Before 'Air Bud Returns,' Disney+ Has the Air Bud Puppies’ Halloween Mansion Movie
Spooky Buddies is streaming on Disney+, with Freeform’s last October airing set for Sunday, Oct. 25 at 7 a.m. Eastern and Pacific.
The next Air Bud movie already has a release date, but Disney viewers can revisit one of the franchise’s Halloween side trips right now. Spooky Buddies, the 2011 Buddies film set around a haunted mansion, is available on Disney+ and still has one remaining TV showing this October.
For anyone looking to watch it now, Spooky Buddies is on Disney+. Viewers who prefer cable still have one scheduled chance on Freeform during its “31 Nights of Halloween” lineup: Sunday, Oct. 25, at 7 a.m. Eastern and Pacific.
The film runs 1 hour and 33 minutes. Its story sends the talking Buddies puppies to a mysterious mansion across town on Halloween, where they face the Howlloween Hound and try to stop an evil warlock. Along the way, they meet Pip, Zelda, Rodney and Skip.
Harland Williams is listed as the villain. The live-action cast also includes Rance Howard, Pat Finn, Jennifer Elise Cox, Sierra McCormick, Sage Ryan and Elisa Donovan, with Tim Conway also appearing in the cast. Robert Vince directed the movie.
Where it fits in the Disney-era dog lineup
Spooky Buddies was released on DVD on Sept. 20, 2011, and it is the fifth of seven direct-to-video Buddies movies. D23 lists the full run as Air Buddies, Snow Buddies, Space Buddies, Santa Buddies, Spooky Buddies, Treasure Buddies and Super Buddies, all directed by Robert Vince.
Disney+ carries most of that lineup. Snow Buddies, Space Buddies, Santa Buddies, Spooky Buddies, Treasure Buddies and Super Buddies are all available there. Air Buddies is the exception and is not on Disney+.
The puppies at the center of the series are B-Dawg, Budderball, Mudbud, Buddha and Rosebud. The broader franchise began with 1997’s Air Bud, about a golden retriever named Buddy who could play basketball. According to D23, the animals first talked in Air Buddies.
There is also another Air Bud film on the way, though it is not a Disney release. Air Bud Returns is set for theaters on Jan. 22, 2027, from Cineverse and Air Bud Entertainment. ABC News previously reported that Vince wrote and directed that movie as well.
