Pretty Good

Nice effects though.

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

At the North Pole, a stuffed white dog turns into a real animal Santa Claus names Paws, who becomes the old man's best friend.In New York City, Mr. Stewart brings James and Kate Huckle to the Hucklebuckle toy store James' grandfather left to him. Despite James having a lucrative CPA practice in Los Angeles, the couple cannot sell the business until they run it profitably during the weeks leading to Christmas.Nearby, a social worker brings Quinn to her new foster family. Ms. Stout hates Christmas, or anything that will make her girls happy, and she has high expectations of the girls, who are home-schooled and must do chores. Punishment means being locked in the basement where an incinerator destroys any contraband.Quinn won't talk at first but when she does, she is incredibly cute. And she can sing. Willamina is the oldest and takes charge when Ms. Stout is gone to her hairdresser or elsewhere. She is nice but unlike the other girls has lost her belief in magic.Santa's sleigh crashes in Central Park and the old man wanders the city not knowing who he is. Paws also ends up wandering the city. A thief steals Santa's magic crystal and Santa gradually begins transforming into a mortal. The thief takes over a kettle with a bell from another Santa and raises funds--for himself.Santa discovers the toy store. James and Kate have decided to hire a Santa to attract kids and this man, known as Bud, needs a job. Somehow he is perfect and lots of kids come to the store, which becomes a big success.Included among those kids are the bubbly Quinn and her cynical "big sister", both of whom get punished for their misdeeds. For one thing, they took in Paws and kept him hidden, though as a nonbeliever Willamina only sees a stuffed dog. And Paws, like Santa, has a magic crystal that produces wonderful and colorful results, and a delightful musical number. Will the girls turn Ms. Stout into a believer? Will Willamina believe?Mrs. Santa wonders why her husband is taking so long to come back. She and Elpert go to New York City to find out what happened. They find out from a young boy where Santa might be. Also very helpful is that thief who stole Santa's magic crystal and is turning into the old man--and is not as happy as you might expect. Meanwhile, Santa is developing serious health problems. And Paws becomes a stuffed animal again. Can they be rescued in time?This is a good family film. Kaitlyn Maher is a treasure as the absolutely adorable little star. Richard Riehle is familiar to me and makes a great Santa. I know Wendi McLendon-Covey as a smothering and very loving Jewish mom, and she effectively plays a very different character here (though not so different from when the TV mom feels her kids have been wronged). Madison Pettis is good as the older girl.Bonnie Somerville shows much more enthusiasm than the cynical John Ducey. Patrika Darbo makes a wonderful Mrs. Santa. I seem to be seeing a lot of her.And the various actors providing voices do a good job too. Yes, this movie can be scary at times, but it's fine for kids. You just know everything will turn out okay.

I hate movie trailers. I saw Santa Buddies recently and it was so cute. I just saw it because i'm a big fan of the Buddies. Then I watched the trailer for The Search For Santa Paws. The trailer had no scene of sad and disturbing stuff. It showed scenes of the puppy, Santa, and the little girl. It made it look like a very fun and cute family movie. When I watched it, I found out the little girl(Quinn) was an orphan, the puppy(Paws) was born a stuffed animal, and Santa almost died. I also found out that there is a really mean lady that runs a girls home. She is mean because she wants to be mean and she makes the girls upset. She doesn't even care about the girls and only cares about her boyfriend. Quinn also had an older friend at the home. The only nice scene was the toy store and the very loving couple that run it. The trailer had no scene of the mean lady. If you want a family movie, get Santa Buddies. They should make a new real movie trailer.

I choose this DVD because there was a cute puppy on the cover, it looks fun and innocent, and Disney's promo said "heartwarming ... story of love and kindness." As a previous reviewer noted: Inside, old man dies, mean headmistress throws toys - and threatened to throw children - in the incinerator. Infertile couple with self-centered husband tries to profiteer off people's belief in Santa. Orphans crying for their parents. People saying Santa isn't real through the whole movie. Santa gets robbed, hit by a car, then he almost dies. The only way to save him is for the beloved fluffy puppy to give up his "life-crystal" and turn back into a stuffed animal.Of course it ends well, but my seven year old was in tears, and my nine year old (who will watch ANYTHING) said she hated it and just wanted to go to bed. For a movie aimed at children, this movie goes WAY TOO FAR to make the villains bad. Avoid! Avoid! Also - apart from being developmentally inappropriate for children under 11 or 12 - anyone concerned with the religious significance of Christmas should be forewarned that this film depicts possession of a crystal as essential to eternal life and repeatedly refers to "magic" as the key to understanding and experiencing Christmas.

I watched this movie with my daughters, ages 6 and 3, and personally enjoyed many aspects of it, but my children were pretty scared. As mentioned by another reviewer, the images of children being yelled at and having their special toys burned in the furnace were very disturbing, especially for my 6-year-old. The movie presents some important themes, such as the healing power of love and kindness. But, unfortunately, I'm not sure the target audience (young children) will be able to see past the scary parts to catch the messages.I also agree with the reviewer who said the Santa was a little scary-looking. His character is wonderful, but he has so much make-up on, he does look a bit strange.Overall, I would not recommend it for kids younger than 7--and I'm not sure if it would hold the interest of kids older than that, unless they really love puppies and Santa.