The Search for Santa Paws

The Search for Santa Paws is an American-Canadian Christmas adventure-fantasy-film released on November 23, 2010 (direct to video). The movie 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.

The Search for Santa Paws
Disney release poster
Directed byRobert Vince
Produced byAnna McRoberts
Robert Vince
Written byRobert Vince
Anna McRoberts
Based onCharacters
by Paul Tamasy
Aaron Mendelsohn
Kevin DiCicco
Robert Vince
Anna McRoberts
StarringZachary Gordon
Mitchel Musso
Kaitlyn Maher
Madison Pettis
Genevieve Hannelius
Richard Kind
Jason Connery
Christopher Massey
Music byBrahm Wenger
CinematographyKamal Derkaoui
Edited byKelly Herron
Distributed byWalt Disney Studios Home Entertainment
Release date
  • November 23, 2010 (2010-11-23)
Running time
96 minutes
CountryUnited States
Canada
LanguageEnglish

Plot

When Santa Claus (Richard Riehle) travels to New York City and gets hit by a cab, loses his memory and the crystal that keeps him eternal is stolen, it's up to his new friend, his puppy named Paws (Zachary Gordon) to save him. Meanwhile, a young orphan named Quinn (Kaitlyn Maher) arrives at a foster home run by a strict and no-nonsense child-hating woman named Ms. Stout (Wendi McLendon-Covey) who does not approve of anything that children love: toys, Christmas decorations, singing, and even pets, including dogs. She has a furnace which she uses to burn all the toys which she confiscates from the girls who rightfully own them. Despite the strict rules she has to respect while staying at the foster home, Quinn eventually befriends the girls, including Janie (G. Hannelius) and Willamina "Will" (Madison Pettis). In order to save Christmas, Eli (Danny Woodburn) and Eddy (Richard Kind) the uncanny elf dog have to go to New York City in order to save Santa and Paws. However, when Santa (Bud) is in the hospital, it takes the help of Quinn and Will to save Santa. When Kate and James take Bud from the hospital, Paws tells Eli to put his crystal next to Santa, but then he wakes up to find that Paws is a stuffed animal. They rush back to the North Pole and Paws turns into a full-grown dog named Santa Paws (Mitchel Musso) and Christmas is back on. Much to the excitement of the girls, Ms. Stout is fired from taking care of the orphan girls at the foster home, and Will and Quinn are both adopted by James and Kate Hucklebuckle.

Cast
  • Kaitlyn Maher as Quinn, a young orphaned little girl who believes in the true spirit of Christmas. She finds Paws in the alley behind the foster home.
  • Madison Pettis as Willamina "Will", the oldest girl out of all the orphans who serves as an older sister figure to Quinn. She does not believe in the spirit of Christmas until she accidentally gets stuck in the basement with Paws.
  • Richard Riehle as Santa Claus.
  • Danny Woodburn as Eli, Santa's head elf.
  • Wendi McLendon-Covey as Ms. Stout, the greedy, militaristic, child-hating headmistress of the girls home and the main villain of the film. She finds Christmas, toys and anything that children love annoying or offensive and dislikes children, including girls. She is eventually fired as a result of the abusive treatment she has inflicted upon the girls.
  • 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, an orphan who is best friends with Will.
  • Michelle Creber as Taylor, an orphan.
  • Kathryn Kirkpatrick as Mrs. Gibson, a kind social services woman who takes over the orphanage after Ms. Stout is fired.
  • Melody B. Choi as Mary, an orphan.
  • Nicole Leduc as Meg, an orphan.
  • Patrika Darbo as Mrs. Claus.
  • Pete Gardner as Franklin, Ms. Stout's boyfriend as well 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 and Mitchell Musso as Santa Paws, the Great Pyrenees of whom only people that believe in Christmas can understand what he's saying. He is a stuffed animal when the crystal on his neck is removed.
  • Richard Kind as Eddy, a happy-go-lucky elf dog Jack Russell Terrier who is also Eli's assistant.
  • Jason Connery as Haggis, a Scottish Terrier who's "always ready to take action" who befriends Paws and is looking to get off Santa's Naughty List.
  • Christopher Massey as Rasta, a reggae Puli who is "laidback" and "easygoing" who 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" who 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 three stars out of five, but said that the film fits the normal Disney DVD formula. However she went on to say that the film was predictable and a little clichéd, but that kids would enjoy it and that the film adds to the "spirit of Christmas".[1]

Sequel

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

See also

References
  1. Walker, Angela. "The Search for Santa Paws is a Cute Adventure". ChristianCinema.com. Retrieved 18 December 2011.
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