Never mind about “Pirates 5” & “6.” Does Disney already have a “Santa Paws 3” in the works?

Jim Hill

14 years ago

W.C. Fields is often credited with coining that old show business
adage, "Never work with children or animals."

Well, Robert Vince has clearly never heard this adage. Given
that – as the writer / producer /
director of Disney's "Air Bud" & "Air Buddies" pictures – virtually every movie
that this family film veteran makes is wall-to-wall canines and kids.

George Wendt and the canine cast
of "Santa Buddies: The Legend of Santa Paws."
Copyright Disney Enterprises,
Inc. All rights reserved

And what with "Santa Buddies: The Legend of Santa Paws"
having just had its world premiere on ABC Family earlier this week (FYI: There'll
be an encore presentation of this Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment
production on that very same cable channel tonight at 6 p.m. ET /PT, along with
one last showing of this particular "Buddies" picture on ABC Family on
Christmas Day starting at 12: 30 p.m. ET/PT), "The Search For Santa Paws" out
on store shelves right now, not to mention a brand-new "Air Buddies" movie – "Spooky Buddies" – due to debut in the
Fall of 2011 … Well, I thought that now might be an interesting time to talk
with Robert. See if he might reveal the secret behind this super-popular WDSHE
series.

Quinn (Kaitlyn Maher) and Paws
(voice of Zachary Gordon) hurry back home in "The
Search for Santa Paws." Copyright
Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved

"It's simple, really. We just try and make our latest
picture a little bit better, a bit more ambitious than the one that came
before," Vince explained.

Santa Claus (Richard Riehle) and
Santa Paws (voice of Mitchel Musso) deliver presents.
Copyright Disney
Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved

Case in point: "The Search for Santa Paws" is Robert's musical. So – what with having to rehearse and then shoot all of
these musical numbers (which, as you might expect, prominently feature numerous
kids & dogs) – he was facing a whole new set of challenges with this "Santa
Buddies" prequel.

Will (Madison Pettis, center)
sings about believing in the Christmas spirit with (clockwise)
Meg (Nicole
Leduc), Mary (Melody Choi), Taylor (Michelle Creber), Janie (G. Hannelius)
and
Quinn (Kaitlyn Maher). Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved

"Yeah, that was a little scary. At first. But what helps
here is that I've been working with the same team for almost 15 years now. And
the trainers, the production people, they all know their jobs. So they were always
there to back me up if I got in over my head," Vince continued. "But I have to
say that – once I got into the swing of things — I was actually surprised at how
much fun I had directing a musical. Which is why I genuinely hope that I get the
chance to make another one of these 'Santa Paws' movies someday."

Paws (voice of Zachary Gordon)
and Santa Claus (Richard Riehle) arrive in Central Park.
Copyright Disney
Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved

That's right. "Santa Paws 3." Robert already has a story sketched
out in his head. But in order for that "Air Buddies" movie to happen, people
first have to seriously embrace (TRANSLACTION: Buy lots & lots of copies of
the DVD
& Blu-ray
versions of) "The
Search for Santa Paws."

Eddy the Elf Dog (voice of
Richard Kind) delivers a letter
Santa Claus. Copyright Disney Enterprises,
Inc.
All rights reserved

"And from what I've been hearing, people have already have
been embracing 'Search,' " Vince said. "They especially seem to like this movie's
explanation as to why there are so many guys in Santa Claus outfits out &
about during the holiday season. What we tell 'The Search for Santa Paws'
audience is that – while all these folks may not in fact be the real Santa –they
still work to perpetuate the Santa Cause. That spirit of kindness & giving
that we all feel this time of year."

Quinn (Kaitlyn Maher) tells
Santa Claus (Richard Riehle) her Christmas
wishes. Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved

Speaking of multiple Santas, that brings to mind yet another
great W.C. Fields quote. Which also – continuing today's theme – touches on the
holidays. As the Great Man once said:

"Christmas at my house is always at least six or seven
times more pleasant than anywhere else. We start drinking early. And while
everyone else is seeing only one Santa Claus, we'll be seeing six or
seven."

And speaking of six or seven … To date, there have only been
five "Air Buddies" movies: 2006's "Air Buddies," 2008's "Snow Buddies," 2009's "Space Buddies," "Santa Buddies: The Search for Santa Paws" as well as next fall's "Spooky
Buddies." But Robert seems confident that this series could continue. That there
may be a few films yet to come from the "Air Buddies" franchise.

"Golden retrievers are hugely popular with families. And
golden retriever puppies even more so. So
as long as we can still find interesting new stories to tell, fun adventures to
send these puppies on, I'm sure that there'll be an audience out there eager to
see more 'Air Buddies' movies," Vince concluded.

But what do you folks think? Have you ever watched any of
these Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment releases? If so, do you find the 'Air
Buddies' movies enjoyable? Or are they ruff … er … tough for you to take?

Your thoughts?

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