Air Buddies

**Air Buddies** is a 2006 film produced by Keystone Family Pictures and Key Pix Productions, and released by Walt Disney Home Entertainment. The film was written by Anna McRoberts, Robert Vince and Phil Hanley. It is the first spin-off film of the Air Bud Franchise in the Air Buddies series.

## Plot

Through a voiceover, Sniffer introduces the five Air Buddies, describes their personalities and recaps how the puppies' father, Air Bud, made the town of Fernfield famous through his love of sports. When their families leave home for a basketball game, the puppies get into trouble with their sitter, Mrs. Niggles, by playing with balls of yarn and eating a blueberry pie. This prompts their owners to finally put the puppies up for adoption.

Meanwhile, Selkirk Tander tries to impress Mr. Livingston's son, Bartleby Livingston by showing him a female tiger for his birthday but Bartleby wanted an animal he can play with. He wants Air Bud because Buddy can play sports. Mr. Livingston offers $500,000 if Selkirk can get Buddy. Selkirk then sends his nephew Grim and assistant Denning to capture Buddy.

At school, Noah and Henry collect every boy and girl's profile sheets and photos. After deciding which children would make good owners, the family decides to call them the next day. Grim and Denning arrive at Buddy's home, only to see Buddy and Molly at the same time, thinking there are two air buds or they are mates. The next morning, the pups decide to run away. Grim and Denning follow them and manage to catch Budderball by luring him with a doughnut. The other Buddies go and find Budderball; they are also captured and used as bait to catch Buddy and Molly. Buddy manages to free the buddies but Denning traps him with a net. Molly attempts to save Buddy but gets herself captured. Denning and Grim put Buddy and Molly in the truck, while the buddies chase after them.

In wine country, Selkirk is pleased that Denning and Grim captured both Buddy and Molly so he can have them breed puppies and sell them for money. When Grim explains that Buddy and Milly already had puppies, which Denning let get away, Selkirk tells them to lock the dogs in the wine cellar and go and capture them. Selkirk also replaces Grim as the leader of the mission to capture the buddies. Grim and Denning to back to Buddy's home to capture the buddies but with no luck. The buddies have sniffed their way to a drive-in movie theater, where Grim and Denning are watching 101 Dalmatians. The buddies find their way to the projection room and walk in front of the projector, their shadows attracting Denning and Grim's attention. However, the two are confronted by movie-goers who correctly deduce their intentions of harming the buddies, resulting in them being ambushed and tied up to the screen, after which the crowd hurls popcorn and other food items at them.

The next morning, Grim and Denning escape the theater and catch up to the buddies, chasing them to a farm. The buddies meet Billy the goat and Belinda the pig, who help the buddies escape from Grim and Denning. The buddies lure Grim and Denning into a stable and escape through a small hole as Bily locks Grim and Denning in. The buddies go through the forest then meet the wolf who leads them to wine country. A skunk's spray enables Sniffer to smell again, so he calls Noah and Henry, and they go off to find the buddies. Buddy and Molly manage to escape to the find the buddies. Budderball falls into a hole, which Buddy and Molly dug, forcing the buddies to help. Noah and Henry are ecstatic and overjoyed at finding Grim and Denning being held prisoners by Billy the goat and immediately leave to report them and turn them into the authorities over Grim and Denning's protests. Bartleby and his father come to collect the dogs but instead finds the buddies. Bartleby and his father then put the buddies in a limousine, when Noah, Henry, Buddy and Molly come to the rescue. Budderball falls into one of the wine containers and gets drunk. Bartleby catches Budderball but is caught by Sniffer.

Noah, Henry and the dogs release barrels towards Selkirk and Mr. Livingston; the barrels break the wine container. Selkirk and Mr. Livingston fall in, as the container cracks open. Washing out of the container, Sheriff Bob arrives to arrest Selkirk, Denning and Grim. The buddies apologise to Buddy and Molly; they understand and say they're ready for their new owners. Budderball decides to stay with Bartleby because he needs a friend. The puppies are introduced to their new families and end up enjoying their new lives. The film ends with Buddy, Molly, Buddha, Budderball, Rosebud, B-Dawg, Mudbud, Sniffer and the wolf howling to show how they are still family, despite their distance.

## Cast and Characters

* Slade Pearce as Noah Sullivan
* Holmes Osborne as Selkirk Tander
* Trevor Wright as Grim
* Paul Rae as Denning
* Christian Pikes as Henry
* Patrick Cranshaw as Sheriff Bob
* Tyler Guerrero as Bartleby Livingston
* Steven Makaj as Mr. Miles Livingston
* Richard Karn as Dr. Patrick Sullivan
* Cynthia Stevenson as Jackie Framm-Sullivan
* Jane Carr as Mrs. Niggles
* Scout and Parker as Air Bud

### Voice Actors

* Abigail Breslin as Rosebud
* Dominic Scott Kay as Buddha
* Josh Flitter as Budderball
* Spencer Fox as Mudbud
* Skyler Gisondo as B-Dawg
* Tom Everett Scott as Buddy
* Molly Shannon as Molly
* Michael Clarke Duncan as The Wolf
* Don Knotts as Sniffer
* Wallace Shawn as Billy the Goat
* Debra Jo Rupp as Belinda

## Release

The movie was released directly to DVD on December 12, 2006 by Walt Disney Home Entertainment, the say day as The Fox and the Hound 2.

Mill Creek Entertainment re-issued the movie on January 14, 2020 on a 2-disc boxset tieh the other films in the series.