Our family loves Air Bud movies so we thought we’d mention that the Air Bud World Cup DVD (Special Edition) goes on sale today.

The whole family will get a kick out of the spectacular Special Edition of Disney’s timeless canine adventure AIR BUD: WORLD PUP, including the all-new exclusive bonus, The Buddies’ Sports Channel: Soccer Edition – and including a free limited edition sports bag to continue the fun after the film is done!

The world’s most talented pooch is back in a heartwarming and hilarious sports adventure. When Buddy meets Molly and they have puppies, the hotshot hound is in for an all-new challenge, but the fun is just beginning. This exciting family favorite features Buddy joining his teenage owner Josh on the field in pursuit of the state soccer championship. From the creators of Santa Buddies and Space Buddies, the new AIR BUD: WORLD PUP SPECIAL EDITION will give audiences of all ages something to cheer about!

Movie Clips

First of all, puppies are too adorable:

And Air Bud movies are all about the sports scenes!

DVD Bonus Features:

• All-New: The Buddies Sports Channel: Soccer Edition: Join Rosebud in the broadcasting booth as she
  and the rest of the Buddies, B-Dawg, Mudbud, Buddha and Budderball, review the instant replay on the
  amazing soccer career of their dad, Air Bud. Using on-camera footage and voiceover, the Buddies check
  out highlights from AIR BUD WORLD PUP
• Making Of Air Bud World Pup Production Featurette (from the original release)
• Exclusive In-Pack “Air Bud” Sport Cinch Bag – a cool collectible sports bag, branded with the AIR
  BUD logo, to carry the fun from the family room to the playing field

LOS ANGELES, CA. – The box office smash hit Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel sings and shakes its way to Blu-ray Disc/DVD Combo Pack, “Squeak-Along” double DVD, and DVD Single Disc March 30th from Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment. A follow-up to 2007’s Alvin and the Chipmunks, Chipmunk singing sensations Alvin, Simon and Theodore are back for an encore in this hilarious “squeakquel” packed with over an hour more of music. The Squeak-Along bonus content includes new sing-alongs such as Beyonce’s “Single Ladies,” teaches audiences how to dance like the Chipmunks with the “Shake Your Groove Thing” dance instructional video, games and more nutty fun for the whole family!

When a concert mishap lands Dave in the hospital, the Chipmunks take a break from superstardom and enroll in school to fit in with kids their age. But they soon face some stiff competition when they meet the Chipettes — a beautiful, talented trio of chipmunks discovered by Ian, the boys’ evil ex-manager!

From director Betty Thomas (Dr. Dolittle), the heartwarming film stars Golden Globe nominee* Jason Lee (“My Name Is Earl”), Emmy Award winner** David Cross (“Arrested Development”) and Zachary Levi (“Chuck”), and features vocal talent from franchise veterans Justin Long (He’s Just Not That Into You), Matthew Gray Gubler (500 Days of Summer) and actor-pop heartthrob Jesse McCartney (Alvin and the Chipmunks). Newcomers Christina Applegate (“Samantha Who”), Anna Faris (The House Bunny) and Amy Poehler (“Saturday Night Live”) lend their voices to the musically talented Chipettes as Brittany, Jeanette and Eleanor, respectively.

The hit soundtrack to the Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel features The Chipmunks and The Chipettes covering some of today’s top hits and classic tracks as well as original songs including “Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It),” “Hot N Cold,” “Stayin’ Alive,” and “I Gotta Feeling.” The album is certified gold by the RIAA for sales of over 500,000 and has reached #1 on the Billboard Top Soundtrack chart and #6 on the Billboard Top 200 Album chart.

The Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack includes a high definition Blu-ray version of the film, and all hilarious bonus features from the Squeak-Along Bonus Disc including Sing-Alongs, Chipmunk Adventures, Munk Music Machine, Meet the Chipettes, Meet The Rising Stars, Music Mania, Shake Your Groove Thing, Music Videos, a Live Lookup featurette, and much more. The pack also includes a Digital Copy and a standard DVD, and will be available for the suggested retail price of $39.99 U.S. / $49.99 Canada.

Featuring more entertainment for the whole family, the “Squeak-Along” double DVD pack features an all-new bonus disc with over an hour of added Chipmunks Sing-alongs, music videos, featurettes and much more, and will be sold for the suggested retail price of $34.98 U.S. / $45.98 Canada.

The Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel will also be available in a single disc with two featurettes – Munk Music Machine and Music Mania – for the suggested retail price of $29.98 U.S. / $43.48 Canada.

