Air Bud is a 1997 sports comedy-drama film directed by Charles Martin Smith . An international co-production of the United States and Canada, the film stars Kevin Zegers as a young boy who befriends a runaway Golden Retriever (portrayed by Buddy ) with a unique ability to play basketball .
37-547: Air Bud received mixed reviews but was a commercial success, grossing $ 4 million in its opening weekend and totaling $ 27.8 million in its run against an estimated $ 3 million budget. It was followed by a direct sequel, Air Bud: Golden Receiver , in 1998, and spawned a film franchise that includes the spin-off series Air Buddies . After the death of his father, Josh Framm, his mother Jackie, and his two-year-old sister Andrea have relocated to Fernfield, Washington . One day after school, Josh practices basketball by himself in
74-514: A B included Sommersby and Untamed Heart . A C-grade film for the year was Body of Evidence . As opening-night audiences are presumably more enthusiastic about a film than ordinary patrons, a "C" grade from them is – according to the Los Angeles Times – "bad news, the equivalent of a failing grade". According to Ed Mintz, "A's generally are good, B's generally are shaky, and C's are terrible. D's and F's, they shouldn't have made
111-530: A bloodthirsty spectator sport seems to have encouraged an even more brutal approach to film reviewing. I'm talking about market research firms like CinemaScore [...]. They have everything to do with the movie business and absolutely nothing to do with either the creation or the intelligent viewing of film. The filmmaker is reduced to a content manufacturer and the viewer to an unadventurous consumer." Ed Mintz rejected being connected to Rotten Tomatoes , and defended CinemaScore methodology of polling select audiences on
148-572: A falling out, as Keystone and Vince had gone forward with a sequel, Air Bud: Golden Receiver , without DiCicco, who also claimed he wasn't paid anything for the first film and that he owns the Air Bud rights (based on the name of this production company name). DiCicco bred three offspring of Buddy and trained them for sports like Buddy. The puppies were signed to an endorsement deal by DiCicco for Milk-Bone dog biscuits for puppies. He intended to make his own sequel, Air Bud: The Next Generation , which
185-466: A feature-length film, but this rather silly family-friendly outing is partly redeemed by its extremely charming title character." Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale. Air Bud (series) The Air Bud film series (also known as Disney Buddies ) is an American film franchise based on a sports-playing Golden Retriever named Buddy, portrayed by Buddy . The franchise began in 1997 with
222-664: A film that opens in fewer screens can also contract with CinemaScore for a private survey, whose result would be disclosed only to the client. Some of these privately contracted surveys' results have nevertheless been publicly touted, such as the "A+" ratings for films including Courageous and A Question of Faith (both released by faith-based distributor Pure Flix Entertainment). CinemaScore describes itself as "the industry leader in measuring movie appeal". There are 35 to 45 teams of CinemaScore representatives present in 25 large cities across North America. Each Friday, representatives in five randomly chosen cities give opening-day audiences
259-534: A makeshift court that he sets up behind an abandoned church, where he meets an abandoned and runaway Golden Retriever who had recently escaped from his abusive owner: a rude, grumpy, child hating, alcoholic party clown named Norm Snively, who had locked him in a kennel for causing trouble at a birthday party when the kennel unknowingly fell out due to Snively not securing the back. Discovering his uncanny ability to play basketball, Josh names him Buddy and takes him home. Jackie agrees to let Buddy stay until Christmas. Once
296-417: A park before crashing into a lake. Josh decides to protect Buddy by setting him free in the forest to find a new life. The Timberwolves struggle at the championship game, and an injury leaves them with four players. Buddy shows up. After it is discovered that there is no rule preventing a dog from playing basketball, he is added to the roster and leads the team to victory. Despite his papers being ruined in
