SANTA BUDDIES – THE LEGEND OF SANTA PAWS (2009)
Starring George Wendt, Christopher Lloyd, Danny Woodburn, Paul Rae, Michael Teigen, Craig Anton, Andrew Astor, Chris Coppola, Patricia Cullen, Ben Giroux, Ryan Grantham, Aramis Knight, Quinn Lord, Kaitlyn Maher, Gig Morton, Brandon Nomura, Mikey Post and the voices of Tom Bosley, Field Cate, Josh Flitter, Zachary Gordon, Nic Novicki and Ty Panitz.
Screenplay by Robert Vince and Anna McRoberts.
Directed by Robert Vince.
Distributed by Walt Disney Home Entertainment. 88 minutes. Rated G.
If this review were written by my four-year-old and seven-year-old, it would read “Funny,” “Exciting,” and “One of the best holiday movies ever!” But since it’s not, I must say it was pretty bad. Once again, the kids LOVED it, but I just found myself saying, “Why am I sitting here watching this?”
Since our first introduction to Air Bud in 1997, Disney has come back to this buddies saga again and again, so it obviously works for them. And in Santa Buddies – the Legend of Santa Paws, they’re back again with these adorable little puppies (and they REALLY are cute) finding adventure that this time stretches from the North Pole to way beyond. The story begins when Santa (played by George Wendt) and his trusty dog Santa Paws (voiced by Tom Bosley) are concerned about the Christmas Icicle melting. The Christmas Icicle brings the magic of Christmas to people and without it, they know that no one will ever appreciate the real meaning of Christmas again.
When asked to help spread the word of the importance of true Christmas, Santa Paw’s son – Puppy Paws (voiced by 11-year-old Zachary Gordon) doesn’t want the job and heads off to try to be a normal dog. After catching a ride to Washington State, he meets up with other buddies – Budderball, B-Dawg, Rosebud, Buddha and Mudbud who help teach him some important lessons along the way.
Puppy Paws’ journey takes him through numerous adventures including a trip to the pound after getting captured by the creepy local dogcatcher – Stan Crudge, played by Christopher Lloyd. Through it all, Puppy Paws is really shocked to see that no one believes in Christmas or Santa anymore and along with the other dogs and some friends, has to work together to restore the spirit of Christmas to the town.
With all its silliness, the movie does have a great message about what the Christmas holiday is really about and how everyone can make a difference in this world. And as I said earlier, kids love it and as soon as the end credits rolled in our house, my kids said, “Let’s watch it AGAIN!”
Released on DVD and BluRay, the extras include a Sing a Long to Christmas Carols with the Buddies and a music video of “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town.”
Deborah Wagner
Copyright ©2009 PopEntertainment.com. All rights reserved. Posted: December 16, 2009.