Air Bud (1997)

Director:

Charles Martin Smith

Writers (WGA):

Kevin DiCicco (character "Air Bud")
Paul Tamasy (written by) ...

Release Date:

1 August 1997 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Family | Sport

Tagline:

He Sits. He Stays. He Shoots. He Scores.

Plot:

A young boy and a talented stray dog with an amazing basketball playing ability become instant friends...

Plot Keywords:

Basketball | Young Boy | Golden Retriever | Dog | Sports Team

Awards:

3 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

Michael Jeter	...	Norm Snively
Kevin Zegers	...	Josh Framm
Wendy Makkena	...	Jackie Framm
Bill Cobbs	...	Arthur Chaney
Eric Christmas	...	Judge Cranfield
Jay Brazeau	...	Referee 1
Nicola Cavendish	...	Principal Pepper
Brendan Fletcher	...	Larry Willingham
Norman Browning	...	Buck Willingham
Stephen E. Miller	...	Coach Barker
Shayn Solberg	...	Tom
Chris Turner	...	Greg
Christine Kennedy	...	Melissa
Frank C. Turner	...	Bailiff
Marion Dodd	...	Reporter (as Marian Dodd)

Also Known As:

Disney's Air Bud (USA) (complete title)
MVP (Most Valuable Pooch)
Tobby le joueur étoile (Canada: French title)

MPAA:

Rated PG for brief mild language.

Runtime:

98 min

Country:

USA | Canada

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Singapore:PG | Portugal:M/4 | South Korea:All | USA:PG (Certificate #35487) | Sweden:7 (TV rating) | Argentina:Atp | Belgium:KT | France:U | Iceland:L | Mexico:A | Netherlands:AL | Spain:T | Switzerland:7 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:7 (canton of Vaud)

Filming Locations:

Lord Kitchener Elementary School, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Company:

Walt Disney Pictures

Trivia:

Filmed in only a month.

Goofs:

Continuity: Close to the end of the finals, if you look close at the scoreboard during the wide shot of play, you can see the countdown, but when we see the scoreboard in closeup, it shows it at 5 seconds even though it already had gone past 5 seconds.

Quotes:

Referee #1: Ain't no rules says a dog can't play basketball.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Saturday Night Live: Ray Liotta/The Donnas (#28.10)" (2003)

Soundtrack:

Splish Splash

Irresistible and Likeable0.

I wasn't expecting Air Bud to be all that good, after the disappointment of the other kiddie film, Soccer Dog, but I found this film weirdly impressive, to be quite honest.

Josh (Kevin Zegers) is an introverted 12-year-old whose test pilot dad has been killed, necessitating a family move to the leafy Washington suburb of Fernfield. Here, he meets Buddy, a stray retriever, who can score baskets with his nose and is adopted into the family home. Buddy's ball skills soon cheer Josh up and ingratiate him with his peers, and they both make the Timberwolves school team. Conflict arrives in the form of Buddy's previous cruel owner Snively (Michael Jeter), a children's entertainer of the Fred West school.

The direction is sloppy, the actors overact and the result is cheese on a stick, but Air Bud still manages to entertain adults and children throughout the perfectly short running time. The story of a basketball-playing dog is magnificent, and Buddy is an irresistible golden retriever, he makes the film as watchable as it ever will be.

You'll cry, you'll laugh and you'll be weirdly uplifted, but don't expect to be absolutely spellbound with Air Bud. But I do still recommend it, that's for sure.

I rate Air Bud 7 out of 10.