The Animated Film Dog Gone Trouble is a subtle yet adorable journey of a dog who has never witnessed street life. He was groomed under the care of a wealthy older woman and, thus, was daily pampered. Trouble considered “himself” the luckiest dog in the world until his fate meets a tragedy.
Directed by Kevin Johnson, the story follows an adorable but challenging life of pets (mostly dogs). Originally released in 2019, the film was dedicated to Linus, the dog-pet of executive director Conrad Vernon. Netflix digitally distributes the film under the title Dog Gone Trouble (originally titled, Trouble).
‘Dog Gone Trouble’ Summary
The golden days of Trouble come to an end after the death of his owner, Mrs Sarah Vanderwhoozie. Soon, the wolfish niece and nephew, Claire and Norbert, show up at the mansion to inherit Sarah’s property. But in their excitement to get rich, they sell off Sarah’s belongingness and accidentally kick out her beloved pet, Trouble.
A stray Trouble ends up in the wilderness alone. Sly squirrels and despicable humans threaten him mercilessly. The pampered pet finally faces the reality of the world. However, in the mansion, Sarah’s lawyer informs the greedy relatives that to inherit their aunt’s property, they will have to gain the trust of her pet, Trouble. The lawyer gives them three days to establish a bond. But they are unaware of the pet’s whereabouts. It is how the real chase starts.
Major Spoilers Ahead
Ending Explained
Finally, Trouble finds a new home. It is the house of a struggling singer, Zoe Bell. But the happiness is short-lived. An animal hunter working for Claire and Norbert tries to abduct the dog from Zoe’s apartment. In a failed attempt, he messes up with Zoe’s house, for which Trouble was blamed. The pet-hating land owner compels Zoe to kick out the dog, and she has to comply. Trouble is sent to a dog pound from where the hunter abducts him.
To everyone’s surprise, Zoe shows up at the dog pound to reclaim Trouble, but he is long gone. The stray dogs decide to repair Trouble and Zoe’s relationship. They broke out of the pound and informed Zoe about his whereabouts. However, she has to choose whether to go out looking for “trouble” or participate in the singing competition, which will boost her career.
Zoe ends up choosing Trouble in the end. Sarah’s lawyer finds their bonding incredibly strong and hands over the ownership of the pet and the property to Zoe. Sarah’s butler also adopts a stray dog, Rousey. Her backstory is a pivotal point in the film as it creates doubt in the pets’ minds regarding humans. After she was thrown away by her owners, Rousey had been living a street life. She stopped trusting humans, but Trouble and Zoe’s bonding changed her mind. The message being, not all humans are “mean,” and similarly, not all dogs are scary. It is just how one perceives the world.
At last, Zoe uses the inherited money to renew the dog garden. She dedicates the new park to Sarah and changes its name to The Vanderwhoozie Dog Park. The two homeless buddies, the artist and the dog, finally get a place to call home. The film symbolically underlines that if one truly pursues something, he/she will surely get what they deserve.
Zoe performs her song in the same park and gets recognized by the famed singer-songwriter. All the stray dogs get a new home. Thus, a happy end, after all.
Dog Gone Trouble (originally titled Trouble) is an animated film directed by Kevin Johnson. It is streaming on Netflix.
