Air Bud (franchise)

The Air Bud film series (also known as Air Buddies or simply Disney Buddies) is an American film franchise based on a sports-playing golden retriever named Buddy, portrayed by Air Buddy. The franchise began in 1997 with the theatrical release of Air Bud, followed by the theatrical release of Air Bud: Golden Receiver in 1998. The rest of the films in the series were released in direct-to-DVD form. The Air Buddies spin-off series began in 2006 with the release of Air Buddies, and it focuses on the adventures of Air Buddy's talking golden retriever puppies.
There are fourteen movies in the franchise, including five in the Air Bud series, seven in the Air Buddies series, and two Christmas spin-offs of the Air Buddies series.
==Air Bud films==
The first two films in the franchise were released in theaters, while later entries were direct-to-DVD releases.
*Air Bud (1997) - Josh meets a golden retriever and finds out that he can play basketball.
*Air Bud: Golden Receiver (1998) - Josh's golden retriever learns to play football.
*Air Bud: World Pup (2000) - Josh and Emma discover that Buddy's ball-playing skills apply to soccer.
*Air Bud: Seventh Inning Fetch (2002) - Buddy makes the baseball team and becomes a star player.
*Air Bud: Spikes Back (2003) - Buddy tackles volleyball.
==Air Buddies films==
The Air Buddies films focus on Buddy's puppies, and they were all direct-to-DVD/Blu-ray releases.
*Air Buddies (2006) - Buddy and Molly's offspring work together to help each other while attempting to rescue their parents.
*Snow Buddies (2008) - The offspring of Buddy and Molly go on an Alaskan adventure.
*Space Buddies (2009) - The Buddies tag along for a field trip to the space museum and accidentally crawl aboard a rocket ship.
*Santa Buddies (2009) - The Buddies help deliver the presents on Christmas Eve.
*Spooky Buddies (2011) - The Buddies are in a new adventure when Halloween hits Fernfield.
*Treasure Buddies (2012) - The Buddies find themselves on an Indiana Jones-style adventure.
*Super Buddies (2013) - The Buddies acquire rings that give them super powers; now they must use them to stop a villain.
==Spin-offs==
The Search for Santa Paws is a spin-off of the Air Buddies series and a prequel to Santa Buddies. The Buddies are not in these movies.
*The Search for Santa Paws (2010) - When Santa is in trouble, Paws has to save Christmas with the help of some friends.
*Santa Paws 2: The Santa Pups (2012) - When Mrs. Claus travels to Pineville, the playful Santa Pups stow away on her sled. Taking mischief to a whole new level, they begin granting joyful wishes to Pineville's boys and girls, but something goes terribly wrong - the Christmas spirit begins to disappear. Now the Santa Pups and Mrs. Claus must race to save Christmas around the world.
==Trivia==
*With the exception of Air Buddies, all the Air Bud film series are available on Disney+, this is due to the first six films being owned by Air Bud Entertainment, who acquired them from Disney. The original five films were released on the service on October 1, 2023.
*While the Buddies are not seen in the Santa Paws spin-offs, the letters in the last words of the two are the exact same texture and color as it says for Buddies in the Air Buddies films.
*Before ending the franchise with Super Buddies, 2007 and 2010 (not including The Search For Santa Paws, which was released that year) were the only years to not have Buddies films released.
*For the Air Buddies films, Santa Buddies and Spooky Buddies are the only Buddies movies to focus on a specific holiday. While there are two holidays shown at the same time in Snow Buddies, they're only there briefly.
*Five of the Buddies movies have their titles begin with the letter S.
==External links==
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*Official website
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Category:Disney films
Category:Air Bud
Category:Disney franchises
Category:Franchises
Category:Dimension Films