Line #34 Film/AirBud


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7	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_51hqwexup5l1.png]]
8	[[caption-width-right:300:Just like your dog.]]
9
10	Ah, the story of [[ABoyAndHisX A Boy And His Dog]], what could be more wonderful? Why, making the dog a sports prodigy, of course!
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12	Twelve-year-old Josh Framm (Creator/KevinZegers) has to deal with moving to a new town while mourning the [[DisappearedDad death of his father]]. He meets Buddy, a golden retriever who has managed to escape his abusive owner, an alcoholic clown named Norman Snively (Creator/MichaelJeter). The pair become friends and eventually, Josh's mother allows the dog to stay. In the process, Josh discovers that Buddy can play basketball, and the pair end up joining the basketball team, with Buddy as the team's mascot. During a televised game, Snively sees Buddy's talent on the court and manages to get him back from the Framms. Josh, however, manages to rescue the dog, and the pair of them get back to the school, just in time for Buddy to win the game, by means of the AnimalAthleteLoophole.
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14	The ''Air Bud'' series began in 1997, when ''Air Bud'' premiered in theaters. It was an huge success and has spawned four direct sequels and a spin-off franchise in the form of the Air Buddies movies, which focus on Bud's puppies.
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16	The Air Bud films each feature Buddy playing a different sport, and follow roughly the same pattern as the original movie: Buddy shows skill at a sport, he is then kidnapped because of his skill at said sport, his family rescues him, and he returns just in time to win the final match for his team.
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18	The ''Film/AirBuddies'' films focus on Buddy's puppies and are more family-oriented. They were followed by the ''Series/PupAcademy'' series. These spinoffs have different foci and genres.
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20	!!!''Air Bud'' movies
21	* ''Air Bud'' (1997)
22	* ''Air Bud: Golden Receiver'' (1998)
23	* ''Air Bud: World Pup'' (2000)
24	* ''Air Bud: Seventh Inning Fetch'' (2002)
25	* ''Air Bud: Spikes Back'' (2003)
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27	----
28	!!This series provides examples of the following tropes:
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30	* TheAlcoholic: Norman Snively, whose windowsill is covered with beer cans when Josh tries to untie Buddy from his lawn.
31	* TheAllegedCar: Snively's truck. When he [[WouldHurtAChild attempts to chase down Josh and Buddy in it]], it completely falls apart, [[LaserGuidedKarma causing him to crash into the lake.]]
32	* AnimalAthleteLoophole: In the originals, he often went on to play with a professional team.
33	** The first film is more of an UnbuiltTrope, in that it, unlike later imitators (including its own sequels) actually made the plot vaguely plausible. Bud's ability to shoot baskets is not a random thing, but the result of intense training from his previous owner. Bud's first appearance on the field is as a last-minute replacement because the team needs a fifth player to not have to forfeit, and would rather take their chances with four players and a dog. When Bud helps them win the game, he doesn't join the team but becomes a mascot, and, while he is allowed to shoot hoops, he only does so as part of the half-time show.
34	* AnimalTalk: Implemented in the Air Buddies movies.
35	* ArtisticLicenseAnimalCare: Josh feeds Buddy several banana puddings, ice cream, and Spaghetti Os. While these foods aren't toxic to dogs, the amount of sugar, fat, and dairy in them would cause Buddy severe digestive upset.
36	* ArtisticLicenseSports: While there may be no rule [[AnimalAthleteLoophole specifically stating that a dog can't play]], interscholastic leagues do have stringent eligibility requirements, including being a student of sound academic standing.
37	* AscendedExtra: Andrea from World Pup onwards. Justified because she was very young in the first 2 movies and couldn't contribute anything to the plot.
38	* BigBad: Norman Snively from the first movie; he abuses Buddy and creates one of the main conflicts of the film by standing in the way of Josh and Buddy remaining together.
39	* BigGood: Coach Chaney has shades of this in the first film, as [[spoiler:putting Buddy into the final game]] and [[spoiler:having Buddy choose whom to stay with]] are both his ideas. [[spoiler: He also puts a basketball tryout invitation in Josh's locker against Coach Barker's wishes]].
40	* BookEnds:
41	** Snively is seen in his clown costume at the beginning and end of the first movie, and not at any other point.
42	** A yellow bird is also the first and last thing we see in the same movie, and also not at any other point.
43	* ABoyAndHisX: Josh and his sports-playing superstar dog.
