The Air Bud film series (also known as Disney Buddies) is an American film franchise based on a sports-playing Golden Retriever named Buddy, portrayed by Buddy.[1] The franchise began in 1997 with the theatrical release of Air Bud, followed by the theatrical release of Air Bud: Golden Receiver in 1998.[1][2] Following the box office failure of Golden Receiver, the rest of the films in the series were released in direct-to-video form. The Air Buddies or Disney Buddies spin-off series began in 2006 with the release of Air Buddies and it focuses on the adventures of Buddy's talking Golden Retriever puppies.[2] The franchise features fourteen films (five of which were in the Air Bud series and seven in the Air Buddies series),[3] in addition to two Christmas spin-offs of the Air Buddies series.
| Air Bud | |
|---|---|
| Original work | Air Bud (1997) |
| Owners | Air Bud Entertainment (original films and Air Buddies) The Walt Disney Company (all other films) |
| Years | 1997–2013 |
| Films and television | |
| Film(s) |
|
| Direct-to-video | Air Bud series
Air Buddies series
Santa Paws series
|
Disney Buddies is one of the top direct-to-DVD franchises, just behind Disney Fairies at $300 million, with the first 12 films grossing $220 million by March 2014.[4]
History
editKevin DiCicco's Golden Retriever Buddy was featured on "America's Funniest Home Videos" and David Letterman's "Stupid Pet Tricks". He then (in 1991), approached the independent production company Keystone Entertainment to produce Air Bud, a film based on Buddy. He also formed his production company, Air Bud Productions, that year.[1] Disney's Miramax was brought on as the distribution company.[1][5] Keystone indicated that no sequel was planned. The film did well in the home video market.[1]
By April 1998, DiCicco and Robert Vince, the film's producer at Keystone, had a falling out, as Keystone and Vince had gone forward with a sequel, Air Bud: Golden Receiver, without DiCicco, who also claimed he wasn't paid anything for the first film and that he owns the Air Bud rights (based on the name of this production company name).
DiCicco bred three offspring of Buddy and trained them for sports like Buddy. The puppies were signed to an endorsement deal by DiCicco for Milk-Bone dog biscuits for puppies. He intended to make his own sequel, Air Bud: The Next Generation, which was scheduled to start production in the fall of 1999, with its concept being a "cross between Ferris Bueller and Home Alone".[1]
Disney and William Morris Agency were sued in December 2011 over the Santa Paws films being unauthorized copies of a 1991 script for Santa Paws: The Story of Santa's Dog.[6]
Film series
edit| Film | U.S. release date | Directed by | Screenplay by | Story by | Produced by | Refs. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Air Bud | |||||||
| Air Bud | August 1, 1997 | Charles Martin Smith | Paul Tamasy & Aaron Mendelssohn | Robert Vince and William Vince | [7] | ||
| Air Bud: Golden Receiver | August 14, 1998 | Richard Martin | Robert Vince | [8] | |||
| Air Bud: World Pup | December 12, 2000 | Bill Bannerman | Mike Whiting and Robert Vince & Anne Vince | Ian Fodie | [9] | ||
| Air Bud: Seventh Inning Fetch | June 18, 2002 | Robert Vince | Sara Sutton & Stephanie Isherwood and Anne Vince & Anna McRoberts | Robert Vince | Robert Vince and Anna McRoberts | [10] | |
| Air Bud: Spikes Back | June 24, 2003 | Mike Southon | Anne Vince & Anna McRoberts | Anna McRoberts, Robert Vince and Benjamin Kutz | [11] | ||
| Air Buddies | |||||||
| Air Buddies | December 12, 2006 | Robert Vince | Anna McRoberts & Robert Vince | ||||
| Snow Buddies | February 5, 2008 | [12] | |||||
| Space Buddies | February 3, 2009 | [13] | |||||
| Santa Buddies | November 24, 2009 | [6] | |||||
| Spooky Buddies | September 20, 2011 | ||||||
| Treasure Buddies | January 31, 2012 | [14][15] | |||||
| Super Buddies | August 27, 2013 | ||||||
| Santa Paws | |||||||
| The Search for Santa Paws | November 23, 2010 | Robert Vince | Anna McRoberts & Robert Vince | [16] | |||
| Santa Paws 2: The Santa Pups | November 20, 2012 | ||||||
Recurring cast and characters
editThis section includes characters who will appear or have appeared in more than two films in the series.
- An empty, dark grey cell indicates the character was not in the film, or that the character's official presence has not yet been confirmed.
- V indicates a voice-only role.
