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The
Search for Santa
Paws
wasn’t my favorite
holiday movie ever
made. There are
about a million
things that I’d
watch before it and
about a hundred
things I’d watch
twice before it.
But… for as brutal
of an experience as
it was for me- and
how many times I
cringed when someone
busted out into
song- the smiles
that were on my
kids’ faces at the
end of the movie
made it worth
watching.
The
Search for Santa
Paws
is the prequel of
the last Buddies
movie that Disney
made-
Santa
Buddies.
There’s only one
catch- the only time
the Buddies appear
in this movie are in
the bonus features.
Anyway,
The
Search for Santa
Paws
tells a story that’s
all over the place
but the gist of it
is Santa Claus goes
to New York to
restore Christmas
spirit with a loyal
new puppy companion
Paws. Santa gets hit
by a car and gets
amnesia so he
doesn’t know who he
is or what he’s
supposed to do- he
and Paws get
separated- Santa
gets a job as a toy
store Santa and he
and Paws spread
magic separately at
an orphanage and
with a childless
couple running the
toy store.
Eventually Santa
gets into mortal
peril when his magic
crystal isn’t with
him anymore and it’s
up to Paws, two
adorable orphan
girls- Quinn and
Will- the couple
that own the toy
store, and a few
friends to save
Santa and save
Christmas. The story
isn’t awful but its
spread too thin and
all over the place
too much to enjoy.
Besides, the story
of the movie doesn’t
really fall on the
negative side with
The
Search for Santa
Paws,
some odd decisions
that you’d expect
out of a movie like
this hinder it.
In
Santa
Buddies,
the role of Santa
was played by George
Wendt, most known
for his work as Norm
Peterson in Cheers.
I’m not exactly sure
why he wasn’t
re-casted here but I
think it might have
something to do with
him being most known
for playing a
lovable alcoholic.
And Norm serving as
the real Santa in a
Toy Store or walking
around without a
memory might bring
eye rolling from
parents. Instead
Santa is played by
Richard Riehle here
and he’s a fine
actor- that’s not
the issue here- but
they’ve got him so
pasty white with
make-up that he
looks like he
belongs in the
Nightmare Before
Christmas
not
The
Search for Santa
Paws.
It takes literally
20 minutes to get
used to the make-up.
The other thing that
hinders this movie
is the music- when
they have some
Christmas music
involved- it’s not
bad. There’s an
original song in the
movie about half way
through that’s awful
but a couple of
songs chosen towards
the end of the movie
aren’t bad. What’s a
little odd for me is
when Santa, Will, or
Quinn busts out into
song- they didn’t
need to turn this
movie into a musical
and they did. At the
beginning of it it’s
comical- towards the
middle of the movie
when there’s some
singing- it’s
awkward.
The
bright spots of this
movie are the bright
spots you wouldn’t
expect. The
cinematography and
the directing work
done by Robert Vince
here is marvelous.
On Blu-ray this
movie looks amazing.
Even more when they
did add special
effects with
reindeer or anything
like that it never
looked awful- it
always looked great.
So the acting wasn’t
bad, and neither was
the story, even the
movie looked great-
just some weird
production choices
brought
The
Search for Santa
Paws
down for the normal
viewer.
This
movie looks great on
Blu-ray but the
extras aren’t good
enough to make it
frequent a player
for that reason.
There’s a sing along
option, there is
story
told by the Buddies
about three dogs
from the movie, and
that’s about it. Not
bad, but not great.
There are several
Christmas movies
that I enjoy
watching, this just
wasn’t one of them.
As noted before,
those production
choices might have
brought
The Search for Santa
Paws
down for adults- but
the movie wasn’t
meant for them and
the ending of this
movie feels how a
feel-good Christmas
movie should. It
brings a smile to
the face of the
kids- which is what
it was meant to do.
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