Disney | 2010 | 88 mins. | G
For the most part, critics don’t like them, but the “Buddies” films featuring a liter of adorable, talking golden labs have become the most popular live-action direct-to-DVD franchise ever. The puppies have struck a chord with young children and their parents since Air Buddies first appeared in 2006, followed by Snow Buddies (2008) and Space Buddies (2009). But many felt the franchise hit an all-time low with last Christmas’s Santa Buddies: The Legend of Santa Paws.
I didn’t think much of Santa Buddies: The Legend of Santa Paws, but I understand I’m not part of the target audience. This latest film, The Search for Santa Paws is a prequel to last year’s Santa Buddies, and it does not feature the familiar Buddy characters at all. Instead, what we get is a musical centered on Santa, his elves, and a group of talking puppies in New York City. The upshot of the story is that we learn how Paws (voiced again by Zachary Gordon, Diary of a Wimpy Kid) became Santa Paws.
The film opens at the North Pole Santa Claus (Richard Riehle) gets news that his old friend, New York toy shop owner Mr. Hucklebuckle, has passed away. The news of his death comes with a present, a stuffed dog “toy” that Hucklebuckle wanted Santa to have. Thanks to the magic of the great Christmas icicle, the stuffed dog comes to life as a puppy whom Santa names Paws. Santa and Paws head to New York City to see if they can be of any help. Upon arriving, Santa is hit by a car and loses his memory. His magic crystal and bag arestolen by a grifter (Chris Coppola), and to make matters worse, he’s separated from Paws. Santa is taken in by the kindly, childless Huckles (John Ducey, Bonnie Somerville) who are now running their grandfather’s toy store and need a Santa. Paws, meanwhile, gets taken in by newly orphaned Quinn (Kaitlyn Maher) who along with oldest orphan Willamina (Madison Pettis) attempt to reunite him with Santa. But that task will be dangerous since vindictive foster mother Ms. Stout (Wendi McLendon-Covey) hates dogs and children and does everything she can to make their lives miserable.
Clearly writer/director Robert Vince (who directed last year’s Santa Buddies) and co-writer Anna McRoberts obviously drew inspiration from Miracle on 34th Street with a little bit of Annie thrown in. Of course, the Huckles don’t realize they’ve hired the real Santa to work in their store, and as such he’s more interested in selling the Christmas spirit than the commercialism of the holiday. In the process of all this, Santa becomes a media sensation.
For a family film mostly appealing to the youngest members of the household, The Search for Santa Paws is perhaps a tad too long and a bit lethargic in its pacing. Still, it should please those who look forward to these yearly visits with the cuddly canines.
This AVC/MPEG-4 (48kHz/24-bit) transfer is surprisingly gorgeous. I noticed no artifacts or compression issues. Presented in 1.78:1 aspect ratio and “enhanced” for 16×9 televisions, there is nothing to complain about here. The dog transformation from toy to live animal looks great, and the special effects–powered by Tinkerbell-style swirls of magic dust–are solid for a direct-to-DVD film.
The audio is presented in a solid English DTS-HD MA 5.1 that spreads the sound well, and makes good use of the rear speakers to achieve realistic movement and ambient effects. Additional audio options are in French and Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1, with subtitles in English SDH, French, and Spanish.
We get a bonus DVD, as well as the following special features: an animated pop-up book version featuring the new doggie friends from The Search for Santa Paws, a handful of deleted scenes, a Debby Ryan (Suite Life on Deck) music video of “Deck the Halls,” and a sing-along feature.
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