Air Bud - wikipedia Air Bud For the film series, see Air Bud ( series ). Air Bud Theatrical release poster Directed by Charles Martin Smith Produced by Robert Vince Michael Strange William Vince Written by Paul Tamasy Aaron Mendelsohn Based on Air Buddy by Kevin DiCicco Starring Buddy Michael Jeter Kevin Zegers Wendy Makkena Eric Christmas Bill Cobbs Music by Brahm Wenger Cinematography Mike Southon Edited by Alison Grace Production company Walt Disney Pictures ( United States / International ) Keystone Entertainment Distributed by Buena Vista Pictures Distribution, Inc. ( United States / International ) Warner Bros. Pictures ( United Kingdom ) Release date August 1, 1997 Running time 100 minutes Country United States Canada Language English Budget $3 million Box office $27,771,629 Air Bud is a 1997 Walt Disney Pictures comedy film that sparked the franchise centered on the real - life dog, Air Buddy, a cross-bred Golden Retriever, who shoots basketball hoops and appears as Old Blue / Buddy, The film was financially successful, grossing $4 million in its opening weekend and totaling $27.8 million in its run, against an estimated $3 million budget. Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast 3 Home video release 4 Reception 5 Sequels and spin - offs 6 References 7 External links Plot Norm Snively, an alcoholic clown, and his Golden Retriever, Old Blue, are doing a show at a child 's birthday party. After Old Blue causes havoc at the party, Snively angrily takes him in a kennel to a dog pound, until the kennel falls out of his truck. Old Blue is homeless until he meets 12 - year - old Josh Framm. After the death of his father, a pilot who died in a plane crash during a test flight due to fuel shortage, Josh has relocated with his mother Jackie and two - year - old sister Andrea from Virginia to Fernfield, Washington. Due to heartbreak over his father 's death, he is too shy to try out for his middle school 's basketball team and to make any friends. He instead becomes the basketball team 's manager, an awkward offer by Coach Joe Barker which he accepts. He practices basketball by himself in a makeshift court that he sets up in an abandoned allotment, where he meets Old Blue and renames him Buddy. Josh soon discovers that Buddy has the uncanny ability to play basketball, and decides to let Buddy come home with him. Jackie agrees to let him keep Buddy until Christmas and she plans to send him to the pound if his rightful owner is not located ; however, she sees how loyal Buddy is and how much Josh loves him. On Christmas, Jackie lets Josh keep Buddy as a present. Following Christmas, Josh finds a tryout invitation in his locker and further realizes Buddy 's talent when he discovers that he can actually shoot a hoop. These facts together prompt Josh to try out, and he gets a place on the team. At his first game, he befriends teammate Tom Stewart, but earns the disdain of star player and team bully Larry Willingham. Meanwhile, Buddy leaves the backyard, goes to the school and shows up while the game is underway. He runs into the court, disrupts the game, and causes mayhem, but the audience loves him after he scores a basket. Buddy is later caught by Josh after the game. Soon after, the dog witnesses Coach Barker abusing Tom by violently pelting him with basketballs in an attempt to make him catch better. He leads Josh, Jackie, and the school principal Ms. Pepper to the scene. As a result, Barker is fired and replaced by the school 's kind - hearted engineer, former NBA player Arthur Chaney, at Josh 's suggestion. As the new basketball coach, Chaney starts implementing changes in the team, including benching Larry during a game for constant ball - hogging. Angry by Chaney 's decision, Buck Willingham, Larry 's overbearing father, forces Larry to leave the team. Buddy becomes the mascot of the school 's basketball team and begins appearing in their halftime shows. After the Timberwolves lose one game, the team has subsequent success and qualifies for the State Final. Just before the championship game, Snively appears after seeing Buddy on television. Hoping to abuse Buddy 's newfound fame, he forces Jackie to hand over Buddy, using papers proving that he is Buddy 's legal owner. Knowing they do not have a choice, Jackie forces Josh to give Buddy back to Snively. After noticing that he 's feeling withdrawn and depressed, Jackie regrets making Josh give up Buddy. Josh decides to rescue Buddy, suspecting he 's being abused by Snively. He sneaks into Snively 's backyard and finds Buddy chained up and abused again. Snively catches Josh escaping with Buddy, and pursues them in his dilapidated clown truck before crashing into a lake. Josh then decides to set Buddy free in the forest to find a new home. Initially, his team is losing at the next championship to the opposing team, which Larry turns out to have joined. Then Buddy shows up for a joyful reunion for Josh and the team. When it is discovered that there is no rule that a dog could not play basketball, Buddy joins the roster. At the end, there was 20 seconds left and the Warriors had the ball. Buddy rams the ball into Larry, injuring him. It is n't a foul since only the ball touched Larry and not the dog. Buddy leads the