Do you remember when Air Bud was all the rage and started a whole series of Buddies films?

[DodgerGirl]

My mom first saw Disney's Air Bud on TV and she thought it was nice but sad at the end and I can remember based on that movie who knew that Air Bud would have sequels and begin an avalanche of Buddies movies such as Snow Buddies Treasure Buddies Santa Buddies and many other movies and this series never has stopped growing and I can't figure out how Air Bud became such a popular movie enough to have a franchise series? Was Air Bud a huge hit for Disney when it debuted in theaters?

 

[BrianL]

My mom first saw Disney's Air Bud on TV and she thought it was nice but sad at the end and I can remember based on that movie who knew that Air Bud would have sequels and begin an avalanche of Buddies movies such as Snow Buddies Treasure Buddies Santa Buddies and many other movies and this series never has stopped growing and I can't figure out how Air Bud became such a popular movie enough to have a franchise series? Was Air Bud a huge hit for Disney when it debuted in theaters?

The craziest thing about it all is that Air Bud is based on a true story! No kidding - this guy had a Golden Retreiver who could bop a basketball into a hoop, the real Buddy the dog. After the dog had appeared on David Letterman and Americas Funniest Home Videos, he got together with Disney to make the movie, though much of it was embellished. The film was a big enough hit to spawn a lot of direct-to-video sequels, including the Buddies movies. Interestingly, the same director directed every Buddies movie, plus the two Santa Paws spin-offs - he made a career out of it!

 

[bluedolphin32]

My kids love those movies! I think they've watched almost all of them.

 

[DodgerGirl]

Air Bud was based on a true story? And Buddy the dog became a celebrity? I find that hard to believe that the guy who owned Buddy had the chance to turn him into a star. Because I have tried to make my cat a model many times but the problem is that he does have issues with the camera. Has Buddy also appeared in commercials on TV during his career as well? I also read that Buddy suddenly passed away and they use a different dog in the sequels playing Air Bud too
Thanks for the awesome info Brian
Dodger

 

[BrianL]

Air Bud was based on a true story? And Buddy the dog became a celebrity? I find that hard to believe that the guy who owned Buddy had the chance to turn him into a star. Because I have tried to make my cat a model many times but the problem is that he does have issues with the camera. Has Buddy also appeared in commercials on TV during his career as well? I also read that Buddy suddenly passed away and they use a different dog in the sequels playing Air Bud too
Thanks for the awesome info Brian
Dodger

Yes. The real aspects of it are more mundane, but he was a dog with a special trick that did get him some mild fame. There have been different dogs in the movie series over the years.

 

[maltdizzy]

The Bud and Buddies films weren't made/produced by Disney, they were made by Vancouver production company, Keystone, which partnered with Air Buddy's owner.

When the original film was made, Miramax (then owned by Disney but not run by Disney) funded the production in return for worldwide distribution rights for the film and its sequels. It was supposed to be released either as a Miramax/Dimension film but Disney rebrand it as "Disney" before release.

While not a blockbuster, the film was successful, it returned $30M on a $3M budget. Whether it wasn't profitable enough or the loss of Air Buddy made them have doubts, Disney didn't bother with the sequel which released theatrically as a Dimension picture (Dimension was an alternate banner for Miramax).

But, 20 years ago, selling straight-to-DVD movies at Walmart/Target/Kmart/CVS/Walgreens/etc. was big business and Disney/Keystone saw the potential for cheaper, straight-to-video releases and Bud sold well...and the Buddies sold even better. When the home video market dried up in favor of streaming, and Disney pulled the plug on the Buddies films in 2013 and Keystone moved on to other (non-Disney affiliated) pet films.