Santa Buddies, also known as Santa Buddies: The Legend of Santa Paws, is a 2009 American Christmas comedy film. It is the fourth installment of the Air Buddies spin-off series as well as the ninth film in the Air Bud franchise. It was released on DVD and Blu-ray November 24, 2009. Tom Bosley s appearance in the film was his final role before his death.

Plot

At the North Pole, Santa Claus (George Wendt) and his dog Santa Paws (Tom Bosley), a gentle and loyal all-white Great Pyrenees, go outside to examine the magical Christmas Icicle, which is melting because nobody believes in Christmas anymore; if it continues to melt, Christmas will be gone forever.

After causing mayhem in Santa s workshop and getting exiled for it, Puppy Paws (Zachary Gordon), the fun-loving son of Santa Paws, stares at the Icicle and states I wish Christmas would just disappear , which causes it to crack. He finds Budderball (Josh Flitter) on Santa s naughty list for eating the Thanksgiving turkey and figures he s just the dog to show him how to be an ordinary puppy. Meanwhile, the Christmas Icicle makes a big crack, shuts off the power at the North Pole, and makes the reindeer weak and powerless.

Budderball and the other Buddies (Field Cate, Liliana Mumy, Skyler Gisondo, Ty Panitz), also lacking in Christmas spirit, believe that their father is Santa Paws in disguise, and that the naughty list is a way to scare them to behave. However, Sniffer (Tim Conway) replies that Christmas is about giving and a holiday they must learn to respect.

Puppy Paws makes it to Fernfield, Washington to find Budderball in his home. Budderball introduces Puppy Paws to his brothers and sister. The North Pole puppy ends up being a nuisance to each of the Buddies: Budderball is framed for eating the shortbread cookies as he tries to get back on the nice list, B-Dawg gets beaten at break dancing by Puppy Paws, who even accidentally breaks a vase, Puppy Paws, unaware not to do so, shakes dirt out of his fur in the living room after Mudbud gives him lessons on how to roll in the dirt, creating holiday shapes of the dirt spots which results in Mudbud being put in a cover-up coat for the rest of the day, Rosebud gets an extreme Christmas makeover, and Buddha s meditation statue is turned into a snowman as Puppy Paws explains that the snowman is what citizens of the North Pole meditate in front of .

Fed up with Puppy Paws antics, the Buddies lose their patience and eject him from their house. But they learn that Puppy Paws isn t hurting them as they are hurting themselves and decide to treat him with compassion. Puppy Paws gets taken away by dog catcher Stan Cruge (Christopher Lloyd), who takes him to the pound. There, Puppy Paws meets a puppy named Tiny (Kaitlyn Maher) who is wishing for a Christmas miracle and sings a song about miracles, which teaches Puppy Paws about the true meaning of Christmas.

The Buddies, along with an elf dog named Eddy (Richard Kind), come to the rescue. Eddy tells Cruge that he knows the dog catcher always wanted a puppy for Christmas, but his mother was allergic to dogs and never got one, which made Cruge hate Christmas and become a dog catcher.

With help from an elf named Eli (Danny Woodburn), Christmas spirit returns, the Christmas Icicle stops melting, and the North Pole is back in business. Puppy Paws and the Buddies make it to the North Pole. The reindeer are unable to fly, and Puppy Paws and the Buddies volunteer to save Christmas with their uncanny abilities (the Buddies remembered what Shasta taught them). A changed Mr. Cruge brings Tiny over to the child who has been asking for a puppy as a Christmas present. Tiny says her goodbyes to the Buddies and Puppy Paws. After their last delivery, Santa Claus and Santa Paws arrive in Fernfield. Santa puts the Buddies (including Budderball) on top of the nice list, Puppy Paws becomes part of Santa s family, and the Buddies bid him farewell.

Mr. Cruge is invited to dinner with Tiny s new family. The movie ends with the entire town (including the Buddies and Deputy Sniffer), led by Cruge, singing Silent Night in front of Fernfield s Christmas tree.

