Beethoven (franchise)

Beethoven is a series of eight American films, created by John Hughes (credited as Edmond Dantès) and Amy Holden Jones, in which the plot revolves around a family attempting to control the antics of their pet Saint Bernard (named Beethoven). The first two films were theatrical releases and all subsequent releases have been direct to video. The original Beethoven was released in theaters in April 1992. Its opening grossed $7,587,565 and was the year's 26th largest grossing film in the U.S. at $57,114,049.^[1]

Beethoven
Created by	John Hughes Amy Holden Jones
Original work	Beethoven (1992)
Owner	Universal Pictures
Years	1992–2014
Films and television
Film(s)	List of films
Animated series	Beethoven (1994)
Games
Traditional	List of games
Video game(s)	List of games
Audio
Soundtrack(s)	List of soundtracks
Original music	List of soundtracks
Miscellaneous
Toy(s)	List of merchandise
Official website
Official website

Films

Beethoven (1992)

Main article: Beethoven (film)

In Beethoven, the Newton family finds and adopts a Saint Bernard. The family, with the exception of the father, George (Charles Grodin), becomes attached to the dog. Meanwhile, a sadistic veterinarian, Dr. Herman Varnick (Dean Jones) involved with animal experimentation is planning to kill Beethoven for his latest experiment, and George, after discovering his fondness for the dog, springs into action to rescue his pet. Beethoven was released on April 3, 1992.

Beethoven's 2nd (1993)

Main article: Beethoven's 2nd (film)

In Beethoven's 2nd, Beethoven sires a litter of puppies, and the Newton family tries to save them from the greedy owner Regina (Debi Mazar), who alternately wishes to kill or sell the puppies. Beethoven's 2nd was released on December 17, 1993.

Beethoven's 3rd (2000)

Main article: Beethoven's 3rd (film)

In Beethoven's 3rd, the dog is sent across the country in an RV to attend a family reunion. While George and his family are in Europe, Beethoven is riding with the relatives of the Newtons led by George's brother Richard (Judge Reinhold) as the family avoids criminals that are after a DVD copy of The Shakiest Gun in the West that has a computer code hidden in it. Beethoven's 3rd was released on July 25, 2000.

Beethoven's 4th (2001)

Main article: Beethoven's 4th (film)

In Beethoven's 4th, Beethoven accidentally switches with another St. Bernard named Michelangelo who comes from Sedgewick family, and is pampered and well-behaved. Beethoven tries to find a way to get home, while a butler who works for Sedgewick family wants to kidnap Michelangelo for ransom. Beethoven's 4th was released on December 4, 2001.

Beethoven's 5th (2003)

Main article: Beethoven's 5th (film)

Sara takes Beethoven to visit her oddball uncle in the old mining town Quicksilver, where they discover the hidden treasure while also facing two bank robbers who want it too. The last installment of the original storyline, Beethoven's 5th was released on December 2, 2003.

Beethoven's Big Break (2008)

Main article: Beethoven's Big Break

The first installment of a new storyline. In the film, Beethoven becomes a movie star. Beethoven's Big Break was released on December 30, 2008.

Beethoven's Christmas Adventure (2011)

In Beethoven's Christmas Adventure, Beethoven teams up with the elf from the North Pole named Henry (Kyle Massey) and a young boy Mason Cooper (Munro Chambers) to find a missing Santa's toy bag that fell in the small town Wood Haven, Minnesota, while also facing two men from a toy store, Sylvester Smirch (Robert Picardo) and his assistant Kenny (Curtis Armstrong), who grab Santa's bag and use it for financial gains.

Unlike other films in the franchise, Beethoven has a speaking voice, which was provided by Tom Arnold. The film features narration by John Cleese^[2] and was released on November 8, 2011.

Beethoven's Treasure Tail (2014)

After getting fired from a film, Beethoven begins the long journey home with his trainer, Eddie. They become stranded in a small coastal town, where the beloved canine befriends a young boy who is searching for buried treasure.^[2] Beethoven's Treasure Tail was released on October 28, 2014.

