Spooky Buddies

Plot

In 1937, Sheriff Jim and others from the town of Fernfield set off to the manor of Warwick the warlock, who has kidnapped five puppies to sacrifice them to the Halloween Hound. One of the puppies, Pip, belongs to a young boy named Joseph. As the mob prepares to storm the manor, the hound turns Pip's siblings to stone, but Pip escapes. Warwick chases him and grabs him as the mob enters. When the hound tries to kill Pip, he fails as the sun starts to hurt his eyes. Warwick escapes just as dawn approaches. Pip then turns to stone and becomes a ghost. Joseph takes Pip's stone body, while his father takes Warwick's spellbook. The Sheriff takes Warwick's staff and announces to the townspeople that he will board up Warwick's house to prevent anything else from happening.

75 years later, the Buddies are on a school trip to Warwick's manor with their owners, Alice, Billy, Pete, Sam and Bartleby. When the class go to the graveyard to see Deputy Tracker's memorial stone, Billy finds himself scared of the gravedigger Mr. Johnson. He hears the legend which says that if someone says "Halloween Hound" three times in front of Warwick's mirror, it will summon Halloween Hound. B-Dawg, who is a "scaredy cat", tries to prove he's not scared by entering the condemned manor and saying "Halloween Hound" three times in front of the mirror. The ghostly Pip tries to warn the Buddies, but B-Dawg becomes terrified of him and accidentally completes the reciting.

Two punks, Rodney and Skip, who had scared the class earlier on during the trip, witness the return of Warwick and the Halloween Hound, who step out of the mirror. Warwick, thinking that Rodney and Skip released them, turns them into rats after accusing them of stealing his staff. Warwick learns from his owl assistant, Hoot, that his staff is in the hands of Billy. Warwick immediately sets off to search for his staff and spell book. As he is searching the streets, he believes that the town is already taken over as everyone is dressed up for Halloween. He sends the Halloween Hound to find the Buddies, who ask for help from a sorceress dog named Zelda. It is here that Pip explains he is not trying to hurt them, but to warn them that the Halloween Hound is coming. After using a spell to return Pip to his body, the Hound finds them and turns Sniffer and Zelda to stone. The kids are then spotted by Warwick and hide in the Halloween party, where the warlock regains his staff. They are rescued by Mr. Johnson, Pip's owner.

Warwick takes the pups hostage in his manor and tells their owners that if the book is not returned, he will kill them. The Buddies have a daring escape from the Warlock. After escaping, they run from the Hound, who has turned Pip back to stone and opened the portal, releasing the evil spirits from the mirror. The spirits then take control over all the residents of Fernfield. Meanwhile, Hoot decides to stop by helping the Buddies and leave but is also turned to stone by the Hound. Following the groups' arrival to his manor, Warwick steals his book back and shoots his staff at Mr. Johnson.

As the Halloween Hound is about to suck out Budderball's soul, Budderball repels the magic with his farts, sucking out the Hound's soul. The kids and Mr. Johnson find Warwick paralyzed after opening his spellbook, which is revealed to have been switched with the Bible. Billy takes Warwick's staff and returns Warwick and the evil spirits to the mirror while changing the petrified and brainwashed victims back to normal. Mr. Johnson destroys the staff and the mirror to prevent Warwick from coming back.

Mr. Johnson is reunited with Pip as well while the kids are reunited with the Buddies. The kids bid goodbye to Johnson, who has located the owners of Pip's brothers and sisters and travels around America to return them. The Buddies bid farewell to Pip, who thanks them for helping him defeat Warwick.

Cast

Harland Williams as Warwick the Warlock

Rance Howard as Mr. Joseph Johnson, Pip's owner

Max Charles as young Joseph

Pat Finn as Mr. Carroll / Frankendude

Jennifer Elise Cox as Mrs. Carroll

Skyler Gisondo as Billy, B-Dawg's owner

Sierra McCormick as Alice Finch, Rosebud's owner

Sage Ryan as Pete Howard, Mudbud's owner

Elisa Donovan as Janice, Billy's mother

Tucker Albrizzi as Bartleby Livingstone, Budderball's owner

Jake Johnson as Sam, Buddha's owner

Michael Teigen as Deputy Dan

Hardy Gatlin as Skip

Dylan Sprayberry as Rodney

Voice cast

Skyler Gisondo as B-Dawg

G. Hannelius as Rosebud

Ty Panitz as Mudbud

Nico Ghisi as Budderball

Charles Henry Wyson as Buddha

Diedrich Bader as Halloween Hound, an English Mastiff

Ryan Stiles as Hoot, a Eurasian eagle owl

Tim Conway as Deputy Sniffer

Debra Jo Rupp as Zelda, a Chinese Crested Dog

Frankie Jonas as Pip, a Beagle puppy

Release

Home media

Spooky Buddies was released on DVD, Blu-ray, and as a film download on September 20, 2011. The physical release was produced in two different packages: a 2-disc Blu-ray/DVD combo pack and a 1-disc DVD. The film download was produced in both standard and high definition. All versions of the release include an interview by Leo Howard of Disney Channel's Leo Little's Big Show with the character "Rosebud" and a music video for the song "Monster Mash".