Cast

• George Wendt as Santa Claus
• Christopher Lloyd as Stan Cruge
• Danny Woodburn as Eli
• Quinn Lord as Pete
• Ryan Grantham as Sam
• Andrew Astor as Mikey
• Sophia Ludwig as Alice
• Gig Morton as Billy
• Craig Anton as Bob
• Michael Teigen as Sheriff Dan

Voice cast

• Zachary Gordon as Puppy Paws, Santa Paws son
• Tom Bosley as Santa Paws, a Great Pyrenees
• Tim Conway as Sniffer
• Josh Flitter as Budderball
• Liliana Mumy as Rosebud
• Ty Panitz as Mudbud (Jonathan Morgan Heit when singing)
• Field Cate as Buddha
• Skyler Gisondo as B-Dawg
• Richard Kind as Eddy, a Jack Russell Terrier
• Kaitlyn Maher as Tiny, a Yorkshire Terrier
• Chris Coppola as Comet, a Reindeer
• Justin Roiland As Chihuahua (Uncredited)

Sequels

A prequel called The Search for Santa Paws was released on November 23, 2010.

Spooky Buddies was released on September 20, 2011, as a Halloween movie, featuring the Buddies in a new adventure filled with curses, ghosts, and mayhem, and an attempt to stop Warwick the Warlock and the Halloween Hound. Treasure Buddies was released on January 31, 2012, as an Indiana Jones-like movie, featuring the Buddies in another new adventure trying to stop Cleocatra in Egypt.

