Line #57 Film/Beethoven


1	[[quoteright:308:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/beethoven_poster.jpg]]
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3	A series of family comedy films from Creator/{{Universal}} about a St. Bernard dog named after Music/LudwigVanBeethoven. Unlike in its [[WesternAnimation/BeethovenTheAnimatedSeries animated spin-off]], Beethoven could not speak, although he still had AmplifiedAnimalAptitude. In keeping with the theme of the composer, the sequel movies were titled ''Beethoven's 2nd'', ''Beethoven's 3rd'', etc.
4
5	The first film, released in 1992 and directed by Brian Levant, was executive produced by Creator/IvanReitman and co-written by Creator/JohnHughes under the pseudonym "[[Literature/TheCountOfMonteCristo Edmond Dantes]]." The story focuses on Beethoven's adoption by the Newton family: curmudgeon father George (Creator/CharlesGrodin), earnest wife Alice (Creator/BonnieHunt), CoolBigSis Ryce (Creator/NicholleTom from ''Series/TheNanny''), geeky son Ted (Christopher Castile from ''Series/StepByStep''), and CheerfulChild Emily (Sarah Rose Karr from ''Film/KindergartenCop''). Unbeknownst to them, their new pet is an escaped would-be test animal from a lab run by Dr. Herman Varnick (Creator/DeanJones[[note]] Jones would later voice George Newton in the animated series; Nicholle Tom was the only other cast member to return for the series, providing Ryce's voice [[/note]]), an evil veterinarian who sounds like {{Satan}} and is stealing his customers' dogs to conduct unethical experiments on.
6
7	The American Veterinary Association apparently wasn't any too happy about the film featuring an evil vet who uses dogs as ballistic test dummies, and subsequently sent a scathing letter to Jack Valenti, then-president of the Motion Picture Association of America. Probably as a result, the first sequel has a "safe" villain in the form of Regina (Creator/DebiMazar), a [[WesternAnimation/OneHundredAndOneDalmatians Cruella de Vil]]-esque RichBitch and her arrogant but [[TheDitz somewhat-dimwitted]] boyfriend Floyd (Creator/ChrisPenn). ''Beethoven's 2nd'' was the last film to feature the original cast and the last to be released theatrically. It was also the last film to involve Reitman as executive producer.
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9	Seven years after ''Beethoven's 2nd'', the series was resurrected with some DirectToVideo sequels. The family members were replaced with {{Suspiciously Similar Substitute}}s, with the explanation that Beethoven was living "[[SequelNonEntity temporarily]]" with George's brother Richard Newton (Creator/JudgeReinhold) and his family. This family includes wife Beth (Julia Sweeney), son Brennan (Joe Pichler) and daughter Sara (Michaela Gallo). After two films with them, ''Beethoven's 5th'' featured Sara ([[TheOtherDarrin now played by]] Creator/DaveighChase) bringing Beethoven along on a visit to her Uncle Freddie (Dave Thomas) with the rest of the family absent. This was the last movie set in the original continuity.
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11	Creator/HarveyComics published a ''Beethoven'' ComicBook series in 1994.
12
13	In 2008, ''Beethoven's Big Break'' [[ContinuityReboot rebooted]] the franchise. ''Big Break'' was followed by ''Beethoven's Christmas Adventure'' in 2011 and ''Beethoven's Treasure Tail'' in 2014.
14
15	----
16	!!'''The series in general provides examples of:'''
17
18	* ArtisticLicenseAnimalCare:
19	** Plenty of it::
20	*** Beethoven's owners are seen feeding him bacon and Twinkies, and he eats other human foods like cookies when nobody's around. Such foods are known to give dogs indigestion, and too much bacon could give a dog pancreatitis. One little girl is seen feeding Beethoven her vanilla ice cream cone as she [[{{Squick}} continues to lick it herself]]. Understandable as she's just a child, but vanilla is likely not to sit well with Beethoven either. Had it been a chocolate cone, he'd be even worse for wear.
21	*** The Newtons never seem to consider having Beethoven neutered, even though this is highly recommended for domestic pets and would curb any aggression or destruction of the house. Of course, if they had, then the events of the sequel would never have happened.
22	* BigEater: Beethoven, who is often looking for food and annihilates a holiday turkey in one scene.
