Movie Type: Animal Picture, Family-Oriented Comedy
Themes: Talented Animals, Man's Best Friend, Death of a Parent
Main Cast: Michael Jeter, Kevin Zegers, Wendy Makkena, Bill Cobbs, Eric Christmas
Release Year: 1997
Country: US
Run Time: 97 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
Plot
The heartwarming story of a boy, his dog and a basketball forms the basis of this family comedy from Disney. Snively (Michael Jeter) is an unfunny clown whose appearances at children's parties are usually upstaged by his dog Buddy, who has learned how to shoot a basketball. Snively is tired of being upstaged by the pooch, and he eventually abandons him. Buddy is taken in by Josh (Kevin Zegers), a shy boy whose father recently died. Josh's mother Jackie (Wendy Makkena) moves them to a small town in Washington, where the naturally withdrawn Josh doesn't quite fit in. Too shy to try out for the basketball team, he instead becomes team manager, and he practices on his own after the team goes home. One night, Josh discovers Buddy that can not only shoot hoops, but he's a better shot than anyone on the team. Coach Barker (Stephen E. Miller), hungry for victory, adds Buddy to the team and soon the dog with game is famous -- just famous enough, in fact, for Snively to return, demanding the return of his pet. Buddy the Dog was spotted by the film's producers shooting baskets on the "Stupid Pet Tricks" segment of The Late Show with David Letterman. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Review
A dog who can sink jumpers had to end up in a movie sooner or later, and Air Bud might as well be that movie. Jordan he's not, but Buddy the Dog does have an amazing sense of aim, and screenwriters Aaron Mendelsohn and Paul Tamasy cobble together a reasonable enough story to explain it all. But Air Bud is clearly meant for the younger tykes, with its hissable villains (Michael Jeter as the sour clown, overacting; Brendan Fletcher as the loudmouth bully) and its Lassie-like message about the healing power of owning a pet. In other words, hoops fans should look elsewhere if they want some good game action to cheer. However, anyone who was excited to see a movie about a basketball-playing golden receiver in the first place will probably be pleased as pie. Actor Charles Martin Smith (Never Cry Wolf) helms his first big-budget feature effectively enough to have scored modestly at the box office and prompted two sequels to date, which he did not direct. Also leaving the franchise, although not by choice, was the talented pup, who died of cancer shortly after the film's release. ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide
Brendan Fletcher - Larry Willingham; Norman Browning - Buck Willingham; Jay Brazeau - Referee; Stephen E. Miller - Coach Joe Barker; Nicola Cavendish - Principal Pepper; Shayn Solberg - Tom Stewart
Credit
Eric Fraser - Art Director, James A. Jusko - Associate Producer, Elisa Goodman - Casting, Abra Edelman - Casting, Jana Stern - Costume Designer, Kelsey T. Howard - First Assistant Director, Charles Martin Smith - Director, Richard Martin - Second Unit Director, Alison Grace - Editor, Bob Weinstein - Executive Producer, Harvey Weinstein - Executive Producer, Michael Strange - Executive Producer, Anne Vince - Executive Producer, Brahm Wenger - Composer (Music Score), Elizabeth Wilcox - Production Designer, Mike Southon - Cinematographer, Robert Vince - Producer, William Vince - Producer, David Chiasson - Set Designer, Ruth Huddleston - Sound/Sound Designer, Aaron Mendelsohn - Screenwriter, Paul Tamasy - Screenwriter, James A. Jusko - Production Executive
Air Bud is the 1997film that sparked the franchise centered around the real-life dog, Buddy, a Golden Retriever. The film's title may be wordplay with "Air Jordan", a nickname of basketball superstar Michael Jordan. Michael Jeter, despite playing the main antagonist, received top billing.
The original film was financially successful, despite being defeated by Air Force One for the #1 spot on the film's opening weekend, grossing US$4 million in its opening weekend and totaling US$24 million for its final run, against an estimated $3 million budget.[1][2] On Cartoon Craze's Top 50 Movies of All-Time, Air Bud came in at number two behind Toy Story.[citation needed]
The plot revolves around a 12-year-old boy, Josh Framm. After the death of his father, Josh moves with his family to Washington State and is too shy to try out for his middle school's basketball team and too shy to make any friends. He meets Buddy, a Golden Retriever who had escaped from his cruel owner, an alcoholicclown named Norman Snively, who had locked Buddy in a kennel after a bad birthday party and was taking him to the pound when the kennel fell off the truck. Josh soon learns that Bud has the ability to play basketball. Josh's mom initially only agrees to let him keep the dog until Christmas and she plans to send him to the pound if the true owner isn't found. However, Josh's mother sees how much Josh loves Buddy. When Josh wakes up on Christmas Day and Buddy is not in his room, he goes downstairs and sees Buddy with a bow on his head. She gives Buddy to Josh as a Christmas present.
Josh wants to join the basketball team but chickens out at the last minute and becomes the water boy. After two slots are opened up and learning of Buddy's talent, Josh tries out despite the coach's reluctance and makes the team. At his first game Buddy shows up and disrupts the game and causes mayhem, but the audience loves him. After the game Buddy finds the team's coach abusing Tom, one of Josh's fellow teammates and friend who gave him a lucky orange peel he got at a Seattle SuperSonics game. The coach is fired and replaced by the school's engineer who Josh discovers is a former New York Knicks player. Buddy becomes the mascot of Josh's school's basketball team and begins appearing in their halftime shows. But just before the championship game, Buddy's original owner, Snively, tricks his mom and steals Buddy from Josh. Josh then infiltrates Snively's backyard where Buddy is. Snively initially can't see Josh due to a stack of cans on his windowsill until it falls and Josh is caught infiltrating Snively's backyard. Josh gets Buddy off, causing Snively to chase Josh in his clown truck. The chase rages on to a parking lot near a lake, during which the van's steering wheel is accidentally taken off, causing Snively and his clown truck to fall into the water but he doesn't drown. A few minutes after the chase, Josh then decides to set him free to find someone else. Initially, his team is losing at the championship until Buddy shows up. When it is discovered that there is no rule that a dog cannot play basketball, Buddy joins the roster to lead the team to a come from behind championship victory.
Snively sues the Framm family for custody of Buddy. Fortunately, at the suggestion of Josh's coach, who the judge was a fan of, it is decided that the dog will choose who will be its rightful owner. During the calling, Snively takes out his roll of newspaper, which he often used to beat Buddy, and snaps at him, causing Buddy to attack Snively and run towards Josh. The judge grants custody of Buddy to Josh while Snively is dragged away by the police.
Sequels and spin-offs
The film generated one theater-released sequel and many direct-to-video sequels and a spin-off. In each film, Buddy learns to play a different sport.
The following list indicates the sequel, its position in the series, and which sport and theme is featured in it:
