Who knew a singular dog could play so many sports? You may be asking yourself: Can he actually? Who cares! They're kids' movies people. You probably watched at least one Air Bud movie as a kid or with your own kids. The movies have many moments that have entered into the cultural lexicon, but let's be honest: the plot of the movies themselves is jaw-droppingly insane.

Maybe you can somehow get behind a dog playing basketball, but now he can play four other sports too? Bananas! He has six puppies that can also play sports like he can? Bonkers! There is also the spinoff Air Buddies series, culminating in the 14th Air Bud movie (that's right, 14), Super Buddies, where Buddy's puppies literally have superpowers.

Today, however, we are going to focus on the first five films and on Air Bud himself. Let's consider the facts: the first Air Bud movie came to fruition because Buddy the dog was featured on America's Funniest Home Videos, actually playing basketball. That's pretty cool, so it's easy to understand why these movies came from that pop culture moment. However, the Air Bud franchise kind of got off the rails after the first film; let's examine just how far off the rails.

A Dog Can Play Basketball?

Air Bud with basketball
Buena Vista Pictures Distribution

Fun fact (actually really sad fact): this is the only film in the franchise that features the actual Buddy himself. The rest of the films use a multitude of golden retrievers to play the iconic athletic dog. As mentioned above, this film was made because of the actual Air Buddy's "viral" video that was very well received. This original Air Bud is the most well-known and most beloved of all the films, and rightfully so.

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The plot is heartwarming yet ridiculously random. In the movie, it is a fact that there is no legal rule against dogs playing basketball. Whoever wrote the rules probably thought there would never be a dog that could play basketball, but that loser never saw Air Buddy play. If you're going to watch any of the movies on this list, going back and rewatching the original Air Bud is, for some reason, actually kind of fun.

A Dog Can Play Football?

Air Bud Golden Receiver with football
Dimension Films
Alliance

This is the second installment in the franchise and the last of the franchise to be released in theaters; the rest were direct-to-video movies (and surprisingly make up the second most profitable direct-to-video franchise). In Air Bud: Golden Receiver, Buddy was played by an assortment of golden retrievers instead of Air Buddy himself due to the (traumatizing) aforementioned death of Air Buddy due to cancer.

Anyway, despite Josh being a great basketball player in the first film, he is easily convinced to play football in this installment even though the team sucks. That is, until Buddy joins the team, and then they rock and make the playoffs very easily (shocking). Then some absolutely insane kidnapping thing happens but in the end, Buddy makes it to the championship game, and they win. Then Buddy somehow sneaks onto the field at a Seattle Seahawks game? Super confused about how that happens, but it's ridiculous and adorable so who cares.

A Dog Can Play Soccer?

Air Bud World Pup with soccer
Buena Vista Home Entertainment

Okay, this is probably the most believable sport that a dog can play out of all the films, since it's the only sport Buddy plays which doesn't require hands. (Personally, we used to call my dog Air Bud when I was a kid because he used to play soccer with my sister and me in the backyard. Since I had my own soccer-playing dog, this third installment feels the most realistic to me.)

Related: Air Bud Director Admits He's Not a Huge Dog Lover

This is the last of the original Air Bud series in which Buddy plays with his owner Josh, who goes to college in the fourth film. In Air Bud: World Pup, Buddy has his six puppies with another golden retriever, Molly. As previously mentioned, we will not be going into the Air Buddies spinoff today, so these puppies are kind of irrelevant (sorry, puppies). As he does in every Air Bud film, Buddy plays on the school's soccer team and is the star player, inevitably causing issues. However, in World Pup, Buddy also plays with the U.S. Women's National Team and helps the female athletes win the literal Women's World Cup, despite Buddy not being a woman (and being, you know, a dog).

A Dog Can Play Baseball?

Air Bud Seventh Inning Fetch with baseball
Buena Vista Home Entertainment

As previously mentioned, Josh goes to college in this installment, so who does Buddy play with now? Andrea, Josh's younger sister who has been generally irrelevant in the previous movies. Andrea decides to try out for the baseball team (because this middle school apparently doesn't have softball) and surprise-surprise, Buddy is amazing at baseball, too.

The pair play together on the school's team until Buddy finds that his puppies are being kidnapped to be tested for "sports ability" or some special gene they may have. Buddy now has to rescue his pups and then go play in the major leagues. It is quite a wonder how professional sports teams seem to always have space for a dog, and that the dog plays better than all the actual athletes.

A Dog Can Play Volleyball?

Air Bud Spikes Back with volleyball
Buena Vista Home Entertainment

To be frank, this is probably the blandest of all the movies in the Air Bud franchise, which is a bummer. As normal, a kid (Andrea) picks up a new sport (volleyball) and Buddy is also really good at that sport. This all happens in Air Bud: Spikes Back, but it does also include a talking parrot who Buddy works with to stop kidnappers, so there's that. It's never explained why there are so many kidnapping schemes in these children's movies, but that may have to contributed to why every kid is scared of getting kidnapped for no reason.

This is also the first installment in which Josh, Buddy's original owner, is not featured in the movie at all, marking the end of a very dumb era (and the beginning of a dumber one with Air Buddies); surprisingly, the actor who played Josh (Kevin Zegers) has had a great career post-Bud. In the end, it's weird that a dog can play volleyball, but good for him. It's weird that a dog can play all these sports, but it's not as weird as what happens in the Air Buddies spinoffs, where the dogs do a lot more than sports.