AIR BUDDIES SPEAK ON DVD

Disney takes the film Air Bud and lets the dogs speak in the DVD, Air Buddies.

Disney has taken the story of Air Bud, the golden retriever who’s got game and given him a voice in Air Buddies on DVD. Bud’s offspring, five little pups who each have their own unique sporting talent speak out when their brothers are dognapped. Trying to save them, they embark on an adventure that takes them into the forest where they meet the wolf voiced by Michael Clarke Duncan.

Michael talks about how his mouth became wolf-like.

“Well the visual effects artists have a very, very heavy job on their hands because they have to actually take my mouth movements and then they have to digitally put it on the wolf’s mouth.”

A lot of work went into making these puppies talk. As well trained as they are, puppies will be unreliable. A special process is used to record every angle of the dog’s faces which is then digitally copied.

“They also take exact measurements of every single hair and every whisker on the animals’ face. The plates are then handed over to the lip sync animators. We have complete control over every muscle and every basically muscle tissue in the snout; the nose, the face and the lips, the tongue.”

3D Lead Animator Ryan Cronin explains how the dogs speak.

Air Buddies also features the voices of Wallace Shawn, Tom Everett Scott, Molly Shannon and the late Don Knotts.