Footrot (John Clarke) and Cooch Windgrass (Peter Hayden) are shearing sheep on Wal's farm. Cheeky Hobson (Fiona Samuel), Wal's girlfriend, is driving on the highway when she is driven off the road by the Murphy brothers, Spit (Brian Sergent) and Hunk (Marshall Napier), flying in a helicopter. The Murphys then terrorise Wal's property, leaving Dog (Peter Rowley) to drown in a sheep pit. As he is in the water, he has a flashback of when he was a little pup: how he was united with Wal for the first time, a gift from Aunt Dolly (Dorothy McKegg), and how he met Jess, who was nearly drowned by Spit and Hunk. Soon, Wal wakes Dog and Cooch and the dogs manage to foil the Murphys, who were in the process of capturing Cooch's deer.

Later, Wal finds Rangi Jones (Rawiri Paratene) and Pongo Footrot (Fiona Samuel) playing catch with a rugby ball, and so he joins in to coach them. After a while, Rangi and Pongo tell Wal about an All Blacks selector coming to watch an upcoming rugby match, and Wal daydreams about being an All Black. Over the next few days, Wal works out and goes on a date with Cheeky. Wal takes her to a caravan restaurant selling fast food, run by Pawai (Billy T. James). Dog bursts in on them, thinking that Cheeky is trying to poison Wal, but ends up ruining the dinner after Cheeky vows never to see Wal ever again.

Wal leaves Dog tied up outside as punishment, and Dog is later attacked by rats but is rescued by the resident stray cat, Horse. It begins to rain heavily, and Jess is knocked out of her box and is lost somewhere near the Murphy's. Meanwhile the Murphys, under the direction of Irish (Peter Hayden), steal Cooch's stag under the cover of darkness. While Wal tries to move the bull, Wal's goose tries to bite Wal on the butt (a running gag) and Rangi and Dog try to move the sheep, Rangi notices that Jess is gone. He tries to get help from Wal who refuses, his only concern being to play in the rugby game. Rangi and Dog decide to go looking for Jess themselves but are later separated. Rangi decides to go and get help from Wal, while Dog goes and looks for Jess, literally following in her footsteps. As the storm starts dying down, Cooch goes to feed his deer, but notices his stag is missing.

The next day, Rangi still tries to get help from Wal, but Wal wants "His Big Chance" to become an All Black, and so drives to the local rugby pitch with both Rangi and Pongo. During both the drive and the game, Rangi tries to come up with a plan to get Wal to the Murphys'. When one of Wal's players are sent to the hospital wing, Rangi chooses to play with Wal in order to steal the ball and get Wal to follow him. When Rangi grabs the ball and runs off, Wal follows him, but only because Pongo mentioned that the Murphys stole Cooch's stag, after eavesdropping on their conversation.

Meanwhile, Dog finds Jess under attack by rats, led by their leader, Vernon the Vermin. Soon, while running from the Murphy's dogs, Dog kills Vernon with a log. Rangi hitches a ride on the top of the Murphy's van and later arrives at the Murphy's farm. Rangi is captured by Irish Murphy and locked in a shed. Irish decides to kill Dog, Jess and Horse by following them to the river with a gun. Wal and Pongo arrive. Pongo goes to help Rangi, while Wal chases after Irish and Wal's goose chases after Wal. Spit Murphy tries to help by taking the helicopter, but it's destroyed and Spit is captured by Pongo and Rangi. Irish manages to shoot Horse, while Wal swings in to get Murphy. First he falls in a mud pit, then he saves Irish from drowning and then finally ends up getting bitten "on the freckle" by his goose.

Dog saves Jess from crocopigs, with the unconscious Horse on the raft. Later, they float to a bridge, where Wal, Pongo and Rangi attempt to bring them up. Fortunately, Rangi manages to get a hold of Jess, but misses Dog and Horse. They pick up Cooch and decide to try down the beach, but no luck. They all leave, with the exception of Jess. After they leave, Jess starts barking, so Wal, Cooch, Pongo and Rangi turn back. Dog and Horse, now recovered, are still alive and arrive at shore.

The movie ends with Dog and Jess walking past Major, Wal's pig dog, with puppies in tow.