23	* BigFriendlyDog: The titular character is a large, but lovable St. Bernard.
24	* ComicBookTime: There's a seven-year gap between ''Beethoven's 2nd'' and ''Beethoven's 3rd'', but they apparently take place in immediate succession. So evidently the world just randomly jumps from the early '90s to the early '00s.
25	* DogsAreDumb: Played with. It's intentionally left vague just how smart Beethoven is and he does things that are both astoundingly brilliant and incredibly dumb, sometimes simultaneously.
26	* HappilyMarried: George and Alice. Despite any disagreements they may have about Beethoven or George's business ambitions, they still show each other affection regularly and have each other's backs through thick and thin. The second movie even shows the pair slow-dancing on the jetty of their cabin, much to the delight of their children and Beethoven's puppies.
27	** Another example is Beethoven and Missy in the 2nd movie. While dogs don't technically get married, the relationship between the two is completely unaffected by distance or time apart, even after the puppies come along, the romance between them is still going strong.
28	* HeroicDog: Beethoven saves Emily from drowning, Ted from being bullied, Ryce from being raped, the family from being swindled, and performs tons of other feats of heroism.
29	* LighterAndSofter: The series tends to get sillier and more light-hearted as it goes along. The first movie had villains involved in unethical animal experiments, and the second one had a scene in which Beethoven saves Ryce from being raped. Compared to the direct-to-video sequels that would follow, the two theatrically-released ''Beethoven'' films look positively gritty and hard-edged.
30	* OnlySaneMan: Gender-flipped, with Alice filling this role in the first two movies, mostly observing the chaos caused by her husband, kids, and Beethoven.
31	* PutOnAPrisonBus: Happens to all the villains in the franchise, except for Regina and Floyd (onscreen at least).
32	* SiblingRivalry: Averted in the first two movies. The Newton siblings regularly do activities together and rarely squabble despite their different ages.
33
34	!!'''Tropes specific to the first film:'''
35
36	* AngryGuardDog: The Dobermans guarding the junkyard at the end of the film.
37	* ArmorPiercingResponse:
38	-->'''George''': Come on. My dream is going down the drain and you're worried about a ''dog''.\
39	'''Alice''': Our family is going down the drain and you're worried about a dream.
40	* ArtisticLicenseAnimalCare: There is so much wrong with the way Dr. Varnick runs his practice that anyone with knowledge of veterinary care is going to either laugh uncontrollably or {{Facepalm}} throughout the film. Some of it crosses over into ArtisticLicenseLaw, to boot. Some of it can be [[HandWave hand waved]] on account of him being, y'know, ''evil'' and obviously willing to lie to achieve his goals, but not all of it.
41	* BecauseYouWereNiceToMe: Beethoven gives a pastry to the stray dog who helped him escape from the Varnick's goons as a puppy.
42	* BedmateReveal: Beethoven keeps climbing into bed with George, who is far from amused.
43	* BigNo: George screams this as the mud-soaked Beethoven shakes himself dry, getting George all wet.
44	* BigSisterInstinct: When Ryce realizes that Emily had fallen into the babysitter's pool, then sees that the babysitter is trying to get Emily to keep the accident a secret, she ''immediately'' asks to call her mother.
45	* BitchInSheepsClothing: Dr. Varnick acts nice to people, but deep down, he's a son of a bitch of the highest order.
46	* BrickJoke: At the beginning, a biker woman comes into the pet shop, saying she has a big junkyard and needs a big junkyard dog. She rejects the St. Bernard puppy after he [[UrineTrouble pees on]] her and exclaims "You got any pit bulls?" Much later in the film, when [[spoiler:Dr. Varnick's goons flee the dogs, they take cover in a big junkyard, occupied by four big '''dobermans''']].
47	* BullyingADragon: Vernon and Harvey at the end.
48	--> Stupid, stupid doggies! Stupid, stupid doggies!
49	* ButtMonkey: George gets the brunt of Beethoven's mischief.
50	* CarFu: [[spoiler:Ted]] crashes the family station wagon into the bad guys' warehouse.
51	* CassandraTruth: From a window, little Emily sees Dr. Varnick hit Beethoven in order to provoke the dog to lunge forward. Varnick then pulls the WoundedGazelleGambit detailed below. Because of Emily's age, the adults initially don't believe her, but when Alice sees that Emily sticks to the story no matter what on top of having never accused an adult of lying before, she convinces George to investigate the situation.