- Note: A dark gray cell indicates the character does not appear in the film.
Crew
edit| Credited as | Air Bud film series | Spin-offs | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Air Buddies film series | Santa Paws film series | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Air Bud (1997) |
Air Bud: Golden Receiver (1998) |
Air Bud: World Pup (2000) |
Air Bud: Seventh Inning Fetch (2002) |
Air Bud: Spikes Back (2003) |
Air Buddies (2006) |
Snow Buddies (2008) |
Space Buddies (2009) |
Santa Buddies: Here Comes Santa Paws/The Legend of Santa Paws (2009) |
Spooky Buddies (2011) |
Treasure Buddies (2012) |
Super Buddies (2013) |
The Search for Santa Paws (2010) |
Santa Paws 2: The Santa Pups (2012) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Director | Charles Martin Smith | Richard Martin | Bill Bannerman | Robert Vince | Mike Southon | Robert Vince | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Producer(s) | Robert Vince, Michael Strange, William Vince |
Robert Vince | Ian Fodie | Anna McRoberts, Robert Vince | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Screenwriter(s) | Paul Tamasy, Aaron Mendelsohn |
Mike Whiting, Robert Vince, Anne Vince |
Sara Sutton, Stephanie Isherwood, Anne Vince, Anna McRoberts |
Anne Vince, Anna McRoberts |
Anna McRoberts, Robert Vince, Phil Hanley |
Robert Vince, Anna McRoberts |
Robert Vince, Anna McRoberts, Philip Fracassi | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Story by | Robert Vince | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Composer(s) | Brahm Wenger | Brahm Wenger, Gregory Prechel |
Brahm Wenger | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cinematographer | Mike Southon | Cyrus Block | Steve Adelson | Mike Southon | Kamal Derkaoui | Mike Southon | Kamal Derkaoui | Mark Irwin | Kamal Derkaoui | Mark Irwin | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Editor(s) | Alison Vince | Bruce Lange, Melinda Seabrook |
Kelly Herron, Laura Mazur |
Kelly Herron, Jason Pielak |
Kelly Herron | Jason Pielak | Kelly Herron | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b c d e f Wolk, Josh (April 3, 1998). "Air Bud". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved May 11, 2011.
- ^ a b Finley, Adam (February 24, 2006). "Air Bud is Coming Back". AOL Moviefone. Archived from the original on June 12, 2012. Retrieved May 11, 2011.
- ^ Strowbridge, C.S. (August 26, 2013). "DVD and Blu-ray Releases for August 27th, 2013 - The Numbers". The Numbers. Nash Information Services, LLC. Retrieved December 18, 2017.
- ^ McClintock, Pamela (April 3, 2014). "How Tinker Bell Became Disney's Stealthy $300 Million Franchise". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved December 18, 2017.
- ^ Goodridge, Mike (February 20, 2002). "Miramax gets in family way with Keystone". Screen Daily. Retrieved December 18, 2017.
- ^ a b Gardner, Eriq (December 23, 2011). "Lawsuit Claims Disney Ripped Off Films About Santa Claus' Dog". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved December 19, 2017.
- ^ "Air Bud (1997)". Yahoo! Movies. Archived from the original on July 22, 2010. Retrieved May 11, 2011.
- ^ "Air Bud: Golden Receiver". Fandango. Retrieved May 11, 2011.
- ^ "Air Bud: World Pup Plot Summary and Details". AOL Moviefone. Archived from the original on April 4, 2012. Retrieved May 11, 2011.
- ^ Buzz McClain (2008). "Air Bud: Seventh Inning Fetch". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 31, 2008. Retrieved May 11, 2011.
- ^ Tyner, Adam (June 24, 2003). "Air Bud Spikes Back". DVD Talk. Retrieved May 11, 2011.
- ^ Kho, Nancy (December 20, 2010). "Snow Buddies". Common Sense Media. Retrieved May 11, 2011.
- ^ Orange, B. Alan (February 6, 2009). "Space Buddies DVD". MovieWeb. Archived from the original on September 29, 2012. Retrieved May 11, 2011.
- ^ "TREASURE BUDDIES Straight to DVD Feature". Association of Canadian Film Craftspeople. Retrieved October 1, 2011.
- ^ Katz, Josh (November 4, 2011). "Treasure Buddies Blu-ray". Blu-ray.com. Retrieved November 11, 2011.
- ^ Herman, Joly (November 23, 2010). "The Search for Santa Paws". Common Sense Media. Retrieved May 11, 2011.
External links
edit- Disney Buddies official website