# The Search for Santa Paws

The Search for Santa Paws is a 2010 Christmas adventure fantasy film released on November 23, 2010. The title is the tenth film in the Air Bud franchise and is also a prequel to Santa Buddies, as well as a spin-off from the Air Buddies film franchise.

## Plot

Santa Claus receives a letter and gift informing him of the death of Mr. Hucklebuckle, a toy store owner and member of the "Santa Cause", an organization of delegates encouraging Christmas spirit worldwide.
In New York City, Mr. Hucklebuckle's grandson James and his wife Kate arrive at his toy store and their caseworker Mr. Stewart informs them that they must run the store profitably for one Christmas season to gain ownership. They decide to hire a store Santa to bring in customers, intending to sell the store afterwards.
Meanwhile, an orphan named Quinn arrives at an orphanage run by Ms. Stout, a strict woman who disapproves of Christmas. As such, she steals toys and destroys them with her incinerator. Despite this, Quinn befriends the other girls, including the oldest Willamina "Will", who lost her Christmas spirit after her own parents deaths.
To cheer Santa up, his head elf Eli uses the great Christmas icicle to bring the stuffed dog to life. Santa names the puppy Paws and they become best friends. At the orphanage, Quinn witnesses Ms. Stout confiscating a doll belonging to another orphan named Janie and incinerating it.
Santa and Paws travel to New York to visit Hucklebuckle's, landing in Central Park gaining the attention of Gus, a homeless man who follows them. On the streets, Santa bumps into Ms. Stout, falls into the street, and is hit by a cab, becoming separated from Paws. Gus takes Santa's magic crystal, resulting in him losing his memories. After wandering the streets he finds Hucklebuckle Toys the next morning where he is taken in by James and Kate as their store Santa. Unable to remember his name he calls himself "Bud" due to Gus calling him so during their encounter.
When Ms. Stout leaves for a hair appointment, Will sneaks out to Hucklebuckle toy store and reluctantly brings Quinn. Will admires a bike on display. After Quinn sees Santa, Kate invites her to sit on his lap. She asks for Will to have the bike she wants and a puppy to cheer up the girls at the orphanage. After leaving Quinn is convinced that he is the real Santa.
After wandering the streets, Paws befriends three stray dogs named Haggis, Rasta and T-Money who after stealing from a deli are captured by Franklin, a dogcatcher and Ms. Stout's boyfriend. Paws uses magic to rescue them, and they vow to help find Santa hoping to get off the naughty list.
Ms. Stout catches the girls, and after Quinn reveals an insult Will said, Ms. Stout punishes her by making her spend the night in the basement. Will is upset that new kids always get her in trouble.
In Central Park, Jimmy, a Boy Scout finds the reindeer who explain they need to find Santa and can't fly without him. That night, Quinn finds Paws in the alley and secretly brings him into the orphanage promising to find Santa tomorrow. Will finds them but cannot hear Paws speak since she doesn't believe. Learning of the situation, Eli and his dog Eddy go to New York to find Santa.
Back at Hucklebuckle's, Santa starts regaining his memories. Quinn and Paws sneak out to Hucklebuckle's, but Paws sees James posing as Santa while he's on break. Paws realizes this before leaving and Quinn is in disbelief Will was right. Santa returns and meets Jimmy who informs him that his reindeer are waiting. Santa is unsure if he is Santa, but gives Jimmy his North Pole pin for his persistence.
At the orphanage, Paws befriends the girls and uses magic to give them Christmas cheer singing to help Will believe again. Ms. Stout discovers this and locks Will and Paws in the basement, stealing Paws' crystal and Quinn's late mother's ornament. Will hears Paws speak and regains her Christmas spirit, but without his crystal, Paws reverts to a stuffed animal the next morning. When Ms. Stout discovers this, she throws him in the incinerator before leaving with Franklin.
At Hucklebuckle toys, Santa lands in the hospital after being without his crystal. Eli and Eddy find Gus who admits to stealing it and feels remorse. Eli realizes that without his crystal Santa could become mortal and eventually die. He leads them to the reindeer who are too weak to fly and Gus agrees to help them while Eli and Eddy locate Paws.
They arrive at the orphanage, narrowly rescuing Paws from the incinerator and reviving him. Jimmy arrives in the park telling Comet of his endeavours. He meets Gus who takes Jimmy to the orphanage to inform them of Santa's location. Will and Quinn come along with Haggis, Rasta and T-Money. Eli commends Jimmy for helping and lets him keep the pin dubbing him an official Santa's helper before he heads home. Ms. Stout and Franklin return to the orphanage greeted by Mrs. Gibson, who learned of the former's cruel and negligent nature from a phone call from Eli. She is fired and Mrs. Gibson takes over.
After explaining the situation to James and Kate, they rescue Santa and reunite him with his crystal, but its magic has depleted. Paws sacrifices his magic to heal Santa, reverting to stuffed animal form. The next morning Santa regains his health and he, Eli and Eddy rush back to the great Christmas icicle, reviving Paws as a full-grown dog named Santa Paws.
Back in New York, after returning Quinn and Will to the orphanage, James and Kate decide to adopt them. Haggis, Rasta and T-Money stow away in a mail truck to the North Pole and become official elf dogs. Gus brings the money he received as a charity Santa to the orphanage, and Mrs. Gibson invites him to spend Christmas with them. Santa and Santa Paws visit the Hucklebuckles on Christmas Eve and return Quinn's mothers ornament to her.
On Christmas Day, James and Kate inform Mr. Stewart that they've decided to keep the store and continue the Hucklebuckle legacy. As Stewart leaves, he speaks to Hucklebuckle's spirit, wishing him Merry Christmas and he got his wish.