52	* ChekhovsSkill: Beethoven learned ways to escape the gate that he's locked behind in the backyard. It does come in handy when [[spoiler: he races to save Emily from drowning in a swimming pool]].
53	* ChildHater: George's JerkAss clients who are a married couple with careers.
54	* CoolOldLady: The babysitter was trying very hard to come across as this - she played "Lady Marmalade" on a parlor organ for the kids and bragged about playing in clubs. However, the kids were so unimpressed they asked to be allowed to do their homework. This is to say nothing of the criminal negligence, while entertaining the older kids she loses track of the youngest, who falls in the pool and would've drowned had it not been for Beethoven.
55	* CreatorCameo: Transportation coordinator Craig Pinkard has a minor role as a homeless man digging in the garbage who meets and befriends Sparky, the Jack Russell terrier who helped Beethoven escape from Harvey and Vernon.
56	* CreatorThumbprint: Vernon and Harvey, the bungling henchmen, recall The Wet Bandits, the bumbling pair of thieves from [[Film/HomeAlone1 a previous John Hughes film]]. Yuppies Brad and Brie bear some resemblance to the snooty Todd and Margo of ''Film/NationalLampoonsChristmasVacation''.
57	* CruellaToAnimals: Dr. Varnick uses poor, innocent dogs for his deadly animal experiments ''and'' he wants to test a new type of bullets on Beethoven, something he expresses with perverse pleasure.
58	* DirtyCoward: Harvey and Vernon. Both run from the dogs they stole, then hold hands in fear when the doberman pinschers attack them in the junkyard.
59	* EvenTheDogIsAshamed: When George goes to the vet to [[spoiler:have Beethoven put down]], you see three dogs with their owners in the waiting room as he exits. All three of said dogs look away from George and/or whimper at him.
60	* EvenTheGirlsWantHer: Ryce comments on the "perfection" of her secret crush's girlfriend.
61	* EverybodyCries: Ryce, Ted, and Emily cry just before Beethoven is sent to be put down after Dr. Varnick fakes a dog attack in order to label Beethoven as a dangerous dog.
62	* FanserviceExtra: There is a lingering shot of Beethoven jumping over a reclining girl in a bikini.
63	* FantasyForbiddingFather: George, as he was reluctant to adopt Beethoven, but his family overrule his decision and kept him as the family pet.
64	* FiveSecondForeshadowing: During George's business lunch, you can see Beethoven's leash wrapping around Brad and Brie's chairs, knowing that something bad is coming.
65	* ForTheEvulz: Dr. Varnick hurts innocents dogs merely for his own sadistic amusement.
66	* FourEyesZeroSoul: Dr. Varnick wears a pair of glasses, and is a very bad guy.
67	* FreudianExcuse: George's reason for his hostility towards Beethoven. [[spoiler:While driving Beethoven to be put down, George tells him how he hated his own dad for taking his dog away but it's implied that it was for a good reason.]]
68	* FunnyBackgroundEvent: If you watch closely during the scene where all the dogs freed from Dr. Varnick's lab chase his mooks through a market, a golden retriever picks up an entire cabbage in its mouth and spends the rest of the scene hanging onto it.
69	* GroinAttack: [[spoiler:Dr. Varnick gets this by Sparky, the Jack Russell terrier who helped Beethoven escape in the beginning.]]
70	* HeelFaceTurn: George has one towards Beethoven. He even [[spoiler: jumped through a skylight to save him from being shot]].
71	* HiddenDepths: George, after seemingly finding every reason to dislike Beethoven throughout most of the movie, reveals that [[spoiler:he is still bitter because of his father taking his old family dog to the vet to be euthanized, and regrets that he thought he had to do the same to Beethoven (and having the same resentment from his own kids). Thankfully, as soon as he realizes that Dr. Varnick is corrupt, he does everything possible to save Beethoven]].
72	* IfIDoNotReturn: When George decides to sneak into Varnick's lab to look for clues, as well as the whereabouts of Beethoven, he tells Alice and the kids to call the police if he doesn't return in fifteen minutes. When Alice decides to follow him, she starts to tell the kids the same thing but stops herself and says that she'll be back.
