Hi Everyone, Logan J here for Socal.com bringing you the 411 on the newest in Disney DVD releases, Air Buddies.
Air Buddies is the newest and sixth film in the Air Bud series of sports movies. The original Air Bud told the story of an amazing Golden Retriever (Buddy), that becomes friends with a boy named Josh who recently moved to a new town after his father died. Josh soon learns that Buddy loves to play basketball just like him and ends up helping him make friends.
Air Buddies is the story of Buddy's pups. Each of the five pups have a personality all of their own. Mud Bud like his name, loves to play volleyball and especially if it means getting dirty. Rose Bud is the only girl of the bunch and plays soccer. B-Dawg is a rapper, hip hopper and basketball player. Bud-ha is always trying to get people to relax and meditate and plays baseball. Budder Ball is all about football and eating.
The story opens with the pups making a mess of the house which makes the family realize that the time has come to look for homes for each of the pups. Josh and his family begin interviewing families and as the day comes for the pups to leave, the pups decide that the only way they can stay together is to run away.
Out on their own the pups are easy pray for some mean kidnappers that are working to capture Air Bud and give him to a spoiled rich boy, Bartelby Livingston. Using the pups as bait the kidnappers easily capture Air Bud and the 'pup's mom, Rosie. Feeling responsible for their parents capture the pups set off to free them. They have many hilarious adventures while trying to help free their parents. I don't want to ruin the ending, so you will have to watch the film for yourself to see how it turns out.
What makes this film different from the other five in the series is that this time the dogs can talk. This is the first time that the Air Bud series has used animation in their films. Using this new technology, the characters really come to life.
I caught up with the director and some of the cast at the recent Disney premier of Air Buddies and got to get some of the inside scoop.
Robert Vince, the Director
Q. There seems to be a similarity in the theme of the movies you make.
A. All the Air Bud movies have the same central theme, family, team work and values.
Q. Where did the personalities of the pup characters come from?
A. All the pups personalities come from their sports. We took stereo typical behaviors from each sport and gave them to each pup.
Q. So what about the bad guys?
A. In all of our films the bad guys are almost more cartoon versions of bad guys. There are many funny moments for the bad guys so they aren't your typical scary bad guys.
Q. How did you pick Richard Karn for this film?
A. Richard is the type of father in real life that we wanted to
represent in these films.
Q. You make a lot of movies with animals and sports, why?
A. My passion is to make family movies and kids love animals. Sports are always a good metaphor for team work, parents, friends and family getting along, so that's where it comes from.
Q. Do you record the voice first or the animation first.
A. We record the voices first then go back and re-voice based on some of the animation.
Q. How did you get in to directing?
A. I never planned on directing. In the area of making family movies I thought there weren¡¦t many directors out there doing the things I wanted to see in films. Many directors don't want to work with animal in complicated scenes so I just started doing it myself.
Q. What do you think the biggest benefit to adding animation to this project is?
A. It allows the puppies to be three dimensional and more specific and it allows the writing to be more important.
Q. How long did it take to animate?
A. It took a year from start to finish to animate this film.
Q. What do you have coming up?
A. I have a movie called Everest that is about some teens conquering the mountain.
Q. What is it like working with animal actors?
A. With dogs you have to work in the moment and sometimes the dogs won't hit their marks but sometimes it is funnier when they don't. And all the actors are great at improvising and there were times that the puppies didn't do what you want them to do and being able to go
with that makes it that much better.
Q. What was it like working with Don Knotts?
A. It was Don's final performance. He put out so much energy and cared so much about how the project came out. It was also Pat Crenshaw's last performance. So unfortunately you won't see them in any other films.
Tyler Foden - Bartelby Livingston
Q. What is it like acting with dogs?
A. It was really fun. There were like 20-30 dogs on set and we would work with 2-3 at a time. When the dogs got tired they would have to switch them out and I would have to play with them between takes to get them into character. The main character took home the dog I worked with the most, Merlin.
