The Search for Santa Paws is a 2010 Christmas adventure fantasy film released on November 23, 2010. The film is the tenth film in the Air Bud franchise and is also a prequel to Santa Buddies, as well as a spin-off from the Air Buddies film franchise.

Plot

At the North Pole, while celebrating his birthday, Santa Claus receives a letter and gift from New York City, informing him of the passing of old friend and toy store owner Mr. Hucklebuckle, who was an ambassador for The Santa Cause , an organization of delegates who embrace and encourage Christmas spirit around the world. To cheer Santa up, his head elf Eli uses the great Christmas icicle to bring the gift, a stuffed dog, to life. Santa names the puppy Paws and the two become best friends.

In New York, recently-orphaned Quinn arrives at the 64th Street Home For Girls, an orphanage run by Ms. Stout, a strict and abusive woman who disapproves of anything that the children love, often confiscating and destroying them in her incinerator in the house s basement. Quinn befriends the other girls, including the oldest, Willamina Will , who has lost her Christmas spirit since the death of her own parents when she was Quinn s age.

Meanwhile, Mr. Hucklebuckle s grandson James, a CPA from Los Angeles and his wife Kate arrive at his toy store and are informed by their caseworker Mr. Stewart that they must run the store profitably for one Christmas season in order to gain ownership. They decide to hire a store Santa to bring in customers, intending to sell the store once they have ownership.

Santa and Paws decide to travel to New York to visit Hucklebuckle s store, landing in Central Park. On the streets, Santa bumps into Ms. Stout, falls into the street and is hit by a cab. Paws tries to ask for help, which leads to him and Santa getting separated. Santa is hospitalized and his magical crystal is stolen by homeless man Gus. He recovers, but has amnesia, and when nobody appears to claim him, James and Kate take him in and give him a job as their store Santa, where he quickly becomes popular with the public.

Learning of the situation, Eli and his uncanny elf dog Eddy go to New York, where they recruit local Boy Scout Jimmy to help. Eventually, they find Gus and get him to return Santa s crystal to them. However, Santa soon lands back in the hospital after being without his crystal too long. Meanwhile, Paws meets Quinn and is secretly brought back to the orphanage, where he befriends the girls and uses his crystal s magic to give them Christmas cheer.

However, Ms. Stout discovers this and locks Paws and Will (who takes the fall for Quinn) in the basement, confiscating Quinn s late mother s angel ornament (the last thing her mother gave her before her passing) and Paws s crystal. As a result, Paws reverts to stuffed animal form by the next morning. When Ms. Stout discovers this, she assumes Paws escaped and attempts to throw him into the incinerator, but he is narrowly saved by Quinn. Eli, Eddy, and Jimmy then arrive and reunite Paws with his crystal, restoring him to life.

After explaining the situation to everyone, Will and Quinn leave with them to help Santa. After arriving at the hospital and finding Santa near death, they reunite him with his crystal, but its magic has been too used up to work. Paws then sacrifices his crystal s magic to restore Santa s, reverting him to stuffed animal form once more while saving Santa s life. Santa, Eli and Eddy rush back to the North Pole and reach the main crystal just in time. Paws returns to life as a full-grown dog named Santa Paws and the holiday is saved.

Back in New York, much to the girls’ excitement, Ms. Stout is sacked and evicted from the orphanage after Eli reports her misconduct and abusive nature to Quinn s social worker Mrs. Gibson, who then takes over and later invites Gus to spend the holiday at the orphanage. Santa Paws and Santa reunite with Quinn, Will, James and Kate on Christmas Eve, returning Quinn s mother s ornament to her before continuing their deliveries. Mr. Stewart returns the next day and James and Kate tell him that they ran the store profitably, and they decide to keep the store and continue the Hucklebuckle legacy after introducing him to the girls, whom they have adopted as their daughters.

Cast

• Kaitlyn Maher as Quinn Hucklebuckle, an orphaned girl who believes in the true spirit of Christmas; after her parents passed away, she is sent to an orphanage in New York City. She finds Paws in the alley behind the orphanage. She owns an angel ornament that was given to her by her late mother. She, alongside Will, is later adopted by James and Kate.
• Madison Pettis as Willamina Will Hucklebuckle, the oldest girl in the orphanage who serves as a big sister figure to Quinn. After her parents died when she was young, she lost her Christmas spirit as well as its true meaning until she finds a treasure in the basement with Paws. She often gets the full blame for Quinn and all the other girls’ behavior due to her being the oldest. She, alongside Quinn, is later adopted by James and Kate.
• Richard Riehle as Santa Claus.
• Danny Woodburn as Eli, Santa s head elf.
• Wendi McLendon-Covey as Ms. Stout, the greedy and child-hating owner of the orphanage and the main villain of the film. She finds Christmas, toys and anything that children love offensive. Will is her main target to place blame on for everything that the other girls do due to her being the oldest. She is eventually sacked and evicted from the orphanage after her abusive treatment of the girls is brought to light.
• John Ducey as James Hucklebuckle, Kate s husband and grandson of the late Mr. Hucklebuckle.
• Bonnie Somerville as Kate Hucklebuckle, James open-minded wife.
• Chris Coppola as Augustus Gus , a poor homeless man who takes Santa s magic crystal, unaware of its power.
• Jonathan Morgan Heit as Jimmy, a boy scout who helps search for Santa.
• G Hannelius as Janie, Will’s best friend in the orphanage.
• Michelle Creber as Taylor, an orphan.
• Kathryn Kirkpatrick as Mrs. Gibson, a kind CPS social services woman who takes over the orphanage after Ms. Stout is sacked.
• Melody B. Choi as Mary, an orphan.
• Nicole Leduc as Meg, an orphan.
• Patrika Darbo as Mrs. Claus.
• Peter Gardner as Franklin, Ms. Stout s boyfriend who works as a dogcatcher.
• Bill Cobbs as Mr. Stewart, James and Kate s caseworker who says they must successfully run Hucklebuckle toys profitability for one Christmas season.

Voice cast

• Zachary Gordon as Paws, a young Great Pyrenees who is Santa’s dog and best friend. Mitchel Musso as Santa Paws.
• Mitchel Musso as Santa Paws.
• Richard Kind as Eddy, a happy-go-lucky Jack Russell Terrier who is Eli s assistant.
• Jason Connery as Haggis, a Scottish Terrier who s always ready to take action , befriends Paws and is looking to get off Santa s Naughty List.
• Christopher Massey as Rasta, a reggae Puli who is laidback and easygoing , befriends Paws and is looking to get off Santa s Naughty List.
• Josh Flitter as T-Money, a streetwise hip-hop Bulldog who is super cool , befriends Paws and is looking to get off Santa s Naughty List.
• Diedrich Bader as Comet, one of Santa s reindeer.
• Michael Deyermond as Dancer, another one of Santa s reindeer.

Reception

Angela Walker, writing for ChristianCinema.com, gave the DVD 3 stars out of 5, but said that the film fits the normal Disney DVD formula. However she went on to say that the film was predictable and clichéd, but that kids would enjoy it and that the film adds to the spirit of Christmas.

Sequel

A sequel, Santa Paws 2: The Santa Pups was released on November 20, 2012.