The realism of the Air Bud film series

Jonathan Victoria • 23 Aug 2024 Features

I am deadly serious about this one…

Whether you love them, hate them, or even know of them or not, the Air Bud series are beloved kid's classics. A dog being naturally gifted at five different sports. Only the mind of a genius could come up with that concept.

In honour of International Dog Day on Monday, I wanted to take a look back at the films that I admittedly haven’t seen in a while but remember the core concepts, and give my thoughts and opinions on the realism of each.

And no, I’m not talking about the overlying stories, like the second one that has a whole subplot with the Russians. I Definitely don’t want to get involved in that.

I’m looking strictly at how likely it is for a golden retriever to be so good at each sport, because I have some serious doubts about some of them.

Without further adieu, I bring my thoughts on the realism of the Air Bud film series. And we’re just looking at the original five films, not the millions of others that came after.

Air Bud

The first film that started it all off and the most believable in my opinion, Buddy becomes the star of the local high school’s basketball team.

They play it smart in this one. It’s not an IRL Space Jam with Buddy playing Michael Jordan. He doesn’t go up for mega dunks or anything fancy like that.

Buddy is a shooter, and a damn good one at that. I heard that Steph Curry still has posters up in his room of Buddy. Everything you see any NBA sharpshooters doing is because of Buddy’s influence on the game.

His playmaking ability was top notch too, as was his movement off the ball. Opponents wouldn’t even bother trying to stop him on the fast break - if you miss a bucket, Buddy will inevitably take it up the other end and score his.

His pickpocket ability was second to none too. It's tricky to hold on to the ball when there’s a dog no taller than 30 inches running around your knees.

My only query would be the obvious glaring lack of defensive awareness from the other team. You’re all taller than him, you should have no problem blocking his shots. But whenever Buddy is seen shooting, there’s hardly ever a defender closing out. Lazy.

Other than that, I see no issues with this. Sign him up on a two-way contract to any team in the NBA, he’d average 25+ points even in today’s game.

Air Bud: World Pup

Next up sees Buddy take on the beautiful game, and Buddy definitely could be a world-class footballer. I used to have a dog that loved football - granted, he wasn’t as adept as Buddy. Most of the time his dribbling skills would see him running around in a circle, but he could head the ball like Crouchy.

That’s part of why I buy this one. Buddy by this point had already shown his abilities on the basketball court and on an American Football field, 

My only issue with this one is the fact that Buddy is subbed in to play goalkeeper for the US Women's National Team during a penalty shootout in the World Cup final against Norway.

They saw his skills on the ball and his finishing ability and decided in the biggest game on the grandest stage, he would be the perfect keeper? I don’t think so, coach. If you had played him up top from the start, you wouldn’t have even needed pens to get the victory.

Air Bud: Golden Receiver

Deflate Gate much? Tom Brady would’ve loved Buddy.

American Football was next, and thankfully they didn’t make him the star quarterback, because that would just be silly. How would he pass? Defensive positions were also out. Buddy doesn’t have the intensity for that. Cujo would be a perfect pass rusher, though.

Buddy is a wide receiver, which makes sense to me. Dogs love catching a ball, just because this one’s a bit bigger and not ball-shaped doesn’t change that fact.

His speed is undoubtedly the main factor though. Retrievers can max out at 35mph in short bursts, but bear in mind this is a prime athlete we’re talking about, so slap another few mph on that. Get him running verticals and just have the QB heave it - Buddy will be down there somewhere.

However, his size is an issue. While his small stature can see him weave through legs, just like the blocking potential in basketball, it wouldn’t be difficult for the cornerback in man coverage to swat the ball away if he can keep up.

But that is a strong if. As I said, Buddy is rapid, and his agility could see ankles broken every play. 

My problem is the safety factor. All players must wear a helmet, so that completely negates Buddy’s ability. How’s he going to catch it in his mouth when he’s got a mandatory faceguard covering it?

Air Bud: Spikes Back

They really gave up by this point and it shows in just the trailer alone. I would’ve done surfing or swimming for the final sport he plays, get some form of watersport in there. But they opted for volleyball, and in my opinion, it’s a no.

Sure, Buddy’s already shown off his ability to hit the ball up in basketball, and he wouldn’t have a problem chasing it down with his speed.

But I don’t like the thought of the ball getting spiked right at him! That’s the whole aim of the game, and I don’t like it.

I actually don’t really have many opinions about this one. I haven’t seen the movie and I don’t know enough about volleyball. My objection to it is purely down to not wanting to see Buddy get hit by the ball.

Air Bud: Seventh Inning Fetch

I’m not having it. Not for one second did I buy Buddy as a home run-swinging major leaguer.

As an outfielder, on base or as a pinch runner, yeah sure, Buddy would probably be pretty adept at those. Dogs love a ball, put him in the outfield and he’s chasing everything down.

But he can’t throw a relay pass to the next fielder, so issue number one there, but here’s my main problem;

There’s no way he’s generating enough power to swing the bat hard enough, making perfect contact with a ball flying at him at 90mph+ and sailing 350 yards, over the outfield and out the park. Nope, denied, not having it.

The reaction times alone are too much for him to handle. Granted, dogs do have a reaction time roughly five times faster than humans, and technically time moves slower for them, but I still put the power factor over everything else and call hogwash. 

I also don’t know how true those facts are, just going with what Google’s telling me (which you definitely always should do). 

But I also know it takes a lot more than a good showing for a small-time high school to make it to the MLB, so how does Buddy go from that straight to the major leagues? No Double A or Triple A first, skips out on the Little League World Series and all?

So that’s my reasoning as to why Air Bud: Seventh Inning Fetch is the most unrealistic Air Bud story.