Soccer Dog: The Movie (1999)

A heart-warming comedy about the friendship between the new kid in town and a soccer-playing dog on the lam from the dog-catcher. It's up to these two underdogs to win the PeeWee Soccer League championship game.

Director:

Tony Giglio

Writer:

Daniel Forman

Stars:

James Marshall, Olivia d'Abo, Jeremy Foley

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
James Marshall	...	Alden
Olivia d'Abo	...	Elena
Jeremy Foley	...	Clay
Sam McMurray	...	Coach Shaw
Burton Gilliam	...	The Mail Man
Billy Drago	...	(Damon Fleming) The Dog Catcher
Kyle Gibson	...	Vince
Evan Matthew Cohen	...	Sonny (as Evan Cohen)
Brocker Way	...	Berger
Bill Capizzi	...	Vito
Kirk Baily	...	Ref
Brad Grunberg	...	Fundersburk
Carrie Genzel	...	Reporter
Franklin Dennis Jones	...	Coach Brody
Douglas S. Ornstein	...	The Fan (as Doug Ornstein)

Storyline

A successful man with nostalgia for his days as a soccer player attempts to adopt an orphan so he can teach him all about his favorite sport. But soon after bringing the lad home, the new father is disappointed to discover that the lad is not interested in playing soccer. This creates tension, until a stray dog with a remarkable talent for playing soccer shows up and helps to bring father and new son together.

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Plot Keywords:

soccer | dog | animal actor | boyfriend girlfriend relationship | dog actor | 

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Taglines:

There may be 101 Dalmatians but there's only 1 Soccer Dog!

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Genres:

Comedy | Family | Sport

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for mild thematic elements

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 February 1999 (USA)

Also Known As:

Soccer Dog, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying & Love the Pooch

Box Office

Budget:

$500,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Callisto Entertainment, John Brister Productions, Watershed Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

98 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Connections

References Escape to Victory (1981)

User Reviews

"Replaced"-as seen by an adopted child

OK, we were going along with the stereotypical bad orphanage experience and explaining to our son, adopted from Russia, that this was over-the-top acting and dramatization, so we could get to the dog playing soccer (since he plays soccer). But the last scene, in which the dog goes back to his original owner put my son over the edge and he cried for 15-20 minutes, "he's been replaced!!!!" This from an elementary child. I DO NOT recommend this movie to any family that has an adopted child; it displays adoption, orphanages and adults badly--and in the end, even though they win the game--the dog that the boy bonded with has to leave--and this is too much. PLEASE be wary if you have any adopted children, and beware families with biological children, because the impression of children who are adopted is not positive and paints a stereotype that is unhealthy and nasty. (The dog is cute, but not enough to save our family's reaction to this movie....)