Air Bud

***Air Bud*** is a 1997 sports Comedy drama released in August 1997. Being the first in the air Bud movie series, it follows over a dog named Buddy who discovers he has a special talent and works hard in order to accomplish his dreams. Received positive reviews from credits.

## Plot

A dog named Buddy is a young accident-prone puppy. One early spring day, he gets adopted by a kid named Josh, who takes in the puppy as his own. Years later, but he grows up into an accident-prone, but still loyal dog.

One day, Buddy is allowed to come along on a special basketball team. While being told to sit on the benches, he begins to dribble the ball. Surprisingly, he put it through the hoop. The team welcome him into their team, much to his delight, as he had seen a movie where someone was dribbling a ball and made it through the hoop.

After some convincing from his neighbor, Morton, the grumpy, if not sarcastic mouse, buddy begins to grow successful. Unfortunately, he still causes problems with his clumsiness. Buddy is given by his previous owner, Norm, who is a clown at a party. However, Buddy is given some crammed cookies in his dog food that causes him to shrink, eventually ending up, getting hit in the nose by a ball, nearly causing a nosebleed. Buddy returns home and tells his mama, which is an old dog, that he cannot win. His mama convinces him not to give up hope, because he’ll eventually win someday.

Buddy attempts to take a special basketball led by Josh from his mother, Jackie’s room only to accidentally deflate the ball when bouncing it through the streets. After a run-in with dog bodyguards, nearly getting hit by a truck, and being chased by pitbull, Morton manages to recovera basketball and repairs it, inflating it with the help from a helium tube, accidentally inflating himself. Buddy takes the basketball and gives it back to Josh, proving himself worthy again.

However, buddy’s mama begins to grow old and frail, and she collapses as buddy helps her. With her dying breath, she tells Buddy that he cannot give up. Weeks later, a depressed buddy refuses food and water, and begins to shrivel, losing energy. After believing that Josh is sending him to the pound, a tearful buddy runs away, only to get captured by norm, who had been the one to give him the crammed cookies and his dog energy food.

Josh and Jackie, go looking for him, as Josh had believed that buddy would never give up.  After Buddy is told off by imaginary friend, who tells him that if he wants to prove himself,  he’ll never give up what’s important:  basketball.  With this, Buddy is able to escape, and return to Josh.  That night, he’s given some more food regaining his energy.  He later encounters the ghost of his mother, who manages to encourage him.

On the day of the basketball game, Norm returns and tells Josh that he was the one keeping buddy. He tries to take him away, but Buddy escapes, jumping out the window and runs. He hides in a dog pound, but his captured by bodyguards. He fights off the dog bodyguards and pees on norm, allowing him to get to the basketball game in time. While they are, he manages to win, but while hanging on the hoop, norm say to him that he’s just a normal retriever. Buddy gives up hope but with some encouraging from Josh and his friends, he’s able to win.

Norm is arrested for his cruelty, and Buddy is praised. Morton, for the first time, gave him a smile, and buddy sings Fly like an eagle in an upbeat tone, as he reaches to put the basketball in the hoop.