Space Buddies (Video)

The third film in the Air Buddies series, itself a spin-off of the Air Bud series, Space Buddies features five golden retriever puppies who have a knack for getting into mischief. While the Buddies separated at the end of Air Buddies and currently live with different families, their kid owners all go to the same school and live in the same town. When the kids take a field trip to see the launch of a real space shuttle, excitement runs high and Buddha quickly gets his brothers and sister together to sneak onto the school bus and join in the fun. The dogs get the adventure of a lifetime when they tour the shuttle at the wrong time and inadvertently get launched into space on a trip to the moon. All is not as it should be in mission control, and saboteur Mr. Finkle (Kevin Weisman) may just get the whole mission scrapped--Buddies and all. Mission control's Slats (Lochlyn Monroe), remote pilot Astro (Ali Hillis), spaceship designer Pi (Bill Fagerbakke), and his pet ferret Gravity try their best to save the shuttle and the Buddies, but the success of their mission hinges on help from crazy Russian cosmonaut Yuri (Diedrich Bader) and his cosmodog Spudnick. Voice talent includes Jason Earles as Spudnick, a Russian bull terrier with a decidedly strange accent, and Josh Flitter, Liliana Mummy, Nico Ghisi, Skyler Gisondo, and Henry Hodges as the Buddies. Blu-ray bonus features include a pop-up "Buddy Facts" option that runs the length of the movie, an interactive "Buddy Finder" game where viewers search for specific scenes as they watch the movie, and B-Disney Live capability. Other bonus features include a 13-minute making of featurette that includes some history about space travel and is narrated by the Buddies, bloopers, and Alyson Stoner's "Dancing in the Moonlight" music video. An adventure story with a nice message about family and teamwork, children ages 3 to 10 will enjoy Space Buddies with its cute talking puppies and not-too-scary space travel, but those seeking believability will not be impressed. --Tami Horiuchi