Whoever came up with the idea of a dog being able to play basketball wasn’t likely thinking that they had a hit on their hands. It’s a cute premise of course and something that kids would be able to get into but otherwise you would think it could get a little sappy and even ridiculous, which it did after a while. But that wasn’t the point.
The whole point of Air Bud was to make something funny and endearing that could entertain the masses and stand as a reasonably good family film. It did that without any real effort and became a phenomenon that went far beyond it’s original idea. It spawned a decent number of sequels and spinoffs that did reasonably well and allowed the franchise to become better known and loved by kids all over the nation.
But it’s likely that there are a few things you didn’t know about Air Bud or the movies that came after. Here are just a few facts to get you started.
10. Buddy was a stray that was found in 1989.
His owner, Kevin di Cicco, found Buddy wandering around in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Finding no owner or tag di Cicco took him home and took care of Buddy.
9. It took about 6 months of training before he could make a basket.
You can imagine that it might have taken a while for Buddy to get the hang of “shooting” the ball into the hoop on his own, but once he got the idea he became quite good at it.
8. Sports was a way to get Buddy back into good health.
Buddy was a bit ragged and not all the healthy when he was found. Kevin used sports as a means of working Buddy out and helping him to get stronger.
7. His first appearance was on the David Letterman Show.
It’s fair to say that Letterman has seen a lot of pets come through his show, but not a lot that can do what Buddy could do.
6. He also had a cameo on Full House.
He played as Comet on the show for a few episodes.
5. He lost the award for Favorite Animal Star to Salem the cat from Sabrina.
Now how embarrassing would that be if Buddy had understood the implications? There must have been a lot more cat lovers in the audience that day. Ah well, he was still a favorite animal star of many people.
4. The first film was completed in a month.
Considering how skilled Buddy was and the level training that Kevin had given him it’s not that surprising.
3. The film was an instant success.
Even the studio executives were surprised by how well people responded to this film. It became one of the most well-known if not biggest films of the year.
2. Buddy played five different sports.
He played basketball, volleyball, football, soccer, and baseball. That was one talented dog.
1. Only the first two films were released in theaters.
After the second film the others went straight to take-home movies. The success of the first movie didn’t quite translate over to the other movies.
20 years later Air Bud is still a known name, and for good reason. The film was innovative during its time and has spawned a lot of copycats since.
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