The Search for Santa Paws

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

The Search for Santa Paws is a 2010 Christmas adventure fantasy film released on November 23, 2010. The title 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.

Plot[edit]

On his birthday, Santa Claus receives a letter and gift informing him of the death of his friend Mr. Hucklebuckle, a toy store owner and member of the "Santa Cause", an organization of delegates who encourage Christmas spirit worldwide. To cheer Santa up, his head elf Eli uses the great Christmas icicle to bring the gift, a stuffed dog, to life. Santa names the puppy Paws and the two become best friends.

In New York City, an orphan named Quinn arrives at an orphanage run by Gladys Stout, an overtly strict woman who disapproves of anything that the children love. As such, she steals their Christmas decorations and toys and destroys them with her basement incinerator. Despite this, Quinn befriends the other girls, including the oldest, Willamina "Will", who has lost her Christmas spirit since her own parents' death.

Meanwhile, Mr. Hucklebuckle's grandson James and his wife Kate arrive at his toy store and their caseworker Mr. Stewart informs them that they must run the store profitably for one Christmas season to gain ownership. They decide to hire a store Santa to bring in customers, intending to sell the store once they have ownership.

Santa and Paws travel to New York to visit Hucklebuckle's store, gaining the attention of Gus, a homeless man who follows them. On the streets, Santa bumps into Stout, falls into the street, and is hit by a cab, becoming separated from Paws. Gus takes Santa's magic crystal, resulting in him losing his memories and being taken in by James and Kate as a mall Santa.

After spending the night wandering the streets, Paws meets three stray dogs named Haggis, Rasta and T-Money who are captured by Franklin, a dogcatcher and Stout's boyfriend. Paws uses his magic to rescue them, and they vow to help him find Santa in hopes of getting off the naughty list.

Learning of the situation, Eli and his dog Eddy go to New York and recruit local Boy Scout Jimmy to help. Eventually, they find Gus and get him to return Santa's crystal to them. However, Santa soon lands in the hospital after being without his crystal too long. Meanwhile, Paws meets Quinn and is secretly brought back to the orphanage, where he befriends the girls and uses his magic to give them Christmas cheer.

Stout discovers this and locks Will in the basement along with Paws, stealing Paws's crystal and Quinn's late mother's angel ornament. Will hears Paws speak and regains her Christmas spirit, but without his crystal, Paws reverts to a stuffed animal form by the next morning. When Stout discovers this, she assumes Paws escaped and unknowingly throws him in the incinerator before going on a date with Franklin. Eli and the girls narrowly rescue and revive Paws as Jimmy arrives and tells Eli that Santa is at Hucklebuckle Toys. Will and Quinn come along with Haggis, Rasta and T-Money.

That evening, Stout and Franklin return to the orphanage and are met by Mrs. Gibson, who informs them that she learned of the former's negligent nature by receiving a phone call from Eli. Despite her attempts to excuse her absence, Stout is fired and Gibson takes over the orphanage.

After explaining the situation to everyone, Will and Quinn leave to help Santa. They reunite him with his crystal, but its magic has been too used up to work. Paws sacrifices his magic to heal Santa, reverting to a stuffed animal form once more. The next morning Santa regains his health and he, Eli and Eddy rush back to the North Pole and the main crystal, reviving Paws as a full-grown dog named Santa Paws.

Back in New York, James and Kate return Quinn and Will to the orphanage, but at Gibson's suggestion, they decide to adopt them. Haggis, Rasta and T-Money stow away in a mail truck to the North Pole and become official elf dogs. Gus brings the money he received while working as a charity Santa to the orphanage, and Gibson invites him to spend the holiday with them. The next day, James and Kate inform Mr. Stewart that they have decided to keep the store and continue the Hucklebuckle legacy. As Stewart leaves, he speaks to Hucklebuckle's spirit, wishing him a Merry Christmas and that his wish has been fulfilled.

Cast[edit]

  • Kaitlyn Maher as Quinn Hucklebuckle, an orphaned girl who believes in the true spirit of Christmas; after her parents died, she is sent to an orphanage in New York City. She finds Paws in the alley behind the orphanage. She owns an angel ornament that was given to her by her late mother. She, alongside Will, is later adopted by James and Kate.
  • Madison Pettis as Will "Willamina" Hucklebuckle, the oldest girl in the orphanage who serves as an older sister figure to Quinn. After her parents died when she was young, she lost her Christmas spirit as well as its true meaning until she is locked in the basement with Paws. She often gets the full blame for Quinn and all the other girls' behavior due to her being the oldest. She, alongside Quinn, is later adopted by James and Kate.
  • Richard Riehle as Santa Claus.
  • Danny Woodburn as Eli, Santa's head elf.
  • Wendi McLendon-Covey as Ms. Gladys Stout, the greedy and child-hating owner of the orphanage and the main villain of the film. She finds Christmas, toys and anything that children love offensive. Will is her main target to place blame on for everything that the other girls do due to her being the oldest. She is eventually fired and evicted from the orphanage after her abusive treatment of the girls was confirmed by Mrs. Gibson, the social worker.
  • 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, Will’s best friend in the orphanage.
  • Michelle Creber as Taylor, an orphan.
  • Kathryn Kirkpatrick as Mrs. Gibson, a kind CPS 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.
  • Peter Gardner as Franklin, Ms. Stout's boyfriend who works 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[edit]

Reception[edit]

Angela Walker, writing for ChristianCinema.com, gave the DVD 3 stars out of 5, but said that the film fits the normal Disney DVD formula. She went on to say that the film was predictable and clichéd, but that kids would enjoy it and that the film adds to the "spirit of Christmas".[1]

Sequel[edit]

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

See also[edit]

References[edit]

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

External links[edit]

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