Space Buddies

As much as I adore Babe, it’s times like these when I wished he were turned into bacon. Don’t get me wrong, the tale of the chatty sheep pig and his barnyard pal is a bonafide family classic. However, the dark side of the film is a trend in cinematic technology that enabled and inspired everyone to use the same effects to make more animals talk. Today it’s on television shows, AFLAC commercials and movies galore. Because what’s cuter than animals talking? Space Buddies is a testament to the fact that it’s certainly not puppies floating amongst the stars. They may look cute but as soon as they open their computer-manipulated mouths the cuteness fades and their annoying, cliché-driven personalities emerge. Riddled with stereotypes and cultural shorthand, Space Buddies may appeal to the little ones but this parent was not remotely amused.

The Buddies are five golden retriever puppies, each with a distinct personality that matches their “bud” name fare too neatly. B-Dawg is your bling-wearing, hip hop-loving pooch, Mudbud is the puppy equivalent to Peanuts’ dirt magnet Pigpen, Budderball loves everything sports, Rosebud is the lone girl of the litter and loves pink and Buddha is the unofficial leader of the pack. The offspring of Bud of Air Bud fame, they represent an unlikely franchise that thrives off of direct-to-DVD market where brand recognition often trumps quality.

The Buddies tag along on a school field trip to a space center that plans to cater to celestial travel. Somehow they manage to test out not only the spacesuit dispensing machine undetected, they also find their way on board the ship, seat themselves in the cockpit and take the launch without being seen. Even with a nefarious saboteur (Kevin Weisman) amongst the space travel company’s ranks, one would think there are even greater security issues.

Space Buddies takes many shortcuts in telling its story and characterization. The Buddies themselves aside, more evidence of this comes in the form of Yuri (Diedrich Bader), a Russian cosmonaut living alone on a space station. Seeing as how this is a kid’s movie, the vodka wasn’t flowing but it might as well have been. Within a couple minutes of Yuri’s introduction, there he is with his arms folded, legs crouched and kicking. Of course, he’s Russian so he’s going to dance. How profound.

Another glaring issue is the horrible effects used to make the film look ‘convincing.’ The talking dogs are all fine and good, but when it comes to putting them into orbit, the results are horrendous. As the Buddies make their inevitable moon walk, the film slows down and speeds up in an attempt to make the puppies look as though their bounding across the space-scape rather than being lifted up by cords or even darkly dressed handlers. The result is a jerky scene with little flow and puppies bounding up and down in a bizarre fashion. The sets are similarly unconvincing, appearing as though they’re quickly decorated and not very detailed. Many look more like Ed Wood movie sets rather than convincing representations.

With an ad with the disc promoting an upcoming holiday Buddies film, the trend of talking animals is far from over. Hey Cruella De Vil, how about a new puppy wardrobe? Dang you, Babe for being so cute, cuddly and successful. If you’d flopped maybe we’d still have to rely on peanut butter to get animals to talk on camera and it wouldn’t be so easy to get films like this made.

Space Buddies Blu-ray Review

The Buddies’ movie might not be very good but the Blu-ray release of Space Buddies sure does look cute. The film is shown in 1080p high definition widescreen (1.78:1 aspect ratio) with English 5.1 DTS-HD audio. There’s also English subtitles.

Bonus features include a three-minute blooper reel of puppy goodness. “Disneypedia: The Buddies’ Guide to Space Travel” mixes making-of facts with facts about real space travel. “Buddy Facts” offers up pop-up trivia throughout the film. “Buddy Finder” is an interactive Where’s Waldo way of watching the movie. In the game, you’re to highlight various items as they appear. Alyson Stoner performs in the music video “Dancing in the Moonlight.” Space Buddies is also BD-Live enabled, giving viewers the chance to interact with one another.