333-428: A positive review by a movie critic but disliked the film despite being a fan of Neil Simon , and heard another disappointed attendee wanting to hear the opinions of ordinary people, not critics. Mintz had not worked with polls or the entertainment industry, but decided to use his math and computer skills for a business surveying the opinions of hundreds of film viewers. A Yom Kippur donation card with tabs inspired
370-425: A pretty good indicator. I rely on it". Another said that competitor PostTrak was "much better...more thorough and in-depth". CinemaScore also conducted surveys for product placements , Anheuser-Busch , and Las Vegas casinos. As of October 2024 , a total of 118 films have received an A+ rating from American audiences polled by CinemaScore. Peter Ettedgui As of August 2024 , two directors have made
407-444: A similar demographic. CinemaScore pollster Dede Gilmore reported the trend in 1993, "Most movies get easily a B-plus. I think people come wanting the entertainment. They have high expectations. They're more lenient with their grades. But as (moviegoers) do it more and more, they get to be stronger critics". In 1993, films that were graded with an A included Scent of a Woman , A Few Good Men and Falling Down . Films graded with
SECTION 10
#1732776080416444-419: A small survey card. The card asks for age, gender, a grade for the film ("A", "B", "C", "D" or "F"), whether they would rent or buy the film on DVD or Blu-ray, why they chose the film and whether or not they felt the film lined up with its marketing. CinemaScore typically receives about 400 cards per film; the company estimates a 65% response rate and 6% margin of error . An overall grade of "A+" and "F"
481-459: A weekly email subscription for cinephiles to keep up with reports of audience reactions. In 1999, CinemaScore was rating approximately 140 films a year, including 98–99% of major studio releases. For each film, employees polled 400–500 moviegoers in three of CinemaScore's 15 sites, which included the cities Las Vegas, Los Angeles , San Diego , Denver , Milwaukee , St. Louis , Dallas , Atlanta , Tampa , Phoenix , and Coral Springs . In
518-437: A year) received the top grade, including seven Academy Award for Best Picture winners. From 2000 to January 2020, there were 53 movies with "A+". As of July 15, 2020 , about 90 films have received "A+". From 2004 to 2014, those rated "A+" and "A" had multiples of 4.8 and 3.6, respectively, while C-rated films' total revenue was 2.5 times their opening weekend. Ed Mintz cited Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Cruise as
555-422: Is calculated as the average of the grades given by responders. In this case, grades other than "F" are qualified with a plus (high end), minus (low end) or neither (middle). The ratings are divided by gender and age groups (under 21, 21–34, 35 and up). Film studios and other subscribers receive the data at about 11 pm Pacific Time . CinemaScore publishes letter grades to the public on social media and, although
592-585: The Air Bud series and seven in the Air Buddies series), in addition to two Christmas spin-offs of the Air Buddies series. Disney Buddies is one of the top direct-to-DVD franchises, just behind Disney Fairies at $ 300 million, with the first 12 films grossing $ 220 million by March 2014. Kevin DiCicco's Golden Retriever Buddy was featured on " America's Funniest Home Videos " and David Letterman's " Stupid Pet Tricks ". He then (in 1991), approached
629-607: The "two stars, it doesn't matter how bad the film is, they can pull (the projections) up". (DiCaprio's Shutter Island had a 3.1 revenue multiple despite a "C+" grade, and Cruise's Vanilla Sky had a 4 multiple with a "D" grade.) As of 2020 , 22 films have received an "F" grade. Vulture wrote that besides horror, Another type of movie features prominently on the list: let's call it "Misleading Auteurism". These are movies made by prominent, often Oscar-nominated directors that investigate risky and controversial subject matters and receive both praise and pans. But because of how
666-467: The car wreck, Snively attempts to sue the Framm family for custody of Buddy, and Chaney suggests that Buddy choose his owner. As a fan of Chaney himself, Judge Cranfield accepts his proposal and moves the court outside to the lawn. During the calling, Buddy attacks Snively and chooses Josh. Cranfield grants custody to Josh as a ranting Snively, who runs at Josh to get Buddy back, is arrested and carried away by
