I just have a thing against some dog movies. I mean, I actually quite like Homeward Bound 1, and I remember it fondly. Something about internal monologue Garfield style works better IMO, not Mr. Ed like...
But Air Bud was NOT a talking Dog movie. Far from it. While I still find it kinda dumb, it actually had some sort of vauge heartfelt story to the nasty clown that owned the dog and the boy trying to give it a new home. It didn't need the "OOH! He can play basketball" angle. Of course, very quickly it turned into the "the dog that plays other sports" franchise, and somewhere they had some movie where he had talking puppies and that spun off the generic talking dog movie franchise it's become.
But Air Bud was NOT a talking Dog movie. Far from it. While I still find it kinda dumb, it actually had some sort of vauge heartfelt story to the nasty clown that owned the dog and the boy trying to give it a new home. It didn't need the "OOH! He can play basketball" angle. Of course, very quickly it turned into the "the dog that plays other sports" franchise, and somewhere they had some movie where he had talking puppies and that spun off the generic talking dog movie franchise it's become.