## Cast

* Kaitlyn Maher as Quinn Hucklebuckle, an orphaned girl who believes in the true spirit of Christmas; after her parents died, she is sent to an orphanage in New York City. She finds Paws in the alley behind the orphanage. She owns an angel ornament that was given to her by her late mother. She, alongside Will, is later adopted by James and Kate.
* Madison Pettis as Willamina "Will" Hucklebuckle, the oldest girl in the orphanage who serves as an older sister figure to Quinn. After her parents died when she was young, she lost her Christmas spirit as well as its true meaning until she is locked in the basement with Paws. She often gets the full blame for Quinn and all the other girls' behavior due to her being the oldest. She, alongside Quinn, is later adopted by James and Kate.
* Richard Riehle as Santa Claus.
* Danny Woodburn as Eli, Santa's head elf.
* Wendi McLendon-Covey as Ms. Gladys Stout, the greedy and child-hating owner of the orphanage and the main villain of the film. She finds Christmas, toys and anything that children love offensive. Will is her main target to place blame on for everything that the other girls do due to her being the oldest. She is eventually fired and evicted from the orphanage after her abusive treatment of the girls was confirmed by Eli anonymously and her position is filled by Mrs. Gibson, the social worker.
* John Ducey as James Hucklebuckle, Kate's husband and grandson of the late Mr. Hucklebuckle who works as a CPA.
* Bonnie Somerville as Kate Hucklebuckle, James' open-minded wife.
* Chris Coppola as Augustus "Gus", a poor homeless man who takes Santa's magic crystal, unaware of its power.
* Jonathan Morgan Heit as Jimmy, a boy scout who helps search for Santa.
* G Hannelius as Janie, Will's best friend in the orphanage.
* Michelle Creber as Taylor, an orphan.
* Kathryn Kirkpatrick as Mrs. Gibson, a kind CPS social services woman who takes over the orphanage after Ms. Stout is fired.
* Melody B. Choi as Mary, an orphan.
* Nicole Leduc as Meg, an orphan.
* Patrika Darbo as Mrs. Claus.
* Pete Gardner as Franklin, Ms. Stout's boyfriend who works as a dogcatcher.
* Bill Cobbs as Mr. Stewart, James and Kate's caseworker who says they must successfully run Hucklebuckle toys profitability for one Christmas season.

### Voice cast

* Zachary Gordon as Paws, a young Great Pyrenees who is Santa's dog and best friend.
** Mitchel Musso as Santa Paws.
* Richard Kind as Eddy, a happy-go-lucky Jack Russell Terrier who is Eli's assistant.
* Jason Connery as Haggis, a Scottish Terrier who's "always ready to take action", befriends Paws and is looking to get off Santa's Naughty List.
* Christopher Massey as Rasta, a reggae Puli who is "laidback" and "easygoing", befriends Paws and is looking to get off Santa's Naughty List.
* Josh Flitter as T-Money, a streetwise hip-hop Bulldog who is "super cool", befriends Paws and is looking to get off Santa's Naughty List.
* Diedrich Bader as Comet, one of Santa's reindeer.
* Michael Deyermond as Dancer, another one of Santa's reindeer.

## Reception

Angela Walker, writing for ChristianCinema.com, gave the DVD 3 stars out of 5, but said that the film fits the normal Disney DVD formula. She went on to say that the film was predictable and clichéd, but that kids would enjoy it and that the film adds to the "spirit of Christmas".

## Sequel

A sequel, Santa Paws 2: The Santa Pups, was released on November 20, 2012.