Air Bud

**Air Bud** is a 1997 American live-action film directed by Charles Martin Smith. It is the first film in the Air Bud series.

The film was released on August 1, 1997.

## Plot

After the death of his father, Josh Framm has relocated with his mom Jackie and 2-year-old sister Andrea to Fernfield, Washington. After school, Josh practices basketball by himself in a makeshift court that he sets up behind an abandoned church, where he meets a runaway Golden Retriever who had just escaped from his abusive owner: a rude party clown and very grumpy alcoholic named Norm Snively. Discovering his uncanny ability to play basketball; Josh names him Buddy and decides to take him home. Jackie agrees to let Buddy stay with them until Christmas. Once the holidays arrive, Jackie allows Josh to keep Buddy as a Christmas present.

At school, Josh earns the disdain of star basketball player and team bully Larry Willingham, but befriends the kind-hearted maintenance engineer, Arthur Chaney, and discovers he was a retired pro player. With Chaney's encouragement, Josh earns a place on the school basketball team, the Timberwolves, much to the reservation of the team's competitive coach, Joe Barker. At his first game, he befriends teammate Tom Stewart. Buddy escapes and shows up at school while the game is underway. The audience loves him after he scores a basket.

Barker is later fired after being caught bullying Tom over his poor game performance, and is replaced by Arthur, at Josh's suggestion. As coach, Arthur uses unconventional practices which emphasize the need for players to work as a team instead of focusing on themselves. When Larry is subbed out at the team's next game due to his ball-hogging and unsportsmanlike conduct, his father forces him to leave the team and join their rival. Buddy becomes the mascot of the school's basketball team and appears in their halftime shows. After the Timberwolves lose one game, the team has subsequent success and qualifies for the State Finals.

Just before the championship game, Snively appears after seeing Buddy on television. Hoping to profit off Buddy's newfound fame, he forces Jackie to hand over Buddy as he has papers proving that he is the dog's legal owner. Knowing they do not have a choice, Jackie makes Josh give Buddy back to Snively. After a period of feeling withdrawn and depressed, Josh sneaks into Snively's backyard and frees Buddy from his chain. Snively pursues them in his dilapidated pickup truck before crashing into a lake. Josh then decides to protect Buddy by setting him free in the forest to find a new life.

When an injury leaves the Timberwolves with four players, the team suffers at the championships. Buddy shows up, and when it is discovered that there is no rule preventing a dog from playing basketball, he joins the roster to lead the team to victory.

Despite losing his papers from the car wreck, Snively attempts to sue the Framm family for custody of Buddy, and Chaney suggests that Buddy choose his owner. As a fan of Chaney himself, Judge Cranfield accepts his proposal and moves the court outside to the lawn. Buddy attacks Snively and chooses Josh. Cranfield grants custody of Buddy to Josh as a ranting and raving Snively is carried away by the police and thrown in jail for contempt of court, while Josh and the rest of the citizens rejoice and gather around Buddy to welcome him home.

## Cast and Characters

* Kevin Zegers as Josh Framm
* Air Buddy as Himself
* Michael Jeter as Norm Snively
* Wendy Makkena as Jackie Framm
* Bill Cobbs as Coach Arthur Chaney
* Eric Christmas as Judge Cranfield
* Nicola Cavendish as Principal Pepper
* Brendan Fletcher as Larry Willingham
* Norman Browning as Buck Willingham
* Stephen E. Miller as Coach Joe Barker
* Alan Lavian as Tom Stewart
* Jessibelle Mather and Kati Mather as Andrea Framm

## Production

The film was produced by the newly formed banner of Keystone Entertainment, Keystone Family. Miramax/Disney for an estimated $6 million domestic rights to the first film, and worldwide rights to sequels. The film was originally planned to release through Miramax, but was instead moved as a Walt Disney Pictures release instead.

## Release

### Home Media

Air Bud was released to VHS on December 23, 1997, and to DVD on February 3, 1998 (with an open matte aspect ratio). It was released again on March 3, 2009, in a special edition DVD set that presents the film in its original theatrical aspect ratio. The special edition DVD also includes commentary from Buddy and his puppies, as the series had introduced speaking animals by that time. It was released direct-to-video in October 1999 in the UK by Warner Home Video under the Warner Bros. Family Entertainment label.

Mill Creek Entertainment released the movie in a two-disc boxed set also containing the other Air Bud movies owned by Air Bud Entertainment on January 14, 2020.

## Reception

The film received mixed reviews. It holds a Rotten Tomatoes score of 45% based on 22 reviews, with an average rating of 5.2 out of 10. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.