Air Bud: World Pup, also known as Air Bud 3, is a 2000 sportscomedy film directed by Bill Bannerman. The third film in the Air Bud series, it was the second to be filmed without the original Buddy, the canine star of the first film from 1997; Buddy died after production of the first film. Air Bud: World Pup was the first film in the Air Bud series not to be released theatrically in the United States, opting to only be released on video, but was played in Philippine theaters for a limited time.
Plot
A few years after winning the football tournament and accepting him to be his 'new' father, teenager Josh Framm's mother, Jackie Framm, has just married her veterinarian boyfriend, Dr. Patrick Sullivan. Josh and his best friend, Tom Stewart, just made their high school's soccer team, when their coach reveals that their team will become co-ed. Josh meets Emma Putter, an attractive, blonde, wealthy girl who just moved to Fernfield from England after her mother died, who will not only be playing on his soccer team, but also has a golden retriever named Molly, whom Josh's golden retriever, Buddy, also finds attractive. One day during practice, as the team was getting its three remaining players in order to 'field a team' (two of which that were selected Josh and Tom), Josh discovers that Buddy has the uncanny ability to play soccer and is given a try at making a goal, which Buddy manages to succeed at, much to the surprise of Emma, Josh, Andrea and everyone else on the team, and with that, Buddy is recruited to join the Timberwolves team for the third time. Emma invites Josh to a party at her house and Tom arrives dressed up like a British soldier and looking quite silly wearing a kilt. At the same time, things start work out between Buddy and Molly and they become infatuated on the second floor in Emma's house. Josh's sister, Andrea Framm and her best friend, Tammy, want to scope out what's really going on at the party. One day, the soccer committee decides on the recommendation of chairman, Jack Stearns to ban the Timberwolves from the soccer league all because they have Buddy on their team. The Timberwolves are given two options: either remove Buddy from their team or remove their team from the league (either way, the Springbrook Spartans, the team that Jack serves as coach of, would have rectified their 3-1 loss to the Timberwolves). A few days later, Molly gives birth to six puppies with Buddy, making Buddy a 'father'. Knowing Buddy was the star player, they naturally quit the league. When Jack's son, Spartans all-star captain Steve Stearns, learns that the Timberwolves have been banned from the league, he is outraged and confronts his father, leading to Jack calling the Timberwolves coach Montoya and informing him that, after some careful consideration and thinking, the committee had a change of heart and the Timberwolves were allowed back in the league. Buddy has a uniform and is officially on the team, leading Josh and Emma's soccer team to the state championship against the Spartans, but trouble ensues when Buddy and Molly's puppies are kidnapped by a man named Snerbert, who wants to sell them. Once they are caught by Josh, Andrea, Emma, and Snerbert's sidekick, Webster, the butler Emma's father, Geoffrey Putter, hired to help care for Molly during her pregnancy, threw Snerbert under the bus by revealing the motive for the kidnapping: Snerbert wanted to get rich, while Webster just wanted a puppy, something he always wanted since his childhood. Webster has a change of heart and joins them by helping drive Andrea, Josh, Emma, Buddy, Molly and the puppies to the stadium for the game, which the Timberwolves were losing because Emma, Josh and Buddy didn't show up for the first half of the game. The army of dogs stay behind to make sure Snerbert didn't try to go anywhere. The Timberwolves subsequently win the championship thanks to a game-winning goal by Buddy. A few months later, Buddy helps the United States women's national soccer team win the FIFA Women's World Cup in a penalty shootout against Norway.
Mill Creek Entertainment reissued the film on January 14, 2020 on a 2-disc boxset also containing other Air Bud films owned by Air Bud Entertainment.[3]
All five Air Bud films, including World Pup, arrived on Disney+ on October 1, 2023.[4]
Reception
Michael Scheinfeld from Common Sense Media gave the film four stars out of five, saying the film "has a big heart and positive values involving sharing, cooperation, and friendship, but it never gets preachy or sappy".[5]