For more Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel fun go to www.MunkYourself.com now to create your own munk! The website will include many new updates that are sure to make you party like a munk-star, including 2 brand-new games — “Dance to the Beat” and “Munk Mic” — as well as the ability to generate a munked audio-recording of your voice which can be downloaded as a ringtone.

Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack Special Features:
Disc One

• Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel Blu-ray
• Munking History: 50 Years of Chipmunk Mischief, Mayhem & Music
• Munk Music Machine
• Meet the Chipettes
• Rockin’ Rising Stars
• Music Mania
• Meet the Stuffies
• Shake Your Groove Thing! with Rosero
• Music Videos & Sing-Alongs “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It),” “We Are Family,” “Shake Your Groove Thing”
• Music Videos: (“You Really Got Me” featuring Honor Society & “The Song” featuring Queensberry)
• A-l-v-i-n-n-n-n!!! Album Maker
• Live Lookup
• Music In A Nutshell: Song Trivia
• The Chipmunks: Behind the Squeaking
• A-NUT-omy of a Scene

Disc Two

• Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel feature film

Disc Three

• Digital Copy

“Squeak-Along” Double DVD
Disc One

• Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel Blu-ray
• Munk Music Machine
• Music Mania

Disc Two

• Munking History : 50 Years of Chipmunk Mischief, Mayhem & Music
• Meet the Chipettes
• Rockin’ Rising Stars
• Chipmunks: Behind the Squeaking
• A-NUT-omy of a Scene
• Meet the Stuffies
• Shake Your Groove Thing! With Rosero
• Music Videos & Sing-Along (“Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)”, “We Are Family,” “Shake Your Groove Thing”

Single-Disc DVD Special Features

• Munk Music Machine
• Music Mania Featurette

*2006, 2007: Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series, (“My Name Is Earl”)
**1993: Outstanding Individual Achievement in Writing in a Variety or Music Program (“The Ben Stiller Show”)

About Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment
A recognized global industry leader, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment LLC (TCFHE) is the worldwide marketing, sales and distribution company for all Fox film and television programming on DVD, Blu-ray Disc (BD) and Digital Copy as well as acquisitions and original productions. The company also releases all products around the globe for MGM Home Entertainment. Each year TCFHE introduces hundreds of new and newly enhanced products, which it services to retail outlets — from mass merchants and warehouse clubs to specialty stores and e-commerce – throughout the world. Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment LLC is a subsidiary of Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, a News Corporation company.

Fans of golden retriever dogs, old and young alike, will find this sequel to Air Bud a charming, if undemanding, movie. Picking up a few years after the original left off, this movie focuses on the Framm family’s young teenager Josh he struggles to cope with his father’s death, and his mother Jackie’s attempts to start dating again, and his lack of confidence in his own athletic ability at a new sport. With the help of his precocious dog, Buddy, Josh is finally able to confront all these issues and experience the thrill of victory.

Set in the quaint town of Fernfield, Washington, the story starts with a reminder of what a great athlete Buddy is, and his passion for basketball. After being told that he cannot accompany the family to a basketball game, Buddy manages to sneak out and ride quietly in the back of the family’s car to the game. He makes his appearance later in the game and ultimately ends up stealing the show by dunking a few shots on behalf of the high school’s team, leading them to victory.

We soon see that Buddy is not only good at sports, but also great at scaring away potential dates for Jackie’s mother (at Josh’s behest). Jason and his friend Tom take Buddy on a routine visit to the vet, where we meet Dr. Sullivan, a new vet in down. Buddy immediately warms up to the new doctor, a pleasant surprise for Josh; trips to the vet were no walk in the park for them with Buddy in the past. This encounter leads to a highly amusing chance meeting between Jackie and the handsome new vet at the docks, and ultimately a date. Unable to deal with their growing closeness, Josh reluctantly decides to join Tom at after-school football practices to avoid seeing Dr. Sullivan and his mother together.

Josh and Tom arrive at their first practice only to be confronted by a laughably awful team run by Coach Fanelli, who believes that football should be about fun, rather than just winning. We soon discover that Josh has a great throwing arm (previously unknown to him) and is accepted on to the team as a second-string quarterback, while Tom joins as a wide receptor. At their first game of the season, which they are losing badly, Buddy once again steals the show, catching the football and scoring a touchdown for the Fernfield Timberwolves. After they win this game, Buddy becomes an integral member of the team, leading them to the state championship.