Television

Beethoven (1994)

Main article: Beethoven (TV series)

Cast and crew

Principal cast

Characters	Original series					Reboot series			Animated series
	Beethoven	Beethoven's 2nd	Beethoven's 3rd	Beethoven's 4th	Beethoven's 5th	Beethoven's Big Break	Beethoven's Christmas Adventure	Beethoven's Treasure Tail	Beethoven
	1992	1993	2000	2001	2003	2008	2011	2014	1994
Beethoven	Chris		Cujo		J.S. Barque	Cujo	Tom Arnold (voice)	Cujo	Joel Murray (voice)
							Dee Bradley Baker (voice)
George Newton	Charles Grodin					Grant Elliott			Dean Jones
Alice Newton	Bonnie Hunt								Kath Soucie
Ryce Newton	Nicholle Tom								Nicholle Tom
Ted Newton	Christopher Castile								J.D. Daniels
Emily Newton	Sarah Rose Karr								Francesca Marie Smith
Sara Newton			Michaela Gallo		Daveigh Chase
Richard Newton			Judge Reinhold
Beth Newton			Julia Sweeney
Brennan Newton			Joe Pichler
Eddie Thornton "Lizard Guy"						Jonathan Silverman		Jonathan Silverman
Dr. Herman Varnick	Dean Jones
Harvey	Oliver Platt
Vernon	Stanley Tucci
Brad Wilson	David Duchovny
Brie Wilson	Patricia Heaton
Devonia Peet	Laurel Cronin
Miss Grundel	Nancy Fish
Student #1	Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Ammo Gun Salesman	Richard Portnow
Regina		Debi Mazar
Floyd		Chris Penn
Taylor Devereaux		Ashley Hamilton
Seth		Danny Masterson
Janie		Catherine Reitman
Cliff Klamath		Maury Chaykin
Michelle		Heather McComb
Banker		Scott Waara
Gus		Jeff Corey
Linda Anderson		Virginia Capers
Jordan Bond		Himself
Arthur Lewis		Pat Jankiewicz
Brillo		Kevin Dunn
Tommy			Mike Ciccolini
"Bill" William			Jamie Marsh
Penny			Danielle Weiner
Morrie Newton			Frank Gorshin
Kennel Employee			Holly Mitchell
Madison Sedgewick				Kaleigh Krish
Reginald Sedgewick				Matt McCoy
Martha Sedgewick				Veanne Cox
Bill				Jeff Coopwood
Marlowe				Dorien Wilson
Jonathan "Johnnie" Simmons				Mark Lindsay Chapman
Nigel Bigalow				Nick Meaney
Hayley				Natalie Elizabeth Marston
Sergeant Rutledge				Art LaFleur
Mrs. Florence Rutledge				June Lu
Freddy Kablinski					Dave Thomas
Sheriff Julie Dempsey					Faith Ford
John Giles (né Selig)					Tom Poston
Cora Wilkens					Katherine Helmond
Garret					Sammy Kahn
Vaughn Carter					Richard Riehle
Owen Tuttle					Clint Howard
Evie Kling					Kathy Griffin
Mayor Harold Herman					John Larroquette
Moe Selig					Rodman Flender
Rita Selig					Tina Illman
Jim					Tom Musgrave
Phil Dobsonn					Joel Hurt Jones
Mrs. Dobsonn					Elizabeth Warner
Lisa Waters						Jennifer Finnigan
Billy Thornton						Moises Arias
Stanley Mitchell						Eddie Griffin
Patricia Benji						Rhea Perlman
Sal DeMarco Ned Ryerson						Stephen Tobolowsky
Tick						Oscar Nunez
Bones						Joey Fatone
Katie						Stefanie Scott
Cesar Millan						Himself
Studio Executive						John Augello
Lewis						Zach Kosnitzky
Craft Service Person						Ali Eagle
Marco						Adam Vernier
Mason							Munro Chambers
Christine							Kim Rhodes
Smirch							Robert Picardo
Kenny							Curtis Armstrong
Henry							Kyle Massey
Mr. Rexford							John O'Hurley
Catty Elf							Ryan Miller
Catty Elf's Friend							Shannon Jacques
Mom							Tamra Ugto
Dad							Alan Castanaga
Little Kid							Solmund MacPherson
Field Producer							Kristen Sawatzky
Keilbasa Vendor							Rick Skene
Stray Dog (voice)							John Kassir (voice)
Anne Parker								Kristy Swanson
Sam Parker								Bretton Manley
Howard Belch The Fake Fritz Bruchschnauser								Jeffrey Combs
Simon								Alec Mapa
Grace O'Malley								Jayne Eastwood
Phil								David DeLuise
Trentino								Brian George
The Real Fritz Bruchschnauser								Udo Kier
Dr. Kelp								Colin Mochrie
Duncan								Richard Dumont
Charlene								Morgan Fairchild
Justin								Patrick Kwok-Choon
Film Crew Member								Ian Tench
Assistant Director								Nikki Barnett
Norman the Magician								Brian Downey
Captain Patrick O'Malley								Tom Scott
Burly Crew Man								Jacob Sampson
Sandra								Onika Drabble
Callie								Katherine Shore
Caesar the Great Dane									Bill Fagerbakke
Mr. Huggs									Brian George
Ginger the Collie									Tress MacNeille
Sparky the Jack Russel Terrier									Joe Pantoliano
Killer the Poodle									Hank Azaria
Mailman									Gregg Berger
Blind Shep									Dan Castellaneta David Doyle
Rosebud									Christine Cavanaugh
Peanut									E.G. Daily
Singing Donut									Jess Harnell
Timmy									Dana Hill
Watson									Tony Jay
Roger									Justin Shenkarow