Q. Did you get to take home a dog?
A. I wanted to and I could have but my family is allergic so I didn't.
Paul Rae - Denning
Q. Describe your character.
A. I play a big game hunter that gets contracted to kidnap Air Buds
puppies because they are super smart. This little rich kid wants them a bad guy to get them for him.
Q. What was it like to working with the dogs.
A. It was great. The puppies would get switched out every couple of weeks because they grew so fast. They were always ready and they were so well trained.
Q. Do you have any advice for kids that want to get into acting?
A. Study hard and be educated so you can do many things in life. Acting can be great but it can be really hard on you too, so make sure you have something to fall back on.
Richard Karn - Patrick
Q. Who do you play?
A. I play the dad. I take care of the family and make sure that my boy is doing well.
Q. What happens when the pups get captured?
A. I don't know if I want to give that away, because I want people to come see the movie. But what always happens is that the puppies have to fend for themselves and they have band together to figure things out. That's what we want in a good story.
Q. What is your favorite thing about working with the dogs?
A. My favorite thing is that the dogs are always happy. Sometimes people go to work and they aren't happy, but the dogs are always happy.
Christian Pikes-Henry
Q. What character do you play?
A. I play Henry, and I¡¦m just a regular kid on a basketball team. Noah the other kid in the movie and I have to go help save the pups.
Q. What was your favorite dog?
A. Well I don't want to say one is my favorite because everyone thinks their own dog is their favorite. But if I had to pick one I guess I would say BowWow.
Skyler Gisondo-Voice of B-Dawg
Q. Did you have fun doing the voice over for B-Dawg?
A. It was a lot of fun and sometimes you even get to be physical when you are recording.
Q. Did you ever get tired?
A. I didn't get really tired, but sometimes I would get out of breath from all the puffing, panting and rapping.
Q. Do you like dogs?
A. I love dogs and I have a little Yorkshire Terrier at home.
Dominic Scott Kay-Voice of Bud-dha
Q. How would you describe Bud-dha?
A. Bud-dha wants everyone to relax and not be so scared about things. He loves to meditate and do yoga and just wants everyone to be happy.
Q. How did you start doing voice overs?
A. I can do a lot of different kind of voices and accents. The first voice over I did was a western voice. I also did the voice of the Heffalump in Winnie the Pooh and I am the voice of Wilbur in the new Charlotte's Web.
Ann Gordon-Trainer
Q. How many puppies did you have that you were working with?
A. There were as many as forty puppies on set and sometimes things would get a little crazy.
Q. What was it like working with the Golden Retrievers?
A. It was great. They are so smart and they are natural born pleasers.
Georgina Bradley-Trainer
Q. What is your main job as a trainer?
A. I work with the puppies to teach them different behaviors and show the actors how to interact with them.
Q. Were you in charge of training all the puppies or one of the characters?
A. I was responsible for training Rose Bud.
Well now you know all the inside information on the newest Disney DVD, Air Buddies. If you want to know more about the movie go to www.disney.com.
You can watch clips from the movie as well as download cool wallpapers of your favorite pup. I'm Logan J for Socal.com saying "See ya, peace out".
Directed by Robert Vince; Director of Photography, Mike Southon, BSC; Written by Robert Vince, Anna McRoberts, Phil Hanley; Produced by Anna McRoberts, Robert Vince
The star-studded cast includes Richard Karn, Cynthia Stevenson, and Patrick Cranshaw, featuring the voices by Michael Clarke Duncan, Wallace Shawn, Debra Jo Rupp, Tom Everett Scott, and Molly Shannon with the Legendary Don Knotts!
The puppies' voices are star studded too, Spencer Fox (Disneys The Incredibles), Josh Flitter (Disney's The Greatest Game Ever Played), Abigail Breslin (Little Miss Sunshine), Dominic Scott Kay (Charlotte's Webb) and introducing Skyler Gisondo
