The Search For Santa Paws (Blu-ray)

“Sometimes you just gotta let a dog do his thing.”

Hey everybody. Baby back again to bring you yet another dog movie from a dog’s point of view, which is the floor, in case anybody out there really wants to know. You see, Gino won’t let me on the furniture in the theater. He says that just because the seats look like chew toys, and smell like chew toys, doesn’t mean they actually are chew toys. I mean, really, people. You wanna talk about your special effects, which reminds me of something else I’m not supposed to do in the theater, but let’s not talk about that right now.

Well … it’s almost Christmas time and that’s a time for giving. Remember what Baby always says: It’s far better to give than to receive a Baby special and that spells T E E T H! I accept treats, of course. I guess that means I should give you something back. It just so happens that Gino just got done watching this movie on the actor who was in Dog Day Afternoon. I guess that’s why I ended up getting a Dog Night At The Movies. This time I got to lay my paws on The Search For Santa Paws. This is actually a story that started with last year’s last Buddies movies. It’s kind of like science fiction because you go back in time and see how Santa and Santa Paws got to be friends. Gino calls it a prequel, but that sounds too much like what a cat would do. Let’s not talk about cats right now.

When the story starts out Santa Claus is really really sad. A friend of his has just died. He was a toy store owner named Hucklebuckle, and he was a good friend to Santa for many years. His last gift to Santa was a stuffed dog. I sure wish that I was a stuffed dog; stuffed with treats that is. And that spells Y U M! When Santa’s friends see how sad he is. they take the dog to the magic Christmas icicle. and the magic brings the dog to life and he becomes good friends with Santa.

Back in New York City which is pretty far from the North Pole, even farther than the vet, the toy store owner’s heir and his wife are talking to the lawyer guy. The man has left his toy shop to him, but he has to keep it open at least one Christmas and make a profit in order to keep it. The man doesn’t really want to do that, but the law’s the law, and barking doesn’t get you out of it. I sure know all about that one. It turns out that Santa is bringing Paws to New York for a visit. But when Santa gets hit by a car, a mean old man steals his magic crystal, and he forgets where he is. Even worse is Paws who gets lost and can’t find Santa to help him.

Nearby there is an orphanage where Quinn, a little girl who grows up to be a medicine woman, is being sent because her parents died. When Santa gets a job at the toy store as a fake Santa, the little girl asks him for a puppy to cheer up the orphanage. You see, it’s run by a mean old lady who doesn’t like candy or toys or even Christmas. She puts their toys in a furnace and burns them all up. You know she’s gotta be mean, because she dates an animal control man. That’s dog catcher to you. When the elves mount a rescue for Santa, all of these problems get solved. Wow, that’s a long story, isn’t it?

Well… it doesn’t feel all that long when you’re watching it. It really goes by pretty quick. The human actors all do a pretty good job. Santa is played by a new guy who isn’t as good as George Wendt was in the last Santa Paws movie. Danny Woodburn is back as Eli the Elf, but that’s the only guy who is the same. Santa Paws has a cool crystal that can do all sorts of magical things. It even unlocks cage doors so he can save his friends. Hey, I wonder if that thing could open a treat jar? I know what I want for Christmas. Gino says the movie has too many coincidences. I don’t know what they are, but if they’re anything like belly rubs there can never be too many of those.

Video

The Search For Santa Paws is something Gino calls an aspect ratio of 1.78:1. The movie looked a pretty much like the last Buddies movie to me. There’s a lot of color, especially when everybody’s doing Christmas things. Gino says to tell you that the black levels are very good here. He also says to tell you to send treats in care of Baby Sassani at …. oops. OK, I made that last part up. Here’s what he really said: The 1080p image comes courtesy of an AVC/MPEG-4 codec at a strong average of 35-40 mbps. The film is certainly colorful enough in the North Pole scenes. Much of the rest of the film is pretty white, what with all of the snow.

Audio

The DTS-HD Master Audio sound is pretty good for what this is. It’s mostly dialog, and that translates just fine. There is the occasional sleigh bell jingle that adds just the right amount of surround to make us able to get into the environment somewhat. The musical numbers are quite dynamic. There’s a lot of singing in this movie. Everything is as crisp as the snow and clear as ice crystal.

Special Features

The Hucklebuckle Hero: (6:54) HD Rosebud tells the other Buddies a Christmas story related to the movie.

Off The Cutting Room Floor: (11:51) I like to eat things that fall on the floor, but this is a collection of deleted scenes. You can’t eat them.

Sing-Alongs and a Music Video

DVD Copy Of The Film

Final Thoughts:

There’s a lot of sad people in this movie until they meet up with Santa Paws. That just goes to show you how much we dogs can cheer you humans up. Don’t you think maybe you should think of ways that you can cheer us up, too? I could help you out there. Just buy lots of treats and give plenty of pets. Oh, and maybe cut down on the yelling when we bark too much or have a little accident. You can cheer up your own pups by getting them The Search For Santa Paws, and then your whole family can spend a little time watching together. Don’t forget the dog. Wish you could spend more quality time with the family? Just try that and “Merry Christmas, you got your wish“.

You can get a discount coupon direct from Disney. Bang it here to get $10 off the Blu-ray: Coupon

Tell them Baby sent ya. They can give me my cut in treats.