Year	2009
ReleaseDate	2009-11-24
RuntimeMins	88
RuntimeStr	1h 28min
Plot	The Buddies remind Santa Paws’ feisty son, Puppy Paws, about the true meaning of Christmas.
Awards	Awards, 1 nomination
Directors	Robert Vince
Writers	Kevin DiCicco, Robert Vince, Anna McRoberts
Stars	Craig Anton, Andrew Astor, Charisse Baker
Produced by	Monica Goldstein,Anna McRoberts,Robert Vince
Music by	Brahm Wenger
Cinematography by	Kamal Derkaoui
Film Editing by	Kelly Herron
Casting By	Lorna Johnson
Production Design by	Chris August
Art Direction by	Anneke Van Oort
Set Decoration by	Shirley Inget
Costume Design by	Stephanie Nolin
Makeup Department	Anne Carroll,Vincenza Celentano,Tim Chappell,Joel Echallier,Amanda Kuryk,Jennifer Latour,Hayley Miller,Vincenza Sharpe,Deborah Slonowski
Production Management	Louisa Skinner,Darcy Wild
Second Unit Director or Assistant Director	Geoff Anderson,Michael Bishop,Joanne Gerein,Rob Larson,Anna McRoberts,Jeff Mosuk,Troy Scott,Nathan Valente,Eric Vince
Art Department	Sam Abahmed,Dave Asling,John Bayntun,Jocelyn Brotherston,Wendy Brotherston,Michelle Cebrowski,Arlene Craig,Roger Dole,Marcus Endean,Ryan Fehr,Jason Geisbrecht,Murray Gibs,C. Ryan Hazenboom,Christine Houtman,Mark Jones,Mike McCarthy,Charles Newson,Trevor Oleksy,Derek Pineo,Myron Ruth,Baron Shaver,Michelle Sturley,Nevin Swain,Chris Thompson,Billie-Jo Thomson,Michael Toby,Tyler Vince,Raney Werneburg,Andrew Thompson
Sound Department	Steven Bigras,Nathan Dubin,Blair Dykes,Chris Fairfield,Patrick Haskill,Brad Hillman,Larry Hopkins,Andre Iwanchuk,Michael Jesmer,Matt Kunau,Samuel Lehmer,Luke Martin,Jonathan McCleery,Jean-Édouard Miclot,Maureen Murphy,Harley Paul,Jus Percy,Brody Ratsoy,Peter Sartwell,Hank Shih,Graham Timmer,Cam Wagner,Richard Walz,Nathan Clark,Graeme Duffy,Chris Fairfield
Special Effects by	Don Besse,Phil Davis,Eric Lemay,Darren Marcoux,Glen Marcoux,Mark Mentiply,Christopher Schreiber
Visual Effects by	Geoff Anderson,Melissa Lee Anderson,Denny Bigras,Patricia Binga,Paola Chavez,Louis Cox,Paxton Gerrish,Gary Hsu,Ayumu Ishii,Sam Johnston,Tia Keri,Sara Jane Kramer,Pavel Ledin,Ryan Letourneau,Sean Macrae,Saybian Morgan,Lisa Nolan,Shawn Patapoff,Jason Pielak,Barry Poon,Matt Pursley,Ricardo Quintero,Michael Ranalletta,Mark T. Reid,John Silander,Vicki Silva,George Taylor,Jenn Taylor,Donald Tse,Kelsey Wagner,Sebastian Weber,Bernie Wempe
Stunts	Brett Armstrong,Scott J. Ateah,Devyn Dalton,Mike Desabrais,Randy Lee,Matt Phillips
Camera and Electrical Department	Trevor Berry,Simon Bookless,Che Chomolok,Bill Corbett,Rob Cotroneo,Enrique Del Rio,Tony Derkach,Mark Evans,Courtney Gillen,April Hall,Jesse Harris,Bruno Huber,Tim Johnson,James Kantola,Ben Lumsden,Larry Lynn,Tom MacNeill,Brian Maxwell,Rod McDonald,Mark McIntosh,Nicholas McKenzie,Todd Mikolas,Josh Moody,Doug Nolin,Farah Nosh,Jeff Plecas,John Poliquin,Dave Roughley,Rod Rushka,Dave Saklofsky,Mike Sankey,Elie Smolkin,Richard Walden,Michael Wale,Shannon Wright,Calen Zantolas
Casting Department	Stephanie Boeke,Renee Henry,Jackie Lind,Steve Maisel,Troy Daniel Smith
Costume and Wardrobe Department	Derek J. Baskerville,Jenny Bernice,Leslie Cairns,Patricia Galbraith,Eileen Gano,Jody Leanne Petford,Kate Pierpoint
Editorial Department	Kelly Herron,Will Kosman,Erin Mohs,Brae Norwiss,Marcus Onischak,Jason Pielak,Sevé Schelenz,Jonathan Stamp,Seán Travers
Location Management	Ken Hovgaard,Jennifer Lewis,Peter Pantages
Music Department	David Arch,Mark Berrow,Thomas Bowes,Nicholas Bucknall,Andrew Crowley,Jenny O Grady,Tom Pigott Smith,Gregory Prechel,Casey Stone,David Temple,John Tobin,Allen Walley,Brahm Wenger,Lucy Whalley,Bruce White,Warren Zielinski,Rachel Bolt,Danita Ng-Poss,Jason Poss,Robert Puff
Script and Continuity Department	Luke Bradshaw,Kirsten Hansen
Transportation Department	Anton Ali-Moffat,Suki Ardawa,Amanda Coletsis,Kam Dhesi,Larry Fedyk,Dean Fitzpatrick,Dave Harris,Mike Heagle,Alexander Mandra,Paul Medeiros,Andrew Moore,Chris Mullen,Jim Papadogambros,Amar Sangha,Jason Swetlikoe,Chris Wild
Additional Crew	Jennifer Aichholz,Erin Bilderback,Genevieve Bridges,Chelsea Carlson,Nathan Clark,Sarah Cole,Darius de Andrade,Claire Doré,Linda Dubuc,Nicole Emery,Jordan Fines,Meghan C. Fraser,Chris Garbasauskas,Veronique Geller,John Genzel,Andrea Gold Robinson,Sean Hanlin,Alan Homma,Trish Judd,Daniel Kredell,Wayne Kulachkowski,Shelley Lampman,Suvasa Mantyla,Joseph McCarter,Jill McQueen,Glenn Moore,Chris Obonsawin,Trina Ogryzek,Holly Pinder,Christine Reyes,Tracy Roberson,Lisa Rowson,Eddy Santos,Gail Schacht,Eva B. Schmieg,Ryan Schroeder,Amy Scott,Natalie Zara Smith,Julie Strang,Paige Strouts,Jason Taylor,Ann Troyer,Tiffany Wall,Laurie Watt,Annie Wilkinson,Mark Wilmot,Nicole Zuehl,Michael Bendner,Evan Chan,Jus Percy
Genres	Adventure, Family, Fantasy
Companies	Walt Disney Home Entertainment, Keystone Entertainment, Key Pix Productions
Countries	Canada, USA
Languages	English
ContentRating	G
ImDbRating	4.5
ImDbRatingVotes	2838
Keywords	2000s,santa claus,slimehouse,christmas,dog