73	* INeverSaidItWasPoison: A variation of it. George was told by the secretary that Beethoven will be put down the next day. Later that night when he return to the vet with his family to take back Beethoven, Dr. Varnick told him the dog was already put down. That's how George knew he was lying.
74	* JerkassHasAPoint: George opposes adopting Beethoven--saying he's a cute little puppy for now but will grow to be enormous, drool everywhere and wreck the house. The following montage of Beethoven wrecking the house shows George was on point.
75	* KarmaHoudini: The ammunition company representative and/or the company in general is this, unless Varnick and/or his mooks pled out for reduced sentences in which case the representative/company would instead be KarmaHoudiniWarranty.
76	* KidsDrivingCars: [[spoiler:With George off dealing with the bad guys and Alice calling the police, Ted borrows the family station wagon in order to pull off a BigDamnHeroes moment.]]
77	* KindlyVet: Completely averted; Dr. Herman Varnick is an utterly dirty veterinarian.
78	* LaserGuidedKarma: Dr. Varnick, who spent a lot of time injecting experimental chemicals into dogs, gets [[spoiler:pumped full of his own chemicals]]. And his henchmen, who spend a lot of the movie being cruel to dogs, get [[spoiler:mauled by Dobermans]].
79	* MamaBear: Downplayed. When Alice picks up her kids from the babysitter, she’s understandably upset one of her kids almost drowned and she does not believe the babysitter when she tries to act like it wasn’t her fault. Alice does the right thing and fires the woman.
80	* {{Mooks}}: The two characters played by Creator/StanleyTucci (Vernon) and Oliver Platt (Harvey).
81	* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: George is hit with this after he leaves Beethoven with Dr. Varnick to be put down after the alleged attack; having wished constantly for his mischievous pet to be out of his life, [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor George realizes that he wasn't that bad after all]].
82	* MySignificanceSenseIsTingling: Beethoven sensed Emily was about to fall into the pool and ran to the rescue.
83	* NeverMyFault: The babysitter tries to gloss over her negligence by claiming that the fault lies with Emily for wandering off. Alice is not impressed.
84	** Sal [=DeMargo=] in ''Big Break''.
85	* NiceJobFixingItVillain: Had Dr. Varnick's mooks not recapture the Jack Russell terrier who helped Beethoven escape, he wouldn't have been there to again help Beethoven as well as George.
86	* OhCrap: The two {{mooks}} upon realizing that [[spoiler:they just tried to take shelter in a junkyard...patrolled by four ''very vicious Dobermans'']].
87	** George's reaction upon meeting Beethoven for the first time also counts.
88	* PapaWolf: Don't cross George Newton. He may not look like it, but he is very protective of his kids and later his dog.
89	* PetsHomageName: Beethoven himself was named after the composer when he seemed to react positively to Emily playing Beethoven's 5th Symphony on the piano.
90	* PoliceAreUseless: When George tries to report Dr. Varnick to the police and tells them about him faking being attacked by Beethoven as an excuse to take him, the police responder replies with 'So what?' Averted in the climax, where they are all arrested.
91	* PunchClockVillain: Harvey isn't anywhere close to a likeable guy, but he isn't close to being the sadist that Dr. Varnick and Vernon are.
92	* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: George really lays one on Beethoven, failing to comprehend why his family likes a sniffing and drooling creature better than him. Maybe if he paid more attention to them than his career obsession to raise more capital, hence his obliviousness to Brad and Brie's plans to eventually take over his business, it wouldn't seem that way so much.
93	* RedemptionRejection: Harvey appears to contemplate a HeelFaceTurn when he learns that Dr. Varnick wants them destroy the ''dogs'' along with all the other evidence. Then he shrugs and gets back to work.
94	* RevengeIsADishBestServed: Brad patronisingly asks Alice to refill his drink and calls her "Alecia" in the process. Alice takes a quick sip and spits it back into the glass before handing it to Brad.
95	* ScreamsLikeALittleGirl: One of Dr. Varnick's henchmen, when Beethoven broke free.
96	* SoftGlass: [[spoiler:George]] enters the bad guys' warehouse through a skylight.
