{"id":1882464,"date":"2026-04-14T22:59:50","date_gmt":"2026-04-14T19:59:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1882464"},"modified":"2026-04-14T22:59:50","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T19:59:50","slug":"air-bud-returns-acknowledges-original-dog-buddy-is-canonically-dead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1882464","title":{"rendered":"Air Bud Returns Acknowledges Original Dog Buddy Is Canonically Dead"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Air Bud<\/a> is dead. Long live Air Bud!<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The first footage from Air Bud Returns<\/a> was screened at CinemaCon on Tuesday, revealing that this movie \u2013 the 15th entry in the long-running franchise \u2013 is a series reboot set within the continuity of the earlier films. <\/p>\n

The footage reveals that the canonical golden retriever Buddy of the original Air Bud films is dead, as acknowledged by a memorial statue of him with a basketball that\u2019s been erected in the town of Fernfield. <\/p>\n

The canine protagonist of Air Bud Returns is a stray golden retriever who lives in Fernfield. Jacob Morgan (Aydin Artis) \u2013 an adolescent boy with a physical disability that requires him to use a wheelchair \u2013 comes to take care of this stray, whom he calls Buddy. <\/p>\n

Jacob is the son of one of the kids from the team depicted in the original Air Bud movies. Jacob has moved to his father\u2019s hometown of Fernfield after his dad died. Jacob is also the grandson of a former pro basketball player named Jake Morgan (Edwin Lee Gibson), who becomes part of the staff of Jacob\u2019s school basketball team, the Fernfield Timberwolves.<\/p>\n

Jacob watches old videotapes of the original Air Bud and his dad\u2019s team with his new dog, who is inspired to become a basketball player like his namesake. For the franchise\u2019s producer and Air Bud Returns writer-director Robert Vince, acknowledging the death of the canonical Buddy \u201cmakes total sense\u201d for the story he\u2019s telling here.<\/p>\n