703-423: The detailed data is proprietary, the grades become widely shared in the media and the industry. Subsequent advertisements for highly ranked films often cite their CinemaScore grades. Studios use the demographic data when marketing films. A studio might hope that a high grade helps the box office of a film with a disappointing opening weekend, or adjust a future film's marketing based on survey results for one with
740-419: The film in a two-disc boxed set also containing other Air Bud films owned by Air Bud Entertainment on January 14, 2020. All five Air Bud films arrived on Disney+ on October 1, 2023. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , 48% of 31 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 4.8/10. The website's consensus reads: " Air Bud ' s wacky concept isn't entirely enough to fill
777-403: The game. The audience loves him when he scores a basket. Barker is fired after being caught emotionally and physically abusing Tom for his poor performance and is replaced by Chaney at Josh's suggestion. Arthur emphasizes the need for players to work as a team instead of focusing on themselves. When Larry is subbed out due to ball-hogging and unsportsmanlike conduct, his father forces him to leave
SECTION 20
#1732776080416814-577: The holidays arrive, Jackie allows Josh to keep Buddy as a Christmas present. At school, Josh earns the disdain of star basketball player and team bully Larry Willingham but befriends kindhearted maintenance engineer and retired pro player Arthur Chaney. With Chaney's encouragement, Josh earns a place on the school basketball team, the Timberwolves, despite the reservation of their competitive coach, Joe Barker. He befriends teammate Tom Stewart at his first game. Buddy escapes and shows up at school during
851-413: The independent production company Keystone Entertainment to produce Air Bud , a film based on Buddy. He also formed his production company, Air Bud Productions, that year. Disney's Miramax was brought on as the distribution company. Keystone indicated that no sequel was planned. The film did well in the home video market. By April 1998, DiCicco and Robert Vince, the film's producer at Keystone, had
888-619: The list four times: Jon Erwin (thrice with his brother Andrew (2015, 2018, and 2021) and once with Brent McCorkle (2023)), and Alex Kendrick (2011, 2015, 2019, and 2024). Two directors have made the list three times: Rob Reiner (1987, 1989, 1992), and Andrew Erwin (2015, 2018, 2021). The following directors have appeared on the list twice: Steven Spielberg (1982, 1993), James Cameron (1991, 1997), Robert Zemeckis (1994, 2004), Pete Docter (2001, 2009), Malcolm D. Lee (2013, 2017), Peter Berg (2013, 2016), Brad Bird (2004, 2018), George Tillman Jr. (1997, 2018), and Jon Gunn (2017, 2024). As of May 2024 ,
925-719: The movie industry works — the name of a director alone not being enough to get most people to go see something — they tend to be marketed as more straight-ahead genre films, resulting in a whole bunch of misled and pissed-off audience members. Vulture cited as examples of such F-graded films Steven Soderbergh 's Solaris with George Clooney , Andrew Dominik 's Killing Them Softly with Brad Pitt , and Darren Aronofsky 's mother! with Jennifer Lawrence . In an essay for The Hollywood Reporter , Martin Scorsese strongly criticized this type of approach by writing: "The brutal judgmentalism that has made opening-weekend grosses into
962-409: The movie, or they promoted it funny and the absolute wrong crowd got into it". Horror films consistently score lower; The Conjuring ' s "A−" was the first time a horror film scored better than "B+". CinemaScore's Harold Mintz said that "An F in a horror film is equivalent to a B− in a comedy". An "A+" typically predicts a successful box office. From 1982 to August 2011, only 52 films (about two
999-415: The opening night, to see if the film meets the expectations of the people who most want to see it. He further defended the accuracy of their data and the correlation to box office results. CinemaScore's forecasts for box-office receipts based on the surveys are, according to the Los Angeles Times , "surprisingly accurate" as "most of [the company's] picks...are in the ballpark", in 2009 correctly predicting
1036-487: The police, while Josh and the rest of the citizens rejoice and gather around Buddy to welcome him home. Air Bud was produced by the newly formed banner of Keystone Entertainment, Keystone Family. The film was originally planned to release through Miramax Films , but was instead moved as a Walt Disney Pictures release. Air Bud was released to VHS on December 23, 1997, and to DVD on February 3, 1998 (with an open matte aspect ratio). Mill Creek Entertainment released
