Santa Buddies
| Santa Buddies | |
|---|---|
 DVD cover art | |
| Directed by | Robert Vince |
| Produced by |
Robert Vince Anna McRoberts |
| Written by |
Robert Vince Anna McRoberts |
| Based on |
Characters by Paul Tamasy Aaron Mendelsohn Kevin DiCicco Robert Vince Anna McRoberts |
| Starring |
Zachary Gordon Josh Flitter Tom Bosley George Wendt Quinn Lord Christopher Lloyd Danny Woodburn Tim Conway Liliana Mumy Ty Panitz Field Cate Skyler Gisondo Richard Kind Kaitlyn Maher |
| Music by | Brahm Wenger |
| Cinematography | Kamal Derkaoui |
| Edited by | Kelly Herron |
Production company |
Keystone Entertainment Key Pix Productions |
| Distributed by | Walt Disney Home Entertainment |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 88 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Santa Buddies[1] is a 2009 direct to video film. It is the fourth installment of the Air Buddies spin-off series as well as the ninth film in the Air Bud franchise.[2] It was released on November 2, 2009. Tom Bosley's appearance in the film was his final role before his death.
Plot
At the North Pole, Santa Claus (George Wendt) and his dog Santa Paws (Tom Bosley) take a look at the magical Christmas Icicle, which is melting because nobody believes in Christmas anymore; if it continues to melt, Christmas will be gone forever.
Puppy Paws (Zachary Gordon), the fun-loving son of Santa Paws, stares at the icicle stating "I wish Christmas would just disappear," causing it to crack. He finds Budderball (Josh Flitter) on Santa's naughty list for eating the Thanksgiving turkey and figures he's just the dog to show him how to be an ordinary puppy. Meanwhile, the Christmas Icicle makes a big crack, shuts off the power at the North Pole, and makes the reindeer weak and powerless.
Budderball and the other Buddies (Field Cate, Liliana Mumy, Skyler Gisondo, Ty Panitz), also lacking Christmas spirit, believe that their father is Santa Paws in disguise, and that the naughty list is a way to scare them to behave. However, Sniffer (Tim Conway) replies that Christmas is about giving and a holiday they must learn to respect.
Puppy Paws makes it to Fernfield to find Budderball in his home. Budderball introduces Puppy Paws to his brothers and sister. The North Pole puppy causes trouble to each of the Buddies: Budderball gets framed for eating the gingerbread cookies as he tries to get back on the nice list, B-Dawg gets beaten by Puppy Paws at dancing and breaks a vase, Puppy Paws shakes dirt out of his fur in the living room after being taught by Mudbud to roll in the dirt, Rosebud gets an extreme Christmas makeover, and Buddha's meditation statue is turned into a snowman as Puppy Paws explains that the snowman is "what citizens of the North Pole meditate in front of".
The Buddies want Puppy Paws to leave. But they learn that Puppy Paws isn't hurting them as they are hurting themselves and decide to treat him with compassion. Puppy Paws gets dognapped by dog catcher Stan Cruge (Christopher Lloyd), who takes him to the pound. There, Puppy Paws meets a puppy named Tiny (Kaitlyn Maher) who is wishing for a Christmas miracle and sings a song about miracles, which teaches Puppy Paws about the true meaning of Christmas.
The Buddies, along with an elf dog named Eddy (Richard Kind), come to the rescue. Eddy tells Cruge that he knows the dog catcher always wanted a puppy for Christmas, but his mother was allergic to dogs and never got one, which made Cruge hate Christmas and become a dog catcher.
With help from an elf named Eli (Danny Woodburn), Christmas spirit returns, the Christmas Icicle stops melting, and the North Pole is back in business. Puppy Paws and the Buddies make it to the North Pole. The reindeer are unable to fly, and Puppy Paws and the Buddies volunteer to save Christmas with their uncanny abilities (the Buddies remembered what Shasta taught them). A changed Mr. Cruge brings Tiny over to the child who has been asking for a puppy as a Christmas present. Tiny says her goodbyes to the Buddies and Puppy Paws. After their last delivery, Santa Claus and Santa Paws arrive in Fernfield. Santa puts the Buddies (including Budderball) on top of the nice list, Puppy Paws becomes part of Santa's family, and the Buddies say farewell.
Mr. Cruge is invited to dinner with Tiny's new family. The movie ends with the entire town, led by Cruge, singing "Silent Night" in front of Fernfield's Christmas Tree.
Cast
- George Wendt as Santa Claus
- Christopher Lloyd as Stan Cruge
- Danny Woodburn as Eli
- Quinn Lord as Pete
- Ryan Grantham as Sam
- Andrew Astor as Mikey
- Sophia Ludwig as Alice
- Gig Morton as Billy
- Craig Anton as Bob
- Michael Teigen as Sheriff Dan
Voice cast
- Zachary Gordon as Puppy Paws, Santa Paw's son
- Tom Bosley as Santa Paws, a Great Pyrenees
- Tim Conway as Sniffer
- Josh Flitter as Budderball
- Liliana Mumy as Rosebud
- Ty Panitz as Mudbud (Jonathan Morgan Heit when singing)
- Field Cate as Buddha
- Skyler Gisondo as B-Dawg
- Richard Kind as Eddy, a Jack Russell Terrier
- Kaitlyn Maher as Tiny, a Yorkshire Terrier
- Chris Coppola as Comet, a Reindeer
Sequels
A prequel called The Search for Santa Paws was released on November 23, 2010.[3]
Spooky Buddies was released on September 20, 2011 as a Halloween movie, featuring the Buddies in a new adventure filled with curses, ghosts, and mayhem, and an attempt to stop Warwick the Warlock and the Halloween Hound. Treasure Buddies was released on January 31, 2012 as an Indiana Jones-like movie, featuring the Buddies in another new adventure trying to stop Cleocatra in Egypt.
References
- ↑ Santa Buddies website
- ↑ Holiday Movie Guide IMDb Listing of all nine films 1997 through 2009.
- ↑ The Search for Santa Paws at disneydvd plot summary; trailer