Watched: 01/23/2026
Format: YouTube
Viewing: Second
Director: Charles Martin Smith
I am unsure why, but for about a decade-and-change, America loved a kids movie about an animal playing sports. A lot of these were apes or monkeys, but the foremost animal-athlete was Buddy, star of Air Bud (1997).
It's been probably since 1999 or so since I actually watched this movie, thought "well, it's a kids movie and not for me" and went on with my life. But thanks to the younger generation growing up with this movie, it's been meme'd, and, of course, John Oliver has been making Air Bud discussion a feature of his YouTube videos.
I wanted to re-watch the movie as a NEW Air Bud is in the offing, and so this evening we took in Air Bud again. And, until she fell asleep four minutes after this video, Emmylou was locked in.
But the movie has some specific challenges.
First, in the opening scenes, Josh has a baby sister. His widowed mother, who seems as if she is already very done with mourning her suddenly deceased test pilot husband, is moving to Fernfield to work for a paper napkin concern (amazing writing). She has in tow Josh and a toddler in the back seat.
This child is seen only one other time in the film, in a crib in a reaction shot - a shot that implies, as we know Josh is racing to get Buddy cleaned up before his mom comes home - which she does without a child in hand, that the girl, Andrea, has been in that crib *all day* while Mom was at work and Josh was at school.
After this, the sister disappears. But Mom is seen repeatedly at basketball games, out and about, etc... But where is Andrea? The family has no support system in Fernfield.
I can't figure out if a decision was made to cut the toddler and then... they just didn't? I have no idea. But it also makes scenes where Josh's mom leaves a very accessible room with open paint cans precariously perched on ladders, with wallpaper glue open and accessible... seem almost like a trap for Andrea.
Further, it's pretty clear whomever made this movie knew nothing about the care and feeding of dogs, and it's alarming.
Josh feeds the dog cup after cup of off-brand vanilla pudding, which would surely cause the dog abdominal distress. Then he feeds the dog several cans of Spaghetti-O's, a food no one should eat, man or beast. That Bud doesn't spend the rest of the movie at an emergency vet spraying out the results of food is pure fiction.
Further, Josh has Buddy taken away by the mean clown (a top-billed Broadway legend, Michael Jeter) - and Josh's answer is to kidnap Buddy and then dump him without food, shelter or water on an abandoned island as winter sets in in the Pacific Northwest. Josh essentially condemns Buddy to a slow, lonely death. But, yeah, much better than the path to pampered stardom Buddy was about to embark upon.
The movie also indulges in the 1990's Magical Black Guy trope by casting the school maintenance guy as a former Knicks player from the 1950's (screen stalwart Bill Cobbs).
I don't hate this movie - it's just sort of got one thing it wants to do and that's show a dog playing basketball. Story, character, etc... is aimed at 10 year olds and under.
And it is *neat* to see a dog play basketball - shooting hoops, playing some sticky defense, etc... Heck, he does a nut punch to the shitty kid who plagues Josh all movie.
But by removing that part of the fence, Josh would have immediately lost his basketball into the sound.
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