Air Bud (series)

Air Bud
Original work	Air Bud (1997)
Owners	Air Bud Entertainment (original films, Air Buddies and Air Bud Returns) The Walt Disney Company (all other films)
Years	1997–present
Films and television
Film(s)	Air Bud (1997) Air Bud: Golden Receiver (1998) Air Bud Returns (2026)
Direct-to-video	Air Bud series Air Bud: World Pup (2000) Air Bud: Seventh Inning Fetch (2002) Air Bud: Spikes Back (2003) Air Buddies series Air Buddies (2006) Snow Buddies (2008) Space Buddies (2009) Santa Buddies (2009) Spooky Buddies (2011) Treasure Buddies (2012) Super Buddies (2013) Santa Paws series The Search for Santa Paws (2010) Santa Paws 2: The Santa Pups (2012)

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.

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

Kevin 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

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 Bud Returns	2026	Robert Vince				[12]
Air Buddies
Air Buddies	December 12, 2006	Robert Vince	Anna McRoberts & Robert Vince
Snow Buddies	February 5, 2008					[13]
Space Buddies	February 3, 2009					[14]
Santa Buddies	November 24, 2009					[6]
Spooky Buddies	September 20, 2011
Treasure Buddies	January 31, 2012					[15] [16]
Super Buddies	August 27, 2013
Santa Paws
The Search for Santa Paws	November 23, 2010	Robert Vince	Anna McRoberts & Robert Vince			[17]
Santa Paws 2: The Santa Pups	November 20, 2012

Recurring cast and characters

List indicators

This section includes characters who will appear or have appeared in more than two films in the series.

• An empty 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.

Characters	Air Bud film series						Buddies film series							Santa Paws film series
	Air Bud	Air Bud: Golden Receiver	Air Bud: World Pup	Air Bud: Seventh Inning Fetch	Air Bud Spikes Back	Air Bud Returns	Air Buddies	Snow Buddies	Space Buddies	Santa Buddies	Spooky Buddies	Treasure Buddies	Super Buddies	The Search for Santa Paws	Santa Paws 2: The Santa Pups
Buddy	Buddy	Rush Chase Zak Chance	Dakota Walker Shooter Tango Poacher	Shaq Dakota Shooter Sniper Tango	Bailey Brandy Charlie Walker	TBA	Tom Everett Scott V
Jackie Framm (Sullivan)	Wendy Makkena	Cynthia Stevenson	Chilton Crane	Cynthia Stevenson			Cynthia Stevenson
Josh Framm	Kevin Zegers
Tom Stewart	Shayn Solberg
Andrea Framm	Jessibelle and Katy Mather	Alyson MacLaren	Caitlin Wachs		Katija Pevec
Dr. Patrick Sullivan		Gregory Harrison	Dale Midkiff	Richard Karn	Alf Humphreys		Richard Karn
Molly			various Golden Retrievers				Molly Shannon V
Noah Sullivan				Hannah Marof and Emma Marof	Jake D. Smith		Slade Pearce	Dylan Minnette
Sheriff Bob				Patrick Cranshaw			Patrick Cranshaw
B-Dawg							Skyler Gisondo V						Cooper Roth V
Buddha							Dominic Scott Kay V	Jimmy Bennett V	Field Cate V		Charles Henry Wyson V		Tenzing Trainor V
Budderball							Josh Flitter V				Nico Ghisi V	Tucker Albrizzi V	Jeremy Shinder V
Mudbud							Spencer Fox V	Henry Hodges V		Ty Panitz V
Rosebud							Abigail Breslin V	Liliana Mumy V			G Hannelius V
Sniffer							Don Knotts V			Tim Conway V
Eli										Danny Woodburn				Danny Woodburn
Santa Claus										George Wendt				Richard Riehle	Pat Finn
Mrs. Claus														Patrika Darbo	Cheryl Ladd
Jacob						TBA

• Note: A dark gray cell indicates the character does not appear in the film.

Crew

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 Bud Returns (2026)	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	Robert Vince
Producer(s)	Robert Vince, Michael Strange, William Vince	Robert Vince	Ian Fodie	Anna McRoberts, Robert Vince		TBA	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	Robert Vince	Anna McRoberts, Robert Vince, Phil Hanley	Robert Vince, Anna McRoberts							Robert Vince, Anna McRoberts, Philip Fracassi
Story by				Robert Vince
Composer(s)	Brahm Wenger					TBA	Brahm Wenger		Brahm Wenger, Gregory Prechel	Brahm Wenger
Cinematographer	Mike Southon		Cyrus Block	Steve Adelson	Mike Southon	TBA	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		TBA	Kelly Herron, Jason Pielak	Kelly Herron				Jason Pielak	Kelly Herron

See also

• Gus (1976 film)
• MVP: Most Valuable Primate (2000 film)

References

1. Wolk, Josh (April 3, 1998). "Air Bud". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved May 11, 2011.
2. Finley, Adam (February 24, 2006). "Air Bud is Coming Back". AOL Moviefone. Archived from the original on June 12, 2012. Retrieved May 11, 2011.
3. 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.
4. McClintock, Pamela (April 3, 2014). "How Tinker Bell Became Disney's Stealthy $300 Million Franchise". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved December 18, 2017.
5. Goodridge, Mike (February 20, 2002). "Miramax gets in family way with Keystone". Screen Daily. Retrieved December 18, 2017.
6. Gardner, Eriq (December 23, 2011). "Lawsuit Claims Disney Ripped Off Films About Santa Claus' Dog". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved December 19, 2017.
7. "Air Bud (1997)". Yahoo! Movies. Archived from the original on July 22, 2010. Retrieved May 11, 2011.
8. "Air Bud: Golden Receiver". Fandango. Retrieved May 11, 2011.
9. "Air Bud: World Pup Plot Summary and Details". AOL Moviefone. Archived from the original on April 4, 2012. Retrieved May 11, 2011.
10. 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.
11. Tyner, Adam (June 24, 2003). "Air Bud Spikes Back". DVD Talk. Retrieved May 11, 2011.
12. Earl, William (July 24, 2025). "'Air Bud Returns': 15th Film in Franchise, From Cineverse and Air Bud Entertainment, Eyes 2026 Theatrical Release (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved July 24, 2025.
13. Kho, Nancy (December 20, 2010). "Snow Buddies". Common Sense Media. Retrieved May 11, 2011.
14. Orange, B. Alan (February 6, 2009). "Space Buddies DVD". MovieWeb. Archived from the original on September 29, 2012. Retrieved May 11, 2011.
15. "TREASURE BUDDIES Straight to DVD Feature". Association of Canadian Film Craftspeople. Retrieved October 1, 2011.
16. Katz, Josh (November 4, 2011). "Treasure Buddies Blu-ray". Blu-ray.com. Retrieved November 11, 2011.
17. Herman, Joly (November 23, 2010). "The Search for Santa Paws". Common Sense Media. Retrieved May 11, 2011.

External links

• Disney Buddies official website