While things seem to be turning around for Josh at school, he is still greatly displeased by his mother dating Dr. Sullivan, and distressed by the secret he accidentally learns about his football coach. As if that weren’t enough for the teenager, he and Buddy are unknowingly threatened by a pair of Russian animal thieves kidnapping various talented animals to add to their traveling circus. Once they catch sight of Buddy and his basketball talent, they relentlessly pursue him to add to their lineup.

The movie’s cast list does not boast many famous names. It does, however, contain some solid performances by its actors, in particular Kevin Zegers as the troubled but earnest Josh Framm, and Robert Costanzo as the compassionate, voracious eater Coach Fanelli. Like all of the Buddy movies, this movie is G-rated and is certainly geared towards younger children with its ‘Home Alone’-type antics and situations.

However, it has plenty of entertainment for adults, too. The overly zealous Principal Salter who howls sings the national anthem and announces the games, the ‘Boris and Natasha’-like animal thieves Natalya and Popov, and the thoroughly enjoyable cameos by Tim Conway and Dick Martin as the State Football Game announcer and his bumbling cohort, were all reference jokes that would sail over most kids’ heads.

Bottom Line: The young and the young-at-heart will all find something to smile about in this family-friendly movie.

Watch the Air Bud 2 Movie Trailer . . .

The Real Star of Night at the Museum Battle of the Smithsonian

Crystal, the Capuchin monkey who played Dexter in Night at the Museum (2006) is back in the sequel, Night at the Museum Battle of the Smithsonian(2009). The kids and I watched the movie last week and I’m again fielding questions about why we simply cannot have a pet monkey.

It’s not that I wouldn’t love to have a pet monkey, or rather that I don’t understand what it’s like to be a kid infatuated with the idea of having a pet monkey. Look at them, they’re adorable! It’s just that in reality – we don’t have the time, the resources, the space, or the knowledge, to take care of a Capuchin monkey!

If you’re having a similar discussion at your house, you might try pointing out that the Capuchin monkeys live pretty long and it’s likely to be a 30-year commitment (or more). Even better, add 30 years to your child’s age and tell them that they’ll have to take care of the monkey until they’re 41 (in my daughter’s case). That’s a pretty good way to get your point across.

We’ve decided that we’re better off watching Crystal in the movies and envying the actors and actresses and trainers who work with monkeys. We’re particularly fond of laughing at Ben Stiller’s slap fests with Crystal in the first Night at the Museum movie and we weren’t disappointed in Battle of the Smithsonian!

We loved Ben Stiller (Larry Daley, the night guard), Robin Williams (Teddy Roosevelt), and Owen Wilson (Jedediah Smith) in the first movie and they’re all back in Battle of the Smithsonian! We also adored the addition of Amy Adams (brilliant in Enchanted) as Amelia Earhart in this sequel. But we really enjoyed seeing Crystal back in action, along with Squirt – her Capuchin Co-Host – in the film.

We did some research about Capuchin Monkeys and, in particular, about Crystal and we learned quite a bit about her. I thought I’d share what we learned, tell you what our movie-watching plan is for the upcoming holidays, and share some pictures and links – all featuring our favorite little monkey.

What We Learned About Crystal . . .

She’s a 15 1/2 year old Capuchin monkey who lives with her handler and trainer, Tom Gunderson. He’s had her since she was 3 (so for about 13 1/2 years now). He gives her a bath every single day and while he obviously loves Crystal, he wouldn’t recommend owning a Capuchin monkey for a pet because, according to Tom they’re very high maintenance, they’re possessive and can be aggressive and they’re messy and destructive. Wow, sounds a bit like a toddler.

Capuchin monkeys aren’t very clean animals either. Their only sweat glands on on their hands and feet and in the wild they’d wash their hands and feet with their urine!

Tom has spent a lot of time training Crystal, more time than the average person has available to spend on a pet. He spent 2 1/2 months of additional training time with Crystal for her role on Night at the Museum Battle of the Smithsonian. Her favorite food is yogurt, but she eats at least 5 different fruits and 5 different veggies every single day. She also loves nuts and seeds, pistachios are her favorite and she loves cracking walnut shells.

Still thinking you’d like a pet monkey? What if I told you Crystal doesn’t really like being hugged and that she’s a bit uncomfy around big animals like horses.

Our Crystal Movie Project . . .

One of the best things we learned about Crystal is that the Night at the Museum movies aren’t the only movies she’s been in. We’ve seen many of the movies in her repertoire, but we didn’t realize that Crystal was in them – so we’re going to try to go on a Crystal-spotting movie safari over the holidays. Here’s a list of titles we’ll be watching. If you know of any more, please leave us a comment so we can consider adding it to our ‘watch’ list!