97	* TimePassesMontage: A montage depicts Beethoven going from a puppy to a full-grown St. Bernard, all the while, highlighting George's frustration with the dog as Paul Shaffer's rendition of "Roll Over Beethoven" plays in the background.
98	* TooDumbToLive:
99	** Dr Varnick's dim-witted thieves.
100	** Dr. Vernick himself. [[spoiler: Upright and uncapped is ''not'' how you place a syringe when you aren't using it!]]
101	* UndyingLoyalty: No matter how much George berates Beethoven when the latter causes trouble for the former and deploring his gross habits in general, Beethoven still acts caring towards him, as shown when he saved George from getting scammed by a couple of con artists.
102	* UnusuallyUninterestingSight: A local pet store is robbed of several dozen of its puppies and the authorities don't know what became of them. George places ''dozens'' of lost dog posters for Beethoven when he wanders into their home for the first time. Nobody in town makes the connection that he's one of the stolen pups.
103	* UrineTrouble: Beethoven as a puppy pees on a biker woman who considered adopting him, until he did that to her.
104	* VileVillainLaughableLackey: The veterinarian's goons' bumbling and cowardice were PlayedForLaughs, but the veterinarian himself was not.
105	* WhatTheHellHero: Alice calls George out for caring more about his dream than his own family. And his kids were mad at him for taking Beethoven to be put to sleep. Both are angry at his "unreasonable" hatred of Beethoven from the start and for always looking for "excuses" to get rid of him.
106	* WoundedGazelleGambit: Dr. Varnick pulls this on Beethoven by pouring fake blood on his arm to make it look like Beethoven attacked him so he'll have an excuse to have him euthanized with the threat to press charges otherwise. Thankfully, it backfires against him later since Emily saw the whole thing and when George goes to confront him, his arm isn't covered in a cast or stitches and doesn't even have any bite marks.
107	* YouExclamation: George shouts this at Beethoven after coming home on a rainy day to find his house completely trashed and the mud-soaked dog lying on his and Alice's bed. What follows is the above-mentioned BigNo from George, as the dog stands up and shakes himself dry, soaking the frustrated dad in the process.
108
109	!!'''Tropes specific to ''Beethoven's 2nd'':'''
110
111	* AwardBaitSong: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-odILRnHpb0 "The Day I Fall In Love"]] by James Ingram and Music/DollyParton.
112	* BabiesEverAfter: Beethoven and Missy's puppies. While they are born in the middle of the movie, they are still a fruit of the solid relationship between their parents, even after they grow to full-size.
113	* BadPeopleAbuseAnimals: Regina. She is generally unpleasant to be around, but the abuse of Missy and intention to drown her puppies cement her as a nasty piece of work.
114	* BatmanInMyBasement: After rescuing Missy's puppies, the children hide them in the basement, knowing that George would not allow them to stay if he knew. He inevitably finds out, but is eventually won over.
115	* BitchInSheepsClothing: Ryce's handsome and seemingly nice boyfriend Taylor shows his true colors when he locks her in his room so she can't escape his sexual advances.
116	* {{Bowdlerize}}: A version of the film released on streaming services such as HBO removed the scene where Taylor attempts to sexually assault Ryce. For some reason, it also removed the part where Ryce sticks her finger in dog poo to check if the puppies are nearby.
117	* ClimbingClimax: Of sorts. The final confrontation takes place on the edge of a cliff in the mountains, with Floyd threatening to drop one of Beethoven's puppies over the edge. Beethoven saves his puppies and his human owners by causing Floyd and Regina to fall over the edge.
118	* CruellaToAnimals: Played straight with Regina, to the point where she comes across as something of an {{Expy}} of [[Film/OneHundredAndOneDalmatians1996 Cruella de Vil]]. She initially wants to get rid of Beethoven's puppies by any means necessary, and only decides not to drown them when she finds out that they're purebred and worth a bunch of money.
119	* DateRapeAverted: Taylor locks Ryce in his room with him, but she is saved from being sexually assaulted when Beethoven destroys half of the house, causing Taylor to fall into the lake below.
120	* DemotedToExtra: While Sparky the Jack Russell played a large role in the first movie, in this movie he's barely onscreen for more than 5 minutes.
121	** He is first seen with another Jack Russell Terrier, just minutes before Beethoven meets Missy in the same park; afterwards he is on a lawn and watches in confusion as Beethoven is out on a walk with his four puppies.
