Air Bud

For the film series, see Air Bud (series).

Air Bud
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Charles Martin Smith
Produced by	Robert Vince William Vince
Written by	Paul Tamasy Aaron Mendelsohn
Based on	Air Buddy by Kevin DiCicco
Starring	Michael Jeter Kevin Zegers Wendy Makkena Eric Christmas Bill Cobbs Buddy
Music by	Brahm Wenger
Cinematography	Mike Southon
Edited by	Alison Grace
Production company	Buddy Films, Inc.
Distributed by	Buena Vista Pictures Distribution (United States) Malofilm (Canada)
Release date	August 1, 1997
Running time	98 minutes
Country	United States Canada
Language	English
Budget	$3 million
Box office	$27,771,629

Air Bud is a 1997 American-Canadian sports comedy film directed by Charles Martin Smith. It sparked the franchise centered on the real-life dog Air Buddy, a cross-bred Golden Retriever, who shoots basketball hoops and appears as Buddy. The film was financially successful, grossing $4 million in its opening weekend and totaling $27.8 million in its run against an estimated $3 million budget.

Plot

Alcoholic clown Norm Snively and his Golden Retriever are doing a show at a child's birthday party. After the dog accidentally causes havoc at the party, Snively angrily takes him to a dog pound, but the kennel falls out of his truck, rendering the dog homeless. Meanwhile, 12-year-old Josh Framm has relocated with his mother Jackie and two-year-old sister Andrea from Virginia to Fernfield, Washington. Due to heartbreak over the recent death of his father, a pilot who died in a plane crash during a test flight due to fuel shortage, Josh is too shy to make any friends or to try out for his middle school's basketball team, the Timberwolves. However, he accepts an offer from Coach Joe Barker to become the basketball team's manager. Josh practices basketball by himself in a makeshift court that he sets up in an abandoned allotment, where he meets the dog and names him Buddy. He soon discovers that Buddy has the uncanny ability to play basketball, and decides to let Buddy come home with him. Jackie agrees to let him keep Buddy until Christmas and she plans to send him to the pound if his rightful owner is not located; however, she sees how loyal Buddy is and how much Josh loves him, so on Christmas, Jackie lets Josh keep Buddy as a present.

Following Christmas, Josh finds a tryout invitation in his locker and further realizes Buddy's talent when he discovers that he can actually shoot a hoop. These facts together prompt Josh to try out, and he gets a place on the team. At his first game, he befriends teammate Tom Stewart, but earns the disdain of star player Larry Willingham. Meanwhile, Buddy leaves the backyard, goes to the school and shows up while the game is underway. He runs into the court, disrupting the game and causing mayhem, but the audience loves him after he scores a basket.

Buddy is caught by Josh after the game, and later witnesses Coach Barker abusing Tom by violently pelting him with basketballs in an attempt to make him catch better. Buddy leads Josh, Jackie, and the school principal, Ms. Pepper, to the scene. As a result, Coach Barker is fired and replaced by the school's kind-hearted engineer, former NBA player Arthur Chaney, at Josh's suggestion. Chaney implements changes which include benching Larry during a game for constant ball-hogging. Angered by Chaney's decision, Buck Willingham, Larry's overbearing father, forces Larry to leave the team. Buddy becomes the mascot of the school's basketball team and begins appearing in their halftime shows. After the Timberwolves lose one game, the team has subsequent success and qualifies for the State Final.

Snively learns about Buddy's newfound fame and hopes to profit off of it. Just before the championship game, Snively meets Jackie and forces her to hand over Buddy as he has papers proving that he is Buddy's legal owner. Realizing they do not have a choice, Jackie forces Josh to do the right thing and give Buddy back to Snively, but regrets doing so after seeing her son depressed and withdrawn. Josh eventually decides to retrieve Buddy and sneaks into Snively's backyard, where the dog has been chained up and beaten with a rolled-up newspaper. Snively catches the two escaping and pursues them in his dilapidated clown truck, but the brakes and steering fail, sending Snively crashing into a lake; he survives, and swears his revenge. Josh then decides to set Buddy free in the forest to find a new home. Initially, his team is losing at the championship match to the opposing team, which Larry has joined, and are down to four players due to injuries. Buddy shows up at the game, and when it is discovered that there is no rule banning a dog from playing basketball, Buddy joins the roster and leads the team to championship victory, with Josh scoring a three pointer at the buzzer for the win.

Snively sues the Framm family for custody of Buddy despite lack of ownership papers, which were ruined when he crashed into the lake. Josh tells Judge Cranfield about his witnessing of the abuse that Buddy received from Snively. Despite hearing arguments, Cranfield does not believe that either side has any real evidence in claiming ownership to Buddy. However, Chaney arrives and suggests that they let Buddy choose his owner. As a fan of Chaney, Cranfield accepts his proposal. After Buddy rips up the newspaper that Snively used to abuse him, he chooses Josh as his owner. Cranfield rules in the Framms' favor and declares the case closed. Snively is arrested for animal cruelty, while Josh and the rest of the citizens rejoice and gather around Buddy to welcome him to his new home.

Cast

• Michael Jeter as Norm Snively
• Kevin Zegers as Josh Framm
• Wendy Makkena as Jackie Framm
• Bill Cobbs as Coach Arthur Chaney
• Eric Christmas as Judge Cranfield
• Nicola Cavendish as Principal Pepper
• Brendan Fletcher as Larry Willingham
• Norman Browning as Buck Willingham
• Stephen E. Miller as Coach Joe Barker
• Shayn Solberg as Tom Stewart
• Jessibelle Mather and Kati Mather as Andrea Framm
• Buddy/Air-Bud as Buddy

Home media

Air Bud was released to VHS on December 23, 1997, and to DVD on February 3, 1998 (with an open matte aspect ratio). It was released again on March 3, 2009, in a special edition DVD set that presents the film in its original theatrical aspect ratio. The special edition DVD also includes commentary from Buddy and his puppies, as the series had introduced speaking animals by that time. It was released direct-to-video in October 1999 in the UK by Warner Home Video under the Warner Bros. Family Entertainment label.

Mill Creek Entertainment released the movie on Blu-ray on January 14, 2020 alongside the movie being re-released in a 2-disc boxset also containing the other Air Bud movies owned by Air Bud Entertainment.

Reception

The film received mixed reviews. It holds a Rotten Tomatoes score of 45% based on 22 reviews, with an average rating of 5.2/10. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.

Sequels and spin-offs

Main article: Air Bud (series)

The film was followed by one theatrical sequel, three direct-to-video sequels and a spin-off film series. In each film, Buddy learns to play a different sport while the spin offs focus on Buddy's children, the Buddies.

External links

• Official website
• Air Bud on IMDb
• Air Bud at Rotten Tomatoes
• Air Bud at Box Office Mojo
• Air Bud at AllMovie