44	* TheCastShowOff: It's actually noted in the end credits of the first film that there were no visual effects done for Buddys' basketball stunts (barring maybe a few editing tricks), the dog was really knocking the ball into the basket.
45	* ChildHater: Snively states this as one of the things he hates in the beginning of the film.
46	* CircusOfFear: The villains of the second movie are two sinister (albeit bumbling) Russians who own a run-down circus staffed solely by themselves and who aren't afraid to kidnap animal attractions.
47	* ContinuityReboot:
48	** In ''World Pup'', Buddy and his mate Molly have a set of puppies, who [[LegoGenetics inherit his sports abilities]]. They receive a PlotRelevantAgeUp for ''Seventh Inning Fetch'', but are nowhere to be seen in ''Spikes Back''. Then, Air Buddies rolls around, and they're puppies again. It could also a brand new set of puppies; it's never really made clear.
49	** The movies move from having merely {{Amplified Animal\| Aptitude}}s in the initial continuity to implementing AnimalTalk in the ''Air Buddies'' series.
50	* DisappearedDad: Mr. Framm was a pilot, and he died in a plane crash.
51	* DisneyDogFight: Judge Crenshaw is surprised to learn that he's overseeing a custody hearing for a dog to start with, but [[spoiler:when Mr. Chaney brings up the point that Buddy is old enough to be considered an adult in dog years and therefore should be allowed to choose his owner, he likes the idea.]] The case concludes outside the courthouse, where Buddy is indeed allowed to make his own decision and ultimately chooses Josh.
52	* TheDogBitesBack: Buddy/Old Blue ends up doing this to his former owner Norman Snively, literally, in the climax. Bonus points for the fact that, from the initial set up, it makes it seem as though Buddy is actually going to choose Snively over Josh before he attacks Snively, shreds up his newspaper, and runs back to Josh when he's finished.
53	* DownToTheLastPlay: The standard plot for the original films.
54	* EarlyBirdCameo: Professor Siles and Carlton, the main antagonists of ''Seventh Inning Fetch'', (or at least their actors) make their first appearance as a pair of quirky referees in ''World Pup''.
55	* {{Foil}}:
56	** Josh to teammate Larry Willingham; both are talented in basketball, but Josh is kinder and more of a team player, while Larry is arrogant and a ball-hog (mainly due to being spurred on by his hyper-competitive father). Larry, however, [[GracefulLoser does show good sportsmanship after he and his new team lose to Josh and his old team in the championship]].
57	** Also, Coach Arther Chaney to his predecessor, Coach Joe Barker. Barker is strict, critical, obsessed with winning, and willing to deter anything that appear to stand in the way of that (an attitude that ultimately gets him fired halfway through the film), while Chaney is encouraging, supportive, puts more emphasis on teamwork and unity, and refuses to concede to parental demands to keep ball-hogging star players in when they're hindering the team (which ultimately leads to the Timberwolves to victory in the end).
58	* FreezeFrameBonus:
59	** Josh has a newspaper clipping and a box of things that belonged to his dad and [[spoiler: reveal that his name was Andrew ("Andy").]]
60	** The sign outside coach Barker's office actually says "COACHS OFFICE".
61	** At one point near the end of the state championship, you can see some dog drool dripping off the basketball as Buddy puts it up.
62	* GracefulLoser: Larry, instead of [[SoreLoser getting hissy and irate about losing]], congratulates Josh on his game-winning shot near the end of the first film.
63	* HeroicPetStory: The movie combines this genre with SportsStory. Instead of saving lives, the titular dog helps a basketball team win the state middle school championship.
64	* ImplausibleDeniability:After Mrs. Framm, Josh, and the principal walk in on him pelting Tom with basketballs and yelling at him not to drop any, Coach Barker claims that he was just running Tom through some drills. They are not convinced, and in the next scene, Barker is no longer the basketball coach.
65	* {{Jerkass}}: Snively, a sleezy, abusive clown who is implied to be abusive towards Buddy and showed no qualms of even running over Josh with his truck when chasing after him and Buddy in the first film.
66	* KickTheDog: Literally, in Snively's case. He is implied to often use a newspaper to beat Buddy, which is one of the signs that Buddy fears his former owner.
67	* LegoGenetics: Plays a significant role in ''Seventh Inning Fetch'', as Buddy and his (grown) pups are kidnapped by a scientist who want to study the "Super-Sports gene" that they all possess.
