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A golden retriever who could sink jump shots, a lonely kid in a new town, and a state final decided by a check of the rulebook: nothing in it says a dog can't play. Air Bud was a $3 million Disney release that made $29 million and launched a direct-to-video dynasty that long outlived its star.
Half wolf, half dog, all underdog: Amblin's 1995 cartoon about the sled dog who carried the diphtheria serum into Nome. It opened a month after Toy Story and sank, then lived forever on VHS. The real Balto's statue still stands in Central Park, and the real story is messier than the movie.
The 1992 comedy about a St. Bernard puppy who sneaks into a suburban family's house, grows into a huge, slobbering dog, and slowly wins over the dad who never wanted him. John Hughes wrote it under a pseudonym, critics shrugged, and audiences gave it an A.
Tiny, realistic puppy figurines the size of your thumb, each one a different breed with its own name and personality. Kids collected them, traded them, and spent every cent of allowance chasing the ones they didn't have. More than 140 breeds. The checklist never ended.
A Jack Russell terrier named Wishbone daydreams his way into classic literature, acting out the great stories in costume from a small Texas town. PBS's live-action oddity aired from 1995 to 1997, won a Peabody and multiple Emmys — and stopped anyway, reportedly because a literature-loving dog lacked merchandising potential.