122	** A small but noteworthy detail is that Sparky has a collar around his neck, suggesting that some time after the first movie, [[SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments after having lived as a stray for so long, he has finally been adopted]].
123	* DerailingLoveInterests: At one point Ryce can't decide between two boys, Seth and Taylor, before the latter removes her dilemma by revealing himself to be a potential rapist.
124	* DidntThinkThisThrough: Regina spends the whole movie in a custody battle for Missy, on the grounds that Brillo can't pay his ex-wife the money she wants. Then she kidnaps puppies that the kids have been raising and threatens Beethoven, who belongs to another family. In addition, her boyfriend threatens to toss one of the puppies off a cliff and assaults George. The family testified offscreen about this to the courts, and Regina unsurprisingly lost the case on grounds of animal abuse.
125	* DisneyVillainDeath: Subverted. Floyd and Regina fall from a potentially fatal height off a cliff, but survive by landing in a muddy pool.
126	* EatingContest: George and Beethoven participate in one, and win.
127	* EveryoneHasStandards:
128	** George at first understandably doesn't want to raise ''four'' more St. Bernard puppies and be responsible for five dogs; Beethoven was bad enough. Then the kids explain that Regina wanted to sell them, and that she's not a nice lady. George acquiesces. In the climax, he leads the rescue for them when Beethoven goes searching for his puppies and Regina.
129	** Even though Regina tried kidnapping the puppies, Alice is genuinely worried for Regina and Floyd when they fall from the cliff into the muddy river. So is George, despite the fact that Floyd attacked him. She tries reassuring them they'll be fine, up until [[FromBadToWorse they get swept away by the river currents]]. Then Alice looks askance, and decides to treat everyone to lunch.
130	* FeetFirstIntroduction: Regina is introduced this way as she arrives to claim Missy from Brillo.
131	* {{Foil}}:
132	** AnimalLover NiceGuy Brillo, who dotes on his dog Missy and buys her ice-creams, is one to his ex-wife, the conniving, greedy Regina who sees Missy and the puppies only in terms of how they can benefit her financially.
133	** Ryce's two love interests Seth and Taylor [[BettyAndVeronicaSwitch are this to each other:]] Seth appears at first glance to be a reckless BadBoy, but is eventually revealed to be a genuine NiceGuy who actually cares about Ryce, while Taylor appears to be a handsome NiceGuy with a slight penchant for womanizing, but is eventually revealed to be a predatory BitchInSheepsClothing, who traps Ryce in his room with the intention of having his way with her – ''whether she wants to or not.'' This actually also applies to how the boys are greeted by Alice. When Taylor shows up to the Newton's door, Alice is somewhat cold and dismissive towards him. By contrast, when she meets Seth later on, she's far warmer and more welcoming.
134	* {{Foreshadowing}}: Beethoven saves Ryce from danger by causing her would-be attacker to fall from a height into water. At the climax of the movie, he saves his human and dog families from danger by causing their would-be attackers to fall from a high cliff into a muddy pool, ultimately resulting in them being washed down the river.
135	* FreshClue: As the Newtons are tracking their dogs, they happen to find some dog poo that likely belongs to one of the dogs. To find out when they left it there, Ryce sticks a finger in it to feel if it's still warm. It is.
136	* GroinAttack: Beethoven delivers one to Floyd in retaliation for the latter threatening one of his puppies and assaulting George with a stick.
137	* HateSink: It's a wonder what Brillo ever saw in Regina. She never exhibits anything other than hateful spite.
138	* HoistByHisOwnPetard: When Floyd pokes George with a stick, Beethoven charges the stick to [[GroinAttack ram the other end into Floyd's groin]], pushing him (along with Regina) off the edge of the cliff.
139	* IcyBlueEyes / CreepyBlueEyes: Regina has a pair of chilly blue eyes, which is fitting for her cruel behavior.
140	* InformedPoverty: George and Alice mention multiple times that the Newtons aren't well off. Only in Hollywood would the beautiful two-story house that the Newtons have in a very nice suburban neighborhood be reflective of this. This may be justified as them having trouble expanding George's business rather than them being outright ''poor.''
141	* TheIgor: Floyd fills this role for Regina.
