The Air Bud film series (also known as Air Buddies or Disney Buddies) is an American film franchise based on a sports-playing golden retriever named Buddy, portrayed by Air Buddy. The franchise began in 1997 with the theatrical release of Air Bud, followed by the theatrical release of Air Bud: Golden Receiver in 1998. The rest of the films in the series were released in direct-to-DVD form. The Air Buddies or Disney Buddies spin-off series began in 2006 with the release of Air Buddies and it focuses on the adventures of Air Buddy's talking golden retriever puppies.
As of June 2012, there are twelve movies in the franchise, including five in the Air Bud series, six in the Air Buddies series, and one spin-off of the Air Buddies series.
Air Bud films
The first 2 movies in the franchise were released in theaters, while later entries were direct-to-DVD releases.
- Air Bud (1997) – Josh meets a golden retriever and finds out that he can play basketball.
- Air Bud: Golden Receiver (1998) – Josh's golden retriever learns to play football.
- Air Bud: World Pup (2000) – Josh and Emma discover that Buddy's ballplaying skills apply to soccer.
- Air Bud: Seventh Inning Fetch (2002) – Buddy makes the baseball team and becomes a star player.
- Air Bud: Spikes Back (2003) – Buddy tackles volleyball.
Air Buddies films
The Air Buddies films focus on Buddy's puppies, and they were all direct-to-DVD / Blu-ray releases.
- Air Buddies (2006) – Buddy and Molly's offspring work together to help each other while attempting to rescue their parents.
- Snow Buddies (2008) – The offspring of Buddy and Molly go on an Alaskan adventure.
- Space Buddies (2009) – The Buddies tag along for a field trip to the space museum and accidentally crawl aboard a rocket ship.
- Santa Buddies (2009) - The Buddies help deliver the presents on Christmas Eve.
- Spooky Buddies (2011) – The Buddies are in a new adventure when Halloween hits Fernfield.
- Treasure Buddies (2012) – The Buddies find themselves on an Indiana Jones style adventure.