• Night at the Museum
• Night at the Museum Battle of the Smithsonian
• Dr. Doolittle 1
• Dr. Doolittle 2
• George of the Jungle
• Shaggy Dog
• 3:10 to Yuma

You can also catch Crystal appearing in:

• American Pie 1
• American Pie 2
• Fun With Dick and Jane
• Terror Tract

We also found out that Crystal will be in the comedy The Zookeeper next fall. What’s not to love about the idea of Kevin James and Crystal in a movie?! The icing on the cake? Adam Sandler will be the voice of Crystal and Sylvester Stallone the voice of a lion. Sweet!

Fun Pics & Clips of Crystal . . .

Mizuo Peck (“Sacajawea”) and Crystal (“Dexter,” “Able”) unveil the all new Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian exhibit with nearly 50 local children who participated in the first ever sleepover at Madame Tussauds in New York to celebrate the December 1st Blu-ray and DVD release from Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment.

Crystal in the green room at Fox and Friends to promote Night at the Museum:Battle of the Smithsonian on Blu-ray and DVD.

Watch the kOL (Kids AOL) coverage of the Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian Movie Premiere!

See Crystal on MyFox NY!

See Crystal the Monkey and her trainer, Tom Gunderson on Pawnation!

See Crystal the monkey chat with KOL!

Great Gift Idea

We received a free preview disc of the Night at the Museum Battle of the Smithsonian movie but went and bought the gift set for our family movie collection.

The limited edition “Monkey Mischief” double DVD boasts a second disc including over 30 minutes of entertainment complimenting the bonus materials featured on the first disc, including cast and crew commentary, six deleted scenes with an alternate ending, a gag reel, and more. The holiday two-pack DVD will be available for the suggested retail price of $34.98 U.S. / $45.98 Canada.

We received several comments for our Santa Buddies Giveaway and spent the entire morning this morning reading through the entries, trying to choose the three winners.

Turns out it was a lot harder to choose than we thought it would be! I sincerely enjoyed reading all of your comments and ended up eliciting the help of the entire family to narrow down the top picks. We all read through all of your comments and jotted down our top three picks. Then we compared! The entries with the most votes won. It was a true labor of love.

Update – Monday, November 30: Congratulations to Carla, Kim, and Jennifer for entering and responding to their notification emails! We hope you enjoy the Disney Gift Sets.

Disney was nice enough to send us a complimentary copy of the movie to preview prior to posting our giveaway. I saved the movie to watch with the grandparents – a great treat to top off Thanksgiving evening and officially begin the holiday season.

My family has seen and enjoyed the original Air Bud movie and we’re big fans of Disney movies in general, as anyone with kids can certainly understand. We haven’t seen any of the Air Buddies movies, so this was our introduction the group of adorable golden retriever pups. And they certainly didn’t disappoint.

SANTA BUDDIES: THE LEGEND OF SANTA PAWS
This movie is precisely what you’d expect it to be! It’s funny, it’s sad, it’s message is full of hope, and it has an interesting, although predictable, story line.

Honestly, it’s hard to go wrong when the cast stars five puppies! We loved seeing the unique personalities and the homes where each of the 5 puppies lives. And I think we all laughed the hardest when Mudbud appeared in his “clean suit.” But that’s probably because we have 2 little mudbud’s of our own here who can’t seem to ever go outside without getting muddy.

Here’s the official Disney description from their press release about the movie:

“In SANTA BUDDIES: THE LEGEND OF SANTA PAWS, the lovable ‘Buddies,’ B-Dawg,
Budderball, Buddha, Mudbud, and Rosebud embark on a thrilling journey to the magical world of Santa’s Workshop. When Puppy Paws, the fun-loving son of Santa Paws, gets tired of the North Pole, he checks out Santa’s “naughty” list and finds Budderball’s name right on top. Puppy Paws heads south to meet the Buddies and find out how “ordinary” pups spend their days. But when the world begins to forget the true meaning of the holidays and the magic of the season begins to literally melt away, it’s up to Puppy Paws and his newfound Buddies to save the day in another epic adventure. Their extraordinary exploits highlight the importance of collaboration, courage and tradition in a joyous celebration of life and friendship. Sure to be a family favorite for years to come, SANTA BUDDIES: THE LEGEND OF SANTA PAWS delivers enough holiday cheer to last a whole year! It’s Buddy-loving fun the whole family will enjoy again and again.