142	* MamaBear: Missy protectively stands in front of her puppies and barks threateningly when Regina discovers her litter. In addition to her being aware of Regina’s evil personality, this is true to mother dogs’ nature as they will be in protective mode over their pups.
143	* MeaningfulName:
144	** RichBitch Regina's name means "queen" in Latin.
145	** Brillo has a sunny disposition and is bespectacled. His name is a Spanish word for "brightness" and is also similar to the German word ''Brille'' meaning "glasses".
146	* MoodWhiplash:
147	** The almost excessively adorable scene in which Brillo feeds Missy and Beethoven ice-creams is interrupted by the sinister FeetFirstIntroduction of Regina who has come to break up the fun.
148	** Similarly, the heartwarming reunion of Beethoven and Missy with their puppies on the cliff top is darkened when the villains arrive.
149	** Ryce has a seemingly romantic scene with Taylor in his bedroom upstairs and they share a kiss, before it is suddenly revealed that he has ''locked the door'' and intends to have his way with her.
150	* NegativeContinuity: Ambiguously. The test dogs George adopted at the end of the first movie are not present in this one, although it's possible that he only kept them temporarily until someone else could be found to adopt them.
151	* NiceGuy:
152	** Seth, in contrast to Ryce's previous boyfriend Taylor.
153	** Brillo is this. He treats Beethoven to ice-cream when he sees the dog likes his St. Bernard Missy, and he begs Regina not to take away Missy for his dog's sake. Later, he comes at the end of the movie to reassure the Newtons that Regina lost the case, he regained custody of Missy, and he's going to help with the puppies.
154	* NiceJobFixingItVillain: Several of the minor antagonists do this:
155	** Thanks to the bully who harasses Janie, Ted (with Beethoven's help) has an opportunity to impress her by scaring him away, which induces her to return Ted's previously unrequited interest.
156	** In the previous scene, the {{Jerkass}} teen boys who pour beer over Beethoven provoke him to run forward, detaching the support pillar he's tied to, which destroys the front of the house and saves Ryce from being at least assaulted by Taylor.
157	** Presumably, the family reports Regina trying to kidnap their puppies to the court because that is a nasty thing to do when you're demanding custody of your spouse's dog. Brillo reports that she lost the case.
158	* OffscreenKarma: Although Regina is seen to be punished physically (falling off a cliff and being washed down the river), her ultimate comeuppance, the loss of her court case against Brillo, happens off-screen and is reported by Brillo to the heroes.
159	* PaleFemalesDarkMales: Missy has a light brown color while Beethoven’s is dark brown.
160	* PapaWolf:
161	** Beethoven for his pups. When one of his sons was threatened, he didn't hesitate to [[GroinAttack ram a tree branch in Floyd's crotch.]] He also looks out for his humans, especially George.
162	** George also develops this towards the puppies. He yells at Floyd to put one of them down and would attack if Floyd weren't using threatening to drop one over the cliff.
163	* PetsHomageName: In keeping with the tradition, one of Beethoven's puppies is named Tchaikovsky.
164	* PuppyLove: Beethoven and Missy are a literal example.
165	* RevoltingRescue: Downplayed. The family are out looking for Beethoven's missing puppies when they come across some puppy poop, but they can't tell if it means the puppies are nearby or not. Ryce reluctantly sticks her fingers into the poop to find out whether or not it's warm.
166	* RichBitch: Regina, in spades.
167	* SaveTheVillain: After Regina and Floyd fall off the cliff into the muddy pond, the Newtons call down that they will try to help them. Regina angrily refuses to accept any assistance.
168	* SecretPetPlot: After the titular dog sires puppies with the neighbour's dog and the the neighbour's ex-wife want to sell them for being purebred, the Newton kids rescue them, but hid them at the basement from their father, knowing the ruckus that Beethoven caused during the first film. They took turns in raising the puppies, to the point of sacrificing their sleep. When the kids' teachers called their parents, they spill the beans, but the father freaks out when he discovers the puppies from the basement. The father reluctantly accepts when the kids reprimand him about how it took them full effort to raise the puppies the same way he and the mother raised the kids.
169	* SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan: [[spoiler:This is why Ryce chose Taylor and Seth in the first place at respective times. Taylor turns out to be far from nice, but Seth seems to be a lot better than him.]]
