Air Bud
Moviegoers and more than a few critics found much to enjoy in this Disney film about a lost dog named Buddy. The canine is befriended by a lonely boy and proceeds to become the star of the kid's junior high school basketball team. Demonstrating an abundance of on- and off-court agility, Buddy can dribble like a pro (no, not the wet kind of dribble), and he never misses a shot. Michael Jeter plays Buddy's original owner who returns to get his dog back (don't worry, he's an unworthy weasel), and director Charles Martin Smith brings a refreshing flair to the climactic basketball scenes. Air Bud was a modest hit for Disney, and the film's entertaining vitality gets a touch of poignancy from the fact that Lucky, the canine actor in the title role, died of cancer not long after the film was released. --Jeff Shannon