68	* LetHimChoose: {{Invoked}} at the end of the first movie. Mr. Chaney reasons that Buddy is old enough to be considered an adult in human years and should therefore be allowed to choose for himself who he wants to stay with.
69	* MoodWhiplash: In the first film, the emotional scene in which [[spoiler:Josh attempts to leave Buddy on an island]] is followed by a HardCut to the final game.
70	* NeverMyFault: Snively is a hopelessly incompetent party clown who stinks at his job, yet threatens to take Old Blue/Buddy to the pound for supposedly botching his grand finale (although the trick failed due to using a ball much too big for the dog’s mouth).
71	* NewhartPhoneCall: In the first film, Snively talks on the phone about booking Buddy for a talk show appearance when he sees Josh untying Buddy.
72	* PlotRelevantAgeUp: Between ''World Pup'' and ''Seventh Inning Fetch'', Buddy's kids grow from puppies to adult dogs, but considering that they're dogs and age faster than humans, this is a rare {{justified\| Trope}} example.
73	* PunnyName: The critical coach who initially leads the Fernfield Middle School basketball team is named Coach Barker; the energetic principal is named Ms. Pepper.
74	* PutOnABus: Josh goes off to college and therefore no longer appears in the films from Seventh Inning Fetch onwards. His younger sister Andrea, who was a toddler in the first film but is now a pre-teen, takes over as the main human character instead.
75	* ReasonableAuthorityFigure:
76	** Principal Pepper in the first film. Coach Chaney also has shades of this.
77	** Coach Fanelli in the second film is also generally this, as is Coach Crenshaw in the fourth film.
78	** Jackie through the films, particularly in the first.
79	%%* RecycledInSpace: Later sequels.
80	* RunningGag: Most of the villains get their just desserts by driving their cars into lakes.
81	* SerialEscalation: The first film is a pretty straightforward ABoyAndHisX plot where Josh and Buddy bond through basketball and some drama when Snively tries to take Buddy away due to him becoming a local celebrity from the trick shot demonstrations. Buddy only joined the basketball team for the climactic game [[AnimalAthleteLoophole as a last-minute substitute to avoid disqualification]]. All the sequels in the franchise focus on Buddy being a savant at even more implausible sports, with him joining the teams early as a MiracleRally for the season.
82	* ShooTheDog: Attempted by Josh in the first film, after Snivley proves ownership of Buddy.
83	* SpinningPaper: Josh has a newspaper clipping that explains how his father died.
84	* SpinOffspring: The ''Film/AirBuddies'' series features what is apparently Buddy and Molly's second set of puppies having adventures of their own.
85	* TrademarkFavoriteFood: Buddy really loves banana puddings. During the sad scene where Josh has to abandon Buddy so Snively won't find him, he gives him one as a parting gift.
86	%%* VillainousHarlequin: Snively.
87	%%* WellIntentionedExtremist: The scientists in the fourth film, in comparison to some of the other dog-nappers.
88	* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes:
89	** Subtly played with in the first film: Whenever the newspaper arrives, Buddy always wakes up early, retrieves the newspaper, and attempts to bury it. The audience knows the reason behind this is because he fears them because his old owner often beat him with it, but the family thought it was simply mischief. It wasn't until the owner fought for the dog that he ended up revealing why he did it.
90	** Buddy reacts with a bark to loud noises, as evidenced by the Judge using his paliff mallet, causing the dog to bark in response, implying that Buddy is also deeply afraid of loud thumps, presumably because of his former owner's aforementioned abuse.
91	* WouldHurtAChild:
92	** Snively has no qualms about running over Josh with his truck while chasing him in pursuit of Buddy.
93	** After the Timberwolves lose their first game of the season, Coach Barker centers his frustration over it on player Tom Stewart due to his having dropped the ball so many times during the game. He then makes Tom run through catching drills, but rather than take things slow to properly teach Tom, he instead [[DisproportionateRetribution violently pelts the boy with basketballs in his frustration]], which not only deprives Tom of being able to catch them, but also hurts him in the process. Fortunately, Buddy, with his enhanced dog senses and own abuse experiences, hears or senses what's going on and leads Josh, Mrs. Framm, and Principal Ms. Pepper to the scene. Barker is immediately stopped and then fired (off-screen).
94	* YoureNotMyFather: In ''Golden Receiver'', Josh misses his dad so much that he can't accept his mom's new boyfriend. After a talk with his coach, Josh is able to see that no one will ever replace his father or take his place in Josh's heart.

Context Film / AirBud