I wasn’t very complimentary about The Search for Santa Paws, the 2010 straight-to-disc Christmassy family film about Santa’s puppy that gets lost in the big wide world. It was cheap, silly rubbish, and contained some of the most dire musical numbers that I had ever seen.
Santa Paws 2: The Santa Pups is, at first glance, more of the same. However, I’m starting to wonder if the filmmakers are having some kind of postmodernist joke. Maybe the whole thing is intentionally rubbish, and they’re having a jolly good laugh at the sneering critics.
This second instalment manages to slip into the genre of ‘so-bad-it’s-good’ – perhaps not to Mamma Mia! standards; it’s not well-made enough for that. But the dreadful songs, the appalling acting and the adorable Labrador retriever puppies make the whole thing a rather surreal joy.
Santa Paws 2 (2012), directed by Robert Vince, is released on DVD in the UK by Walt Disney Studios, Certificate U.
