Movie Info
Movie Name: Santa Paws 2: The Santa Pups
Studio: Walt Disney Studios
Genre(s): Seasonal/Musical/Family
Release Date(s): November 20, 2012
MPAA Rating: G
This is wrong on so many levels…
Santa Paws and Mrs. Paws have a whole new batch of pups. Unfortunately, Jingle, Noble, Hope, and Charity aren’t the best behaved pups at the North Pole. When Mrs. Claus (Cheryl Ladd) makes an emergency run to Pineville where Santa (Pat Finn) has lost his biggest backer, the pups steal Eddie’s magic crystal and sneak away on the sleigh. When the pups accidentally grant the wish of Carter Reynolds (Josh Feldman) to end the Christmas spirit, Mrs. Claus and the Santa Pups must stop the anti-Christmas spirit from spreading and ending Christmas forever!
Santa…you and Santa Paws are out this adventure! (Which makes no sense)
Directed by Robert Vince, Santa Paws 2: The Santa Pups is a follow-up to The Search for Santa Paws of 2010. The movie series is a spin-off from the Buddies films which began with Air Bud. The movie was released straight-to-DVD on November 20, 2012.
The whole talking dog movie is a bad trend. I have a hard enough time with a dog film, but a talking dog film pushes the limit. A dog film for children and straight-to-DVD is even worse and movies like this make me wonder how Hollywood and filmmakers can be so bankrupt of good ideas.
The movie is so trite and I can’t imagine that a kid older than three or four would be entertained by it. The story is full of holiday lessons that aren’t even delivered creatively. It is like the end of a South Park episode where everyone has to everyone else what they learned…and of course everyone sings.
We will continue to frighten people with our animated mouths!
It is a poor testament to the series that they can’t keep a cast together. The only constants through these movies seem to be Danny Woodburn as Santa’s head elf Eli and Richard Kind as the voice of Eddy the Elf Dog. Here Cheryl Ladd takes over for Patrika Darbo as Mrs. Claus (who is the star of the movie), and Pat Finn replaces Richard Riehle as Santa (with a very small role). The townspeople all overact and the three singing woman of are even more over-the-top.
The visuals on these movies really creep me out as well. With the original Air Bud film, the dog had a skill…he could shoot baskets. Here, the animals just stand around and they put mouths on them that talk. I like how the poor Eddy who plays Santa’s head elf dog can’t seem to walk in his costume and can be seen struggling to move around. The animated imagery is cheap, but I do commend the town used in the film (which is commonly used in movies)…it is very scenic and “Christmas-y”.
That’s right Cheryl…rock it!!!
The movie also features some of the worst songs I’ve heard. They are forced and poorly written. There are a few classic (aka free) Christmas carols sung in the film, but for the most part, the movie even ruins them with poor renditions.
There have got to be writers and filmmakers dying for a shot at a picture…even if it is a kids’ holiday film. I can’t imagine that someone couldn’t have written a better movie for kids and would have loved the opportunity. As of now, the Santa Pups are finished…I just wish they’d stay that way.
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