1073-539: The president sought sponsorship from magazines and video companies. Brad Peppard was president of CinemaScore Online from 1999 to 2002. The website included a database of nearly 2,000 feature films and the audiences' reactions to them. Prior to the launch, CinemaScore results had been published in Las Vegas Review-Journal and Reno Gazette-Journal . CinemaScore's expansion to the Internet included
1110-664: The series. [REDACTED] Category CinemaScore CinemaScore is an American market research firm based in Las Vegas . It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts from the data. Ed Mintz, who majored in math at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and founded dental billing software company Dentametics, with wife Rona attended The Cheap Detective in June 1978. He had read
1147-584: The success of The Hangover and the failure of Land of the Lost . Hollywood executives are divided on CinemaScore's accuracy. Rob Moore , formerly of Paramount Pictures , said Ed Mintz had an "absolute connection with the pulse of moviegoers". Jeff Goldstein of Warner Bros. described CinemaScore as "essential ... for the entertainment industry", and Dan Fellman of Warner said that the studio discontinued its own exit polling because of CinemaScore. Another Hollywood executive said "It's not always right, but it's
Air Bud - Misplaced Pages Continue
1184-604: The summer of 2002, CinemaScore reported that the season had the biggest collective grade since 1995. In the summer of 2000, 25 out of 32 films received either an A or B grade. Twenty-six of the summer of 2001's 30 films got similar grades, while 32 of the summer of 2002's 34 films got similar grades, the latter being the highest ratio in a decade. Since July 2014, CinemaScore reports its results also on Twitter . Usually, to maintain comparable sample sizes, only films that open in more than 1,500 screens are polled and reported on CinemaScore's website and social media. The distributor of
1221-438: The survey cards at theaters, polling began in 1979. CinemaScore at first reported its findings to consumers, including a newspaper column and a radio show. After 20th Century Fox approached the company in 1989, it began selling the data to studios instead. By the mid-1980s AMC Theatres used CinemaScore data when choosing films for its locations. A website was launched by CinemaScore in 1999, after three years' delay in which
1258-592: The survey cards given to audience members. The company conducts exit polls of audiences who have seen a film in theaters, asking them to rate the film and specifying what drew them to the film. Its results are published in Entertainment Weekly . CinemaScore also conducts surveys to determine audience interest in renting films on video, breaking the demographic down by age and sex and passing along information to video companies such as Fox Video Corporation. After employees of Mintz's dental company tested
1295-709: The team and join their rival. Buddy becomes the mascot of the school's basketball team and appears in their halftime shows. The Timberwolves lose one game before qualifying for the State Finals. Just before the championship game, Snively appears after seeing Buddy on television. Hoping to profit from Buddy's newfound fame, he forces Jackie to hand over Buddy as he has papers proving he is the legal owner where Josh realises that Buddy hates him as Snively takes him away. Withdrawn and depressed, Josh sneaks into Snively's backyard and frees Buddy from his chain. Snively notices him and pursues them in his dilapidated pickup truck through
1332-492: The theatrical release of Air Bud , followed by the theatrical release of Air Bud: Golden Receiver in 1998. Following the box office failure of Golden Receiver , the rest of the films in the series were released in direct-to-video 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 Buddy's talking Golden Retriever puppies. The franchise features fourteen films (five of which were in
1369-521: Was scheduled to start production in the fall of 1999, with its concept being a "cross between Ferris Bueller and Home Alone ". Disney and William Morris Agency were sued in December 2011 over the Santa Paws films being unauthorized copies of a 1991 script for Santa Paws: The Story of Santa's Dog . This section includes characters who will appear or have appeared in more than two films in
#415584