“The overwhelming success of each of our ‘Buddies’ adventures really highlights how irresistible Disney Dog movies are and what great family entertainment can be,” said Bob Chapek, President, Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment. “SANTA BUDDIES: THE LEGEND OF SANTA PAWS is destined to become a new holiday classic, securing the Buddies’ place in the long lineage of Disney Dogs.”

Actors & Voices in Santa Buddies
One of the things we like to do during animated movies (or these Disney live action movies) is to guess the actors’ voices. George Wendt made such a good Santa Claus that we hardly recognized him. Christopher Lloyd as Stan Cruge, the dog catcher, was an easy call and he was perfect for the part. You’ll recognize many of the voices in the movie, too:

Tom Bosley is the voice of Santa Paws.
Tim Conway is the voice of Sniffer, the sheriff’s blood hound.
Richard Kind is the voice of Eddy the Elf Dog.

Buddha – Field Cate
Budderball – Josh Flitter
B-Dawg – Skyler Gisondo
Rosebud – Lilana Mumy
Mudbud – Ty Panitz

Kaitlyn Maher is the voice of adorable little Tiny!

In case you missed it, or don’t remember, Kaitlyn Maher is the adorable little girl who stole hearts on “America’s Got Talent.” Check out this video for a reminder:

About Disney’s Blu-ray + DVD Combo Pack:
To provide consumers with unprecedented quality, value and portability of their favorite Disney movies,
in 2008 Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment pioneered the Combo Pack – a Blu-ray Disc plus a
DVD in a single package. Current WDSHE titles available as Combo Packs include Bedtime Stories,
Bolt, Pinocchio, High School Musical 3 and Sleeping Beauty.

Anyone who loves animals is likely to love Dr. Doolittle. When I was little, I fell in love with Polynesia, the parrot who teaches him animal languages in the original story by Hugh Lofting, and wanted desperately to have a parrot like that of my own. I felt a real connection to Dr. John Doolittle in the very first chapter. His sister isn’t fond of all of the animals he keeps and points out that sick people are going to stop coming to him if he continues to have a “parlor full of hedgehogs and mice.” To which John replies, “But I like the animals better than the best people.”

Over the years I’ve seen a few of the Dr. Doolittle movies as well; the 1967 classic starring Rex Harrison and the more recent series of movies starting with the Dr. Doolittle 1 & 2, starring Eddie Murphy as Dr. Doolittle with Raven Symone (who plays his daughter, Charisse) and Kyla Pratt (who plays his daughter, Maya).

In Dr. Doolittle 3 (2006) Kyla Pratt takes the lead role (although wasn’t it Charisse, Raven Symone’s character, who had inherited her father’s abilities in the last movie?)… Either way, the story follows Maya Doolittle’s trip to save a dude ranch. While I didn’t like the movie nearly as much as the first two, it was a decent way to spend an evening and the kids seemed to enjoy it.

Dr. Doolittle: Tail to the Chief was released last year on DVD, which follows Maya and Lucky on a special assignment from the President, followed up by this year’s DVD release of the latest in the series . . .

Dr. Doolittle: Million Dollar Mutts

We were glad to see Kyla Pratt back as Maya Doolittle, and really glad to see Lucky. I think it was the Hollywood glam that got my daughter more interested in this latest story. This time Maya’s off to college when a Hollywood starlet named Tiffany Monaco (played by Tegan Moss) seeks out her canine counsel to help with her depressed Chihuahua. It turns out out Princess isn’t too fond of her tiara but Maya is dazzled by the glitz and glamor of Hollywood.

Maya decides to put her plans for a vet degree on hold since the prospect of seven years in college doesn’t hold a candle to the prospect of immediately helping animals via hosting an animal talk show with Tiffany.

But Tinseltown soon looses its glitter and Maya founds herself trapped in a world where nothing is what it seems to be. Eventually Lucky and the other animals save the day and Maya gets back on track.

Predictable? Yes.
Worth watching? Yes.
Particularly if you and your kids or grandkids have enjoyed watching the other movies in the series. I think we’ll plan to have a Dr. Doolittle movie marathon one day this summer, starting with the very first 1998 Eddie Murphy movie and ending with Kyla Pratt in Million Dollar Mutt.

Want to find the movies or the classic story book?
Dr. Doolittle on Amazon

IMDb Links:

1967 classic starring Rex Harrison
• 1998 Dr. Doolittle
• 2001 Dr. Doolittle 2
• 2006 Dr. Doolittle 3
• Dr. Dolittle: Tail to the Chief
• Dr. Dolittle: Million Dollar Mutts