170	* StockScream: The Howie Long Scream is heard as Taylor falls into the lake when Beethoven destroys the house he's in.
171	* StupidCrooks: Regina and Floyd technically aren't crooks (although they were perfectly willing to drown puppies initially) but they fit the trope to a T. The finale showcases how completely moronic they both are.
172	* SurpriseLitterOfPuppies: The kids are surprised to learn that Beethoven has a St. Bernard girlfriend and several purebred puppies.
173	* TakeMyHand: A possible moment when Floyd is teetering on the cliff-edge and he and Regina grab each other's hands; the result is that both of them fall over the edge.
174	* TheTalk: Ted and Emily need George [[WeNeedADistraction to be distracted]] so they can sneak Beethoven's puppies into the house. Emily asks George where babies come from and it works perfectly. After he's been desperately trying to tell her in a way that's both pretty honest and as non-sexual as he can muster, she finally ends it with, "You don't really understand this, do you, Dad?" and walks away.
175	* TooDumbToLive:
176	** The drunken teen party-ers who dump beer on Beethoven for their own amusement; this leads to Beethoven collapsing the entire house where the party is at, sending everyone into the lake! ([[{{Reconstruction}} On the bright side]], the incident does save Ryce from a dangerous situation in the process)
177	** Floyd, especially when he threatens George with a stick in the presence of Beethoven while standing on the edge of a cliff.
178	* TookALevelInBadass: Ted. While the first movie has Beethoven scaring his bullies away for him, this time he is the one who took charge in confronting the boy who was bullying his crush, and made the commands to Beethoven that eventually succeeded in scaring the bully away.
179	* TrickAndFollowPloy: Regina and Floyd use the puppies this way to lead them up the mountain to Beethoven and Missy.
180	* VileVillainLaughableLackey: Floyd's stupidity is PlayedForLaughs, while his greedy girlfriend Regina is much more cruel and intentional than he was.
181	* VillainHasAPoint: Downplayed. Regina says that as the owner of Missy the puppies belong to her as well. Given that Beethoven belongs to the Newtowns, at best Regina has a ''claim'' to the puppies that would have also been up in the air depending on who ultimately had retained ownership of Missy in the divorce. Of course, this all went out the window when Regina resorted to kidnapping and multiple other potential crimes.
182	* VillainousBreakdown: Regina and Floyd really go off the deep end (pun intended) after falling off a cliff into mud, turning on each other. The sniping and insults continue even as they are washed down the river into the distance, as the Newtons look on from the clifftop.
183	* WildTeenParty: Ryce's would-be rape in takes place at such a party. [[DrugsAreBad The other teens there are all drinking beer because they are bad, but Ryce refuses to have any since she is a Good Girl.]]
184	* WrongGuyFirst: Would-be rapist Taylor for Ryce; she ends up with genuine NiceGuy Seth instead.
185
186	!!'''Tropes specific to subsequent films:'''
187
188	* DesperateObjectCatch: PlayedForLaughs with Beethoven's drool in one of the sequels.
189	* EvilDetectingDog: Beethoven in the third movie. All the damage he causes is a result of protecting the family from a pair of dumbass criminals.
190	* ItsAllAboutMe: Sal [=DeMargo=] in ''Big Break''.
191	* JediMindTrick: Hilariously attempted in the third movie as one of the criminals tries desperately to use this on the cops to avoid getting arrested. Needless to say, it doesn't work.
192	* PutOnABus: The entire Newton family after the second film, having passed Beethoven on to their relatives from the third movie onward.
193	* PrinceAndPauper: Whole plot of ''Beethoven's 4th''.
194	* SuddenlySpeaking: In ''Beethoven's Christmas Adventure'' (the seventh movie), Beethoven can now speak (with the voice of Tom Arnold).
195	* ToiletDrinkingDogGag: The opening of the fourth movie has one scene where Beethoven drinks from a toilet -- then when he finishes and leaves, he accidentally pulls the toilet seat off and gets it hung around his neck (which is where the image on the film's cover comes from). This becomes an issue when Beth tries to use the toilet immediately afterward....
196	* ToiletHumor: ''Beethoven's Christmas Adventure'' includes a scene of Beethoven and another dog farting for almost a solid minute.
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Context Film / Beethoven