The Search for Santa Paws

**The Search for Santa Paws** is a 2010 American live-action film directed by Robert Vince. It is the tenth film in the Air Bud series and is a prequel to Santa Buddies.

The film was released on November 23, 2010.

## Plot

At the North Pole, while celebrating his birthday, Santa Claus receives a letter and gift from New York City, informing him of the passing of old friend and toy store owner Mr. Hucklebuckle, who was an ambassador for "The Santa Cause", an organization of delegates who embrace and encourage Christmas spirit around the world. To cheer Santa up, his head elf Eli uses the great Christmas icicle to bring the gift, a stuffed dog, to life. Santa names the puppy Paws and the two become best friends.

In New York, recently-orphaned Quinn arrives at the 64th Street Home For Girls, an orphanage run by Ms. Stout, a strict and abusive woman who disapproves of anything that the children love, often confiscating and destroying them in her incinerator in the house's basement. Quinn befriends the other girls, including the oldest, Willamina "Will", who has lost her Christmas spirit since the death of her own parents when she was Quinn's age.

Meanwhile, Mr. Hucklebuckle's grandson James, a CPA from Los Angeles and his wife Kate arrive at his toy store and are informed by their caseworker Mr. Stewart that they must run the store profitably for one Christmas season in order to gain ownership. They decide to hire a store Santa to bring in customers, intending to sell the store once they have ownership.

Santa and Paws decide to travel to New York to visit Hucklebuckle's store, landing in Central Park. On the streets, Santa bumps into Ms. Stout, falls into the street and is hit by a cab. Paws tries to ask for help, which leads to him and Santa getting separated. Santa is hospitalized and his magical crystal is stolen by homeless man Gus. He recovers, but has amnesia, and when nobody appears to claim him, James and Kate take him in and give him a job as their store Santa, where he quickly becomes popular with the public.

Learning of the situation, Eli and his uncanny elf dog Eddy go to New York, where they recruit local Boy Scout Jimmy to help. Eventually, they find Gus and get him to return Santa's crystal to them. However, Santa soon lands back in the hospital after being without his crystal too long. Meanwhile, Paws meets Quinn and is secretly brought back to the orphanage, where he befriends the girls and uses his crystal's magic to give them Christmas cheer.

However, Ms. Stout discovers this and locks Paws and Will (who takes the fall for Quinn) in the basement, confiscating Quinn's late mother's angel ornament (the last thing her mother gave her before her passing) and Paws's crystal. As a result, Paws reverts to stuffed animal form by the next morning. When Ms. Stout discovers this, she assumes Paws escaped and attempts to throw him into the incinerator, but he is narrowly saved by Quinn. Eli, Eddy, and Jimmy then arrive and reunite Paws with his crystal, restoring him to life.

After explaining the situation to everyone, Will and Quinn leave with them to help Santa. After arriving at the hospital and finding Santa near death, they reunite him with his crystal, but its magic has been too used up to work. Paws then sacrifices his crystal's magic to restore Santa's, reverting him to stuffed animal form once more while saving Santa's life. Santa, Eli and Eddy rush back to the North Pole and reach the main crystal just in time. Paws returns to life as a full-grown dog named Santa Paws and the holiday is saved.

Back in New York, much to the girls’ excitement, Ms. Stout is sacked and evicted from the orphanage after Eli reports her misconduct and abusive nature to Quinn's social worker Mrs. Gibson, who then takes over and later invites Gus to spend the holiday at the orphanage. Santa Paws and Santa reunite with Quinn, Will, James and Kate on Christmas Eve, returning Quinn's mother's ornament to her before continuing their deliveries. Mr. Stewart returns the next day and James and Kate tell him that they ran the store profitably, and they decide to keep the store and continue the Hucklebuckle legacy after introducing him to the girls, whom they have adopted as their daughters.

## Cast and Characters

* Kaitlyn Maher as Quinn Hucklebuckle
* Madison Pettis as Willamina "Will" Hucklebuckle
* Richard Riehle as Santa Claus
* Danny Woodburn as Eli
* Wendi McLendon-Covey as Ms. Stout
* John Ducey as James Hucklebuckle
* Bonnie Somerville as Kate Hucklebuckle
* Chris Coppola as Augustus "Gus"
* Jonathan Morgan Heit as Jimmy
* G. Hannelius as Janie
* Michelle Creber as Taylor
* Kathryn Kirkpatrick as Mrs. Gibson
* Melody B. Choi as Mary
* Nicole Leduc as Meg
* Patrika Darbo as Mrs. Claus
* Peter Gardner as Franklin
* Bill Cobbs as Mr. Stewart

### Voice Cast

* Zachary Gordon as Paws
* Mitchel Musso as Santa Paws
* Richard Kind as Eddy
* Jason Connery as Haggis
* Christopher Massey as Rasta
* Josh Flitter as T-Money
* Diedrich Bader as Comet
* Michael Deyermond as Dancer

## 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. However 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."