team to a come from behind championship victory scoring 83 - 82. Snively goes on the scene and attempts to sue the Framm family for custody of Buddy, despite that his ownership papers were ruined when he crashed into the lake. Upon seeing Buddy, Judge Cranfield is disgusted and initially reluctant to judge a case over a dog, but agrees only under a strict condition that the case be executed seriously. During the trial, Josh protests against letting Snively have Buddy and mentions he had been abused. When Cranfield asks him why, Josh mentions that he caught Snively chaining Buddy to the fence and even admitting he has seen how much Buddy hates the man for it. Jackie also protests, mentioning that Buddy was much happier with their family and that she too has seen how abusive he is when he threatened to sue them earlier. After hearing a number of protest against Snively, Cranfield does n't believe that neither one has any real evidence in claiming ownership to Buddy. Soon Chaney arrives and suggests that Buddy chooses his owner. As a fan of Chaney, Cranfield accepts his proposal and moves the court outside to the front lawn for Buddy to choose. Buddy attacks Snively and chooses Josh. When Snively angrily attempts to get Buddy back by force, police officers quickly stop him. Being convinced of what he 's seen, Cranfield orders for Snively to be arrested for animal cruelty, while Josh and the rest of the citizens rejoice and gather around Buddy to welcome him to his new home. At the end of the credits when Josh and Buddy can still be seen playing, the same bird from the start can be seen in the tree. Cast Air Buddy as Old Blue / Buddy Kevin Zegers as Joshua `` Josh '' Framm Wendy Makkena as Jacqueline `` Jackie '' Framm Bill Cobbs as Coach Arthur Chaney Michael Jeter as Norman F. `` Norm '' Snively Eric Christmas as Judge Cranfield Nicola Cavendish as Ms. Pepper Brendan Fletcher as Lawrence `` Larry '' Willingham Norman Browning as Buck Willingham Stephen E. Miller as Coach Joseph `` Joe '' Barker Shayn Solberg as Thomas `` Tom '' Stewart Jessibelle Mather and Kati Mather as Andrea Framm Much of the on - set dog motivation ( not training ) were performed by Justin Sherbert ( formally Justin Sherman ) of Free Willy fame. The animals were pet and treated with respect by Sherbert who noted, `` motivating these dogs is significantly easier than teaching a whale to flip. '' Sherbert remains the canine motivator at large for the Air Bud franchise. Home video release Air Bud was released to VHS on December 23, 1997, and to DVD on February 3, 1998 ( with an open matte aspect ratio ). It was released again on March 3, 2009, in a special edition DVD set, featuring commentary from B - Dawg, Budderball, Rosebud, Buddha, Mudbud, Molly, and Buddy himself and presents the film in its Original Theatrical Aspect Ratio. Reception The film received mixed reviews. It holds a Rotten Tomatoes score of 45 % based on 22 reviews, with an average rating of 4.8 / 10. Sequels and spin - offs Main article : Air Bud ( series ) The film generated one theater - released sequel and many direct - to - video sequels and a spin - off film series. In each film, Buddy learns to play a different sport while the spin offs focus on the offspring of Buddy, the Buddies. References ^ Jump up to : http://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Air-Bud#tab=summary Jump up ^ Deming, Mark. `` Air Bud ''. Allmovie. Retrieved April 16, 2013. ^ Jump up to : `` Air Bud ( 1997 ) ''. Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved March 6, 2018. External links Official website Air Bud on IMDb Air Bud at Rotten Tomatoes Air Bud at Box Office Mojo Air Bud at AllMovie Air Bud Air Buddy Air Bud 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 Air Buddies ( 2006 ) Snow Buddies ( 2008 ) Space Buddies ( 2009 ) Santa Buddies ( 2009 ) Spooky Buddies ( 2011 ) Treasure Buddies ( 2012 ) Super Buddies ( 2013 ) Santa Paws The Search for Santa Paws ( 2010 ) Santa Paws 2 : The Santa Pups ( 2012 ) Films directed by Charles Martin Smith Trick or Treat ( 1986 ) Fifty / Fifty ( 1992 ) Boris and Natasha : The Movie ( 1992 ) Air Bud ( 1997 ) The Snow Walker ( 2003 ) Icon ( 2005 ) Stone of Destiny ( 2008 ) Dolphin Tale ( 2011 ) Dolphin Tale 2 ( 2014 ) Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Air_Bud&oldid=832629097 '' Categories : English - language films 1997 films 1990s sports films Films about dogs American basketball films American comedy films American films Films about animals playing sports Films set in Washington ( state ) Films shot in British Columbia Air Bud ( series ) Walt Disney Pictures films Films directed by Charles Martin Smith American children 's films Canadian comedy films Canadian films Canadian children 's films Films about animals 1990s sports comedy films Hidden categories : Film articles using image size parameter Talk Contents About Wikipedia Wikiquote Български Deutsch Español فارسی Français Galego Bahasa Indonesia Italiano Nederlands Norsk Polski Português Русский Српски / srpski Svenska 6 more Edit links This page was last edited on 27 March 2018, at 03 : 09. 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Question: where does the movie air bud take place
Answer: Fernfield, Washington