• Note: A dark gray cell indicates the character does not appear in the film.

Additional crew

Film	Director(s)	Producer(s)	Screenwriter(s)	Composer(s)	Cinematographer	Editor(s)
Beethoven	Brian Levant	Joe Medjuck Michael C. Gross	Edmond Dantés Amy Holden Jones	Randy Edelman	Victor J. Kemper	William D. Gordean Sheldon Kahn
Beethoven's 2nd	Rod Daniel		Len Blum		Bill Butler
Beethoven's 3rd	David Mickey Evans	David Bixler Kelli Konop	Jeff Schechter	Philip Giffin	John Aronson	Harry Keramidas
Beethoven's 4th		Kelli Konop	John Loy			C. Timothy O'Meara
Beethoven's 5th	Mark Griffiths	Mike Elliott	Cliff Ruby & Elana Lesser	Adam Berry	Christopher Baffa	John Gilbert
Beethoven's Big Break	Mike Elliott		Mike Elliott	Robert Folk Paul DiFranco	Stephen F. Campbell	Roderick Davis
Beethoven's Christmas Adventure	John Putch	Jeff Freilich	Daniel Altiere & Steven Altiere	Chris Bacon	Ross Berryman	John Gilbert
Beethoven's Treasure Tail	Ron Oliver	Albert T. Dickerson III	Ron Oliver	Chris Hajian	C. Kim Miles	Heath Ryan

Reception

Critical and public response

Film	Rotten Tomatoes	CinemaScore[3]
Beethoven	31% (26 reviews)[4]	A
Beethoven's 2nd	25% (12 reviews)[5]	A
Beethoven's 3rd	0% (7 reviews)[6]
Beethoven's 4th	0% (8 reviews)[7]
Beethoven's 5th	—[8]
Beethoven's Big Break	—[9]
Beethoven's Christmas Adventure	—[10]
Beethoven's Treasure Tail	—[11]

Home media

All films are available on DVD, both individually and as part of packs and collections of two or more films.

Other media

Video games

In 1993, a side-scrolling video game was released called Beethoven: The Ultimate Canine Caper based on Beethoven's 2nd for Super NES, Game Boy and DOS. Versions of the game for the Sega Genesis and Game Gear were developed,^[12] but they were cancelled before release.

See also

• Air Bud (series)

References

1. "1992 Yearly Box Office Results". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 8 September 2011.
2. Vishnevetsky, Ignatiy (October 6, 2014). "Inventory: A sequel to a prequel to a spin-off of Air Bud: 10 unlikely, convoluted direct-to-video franchises". AV Club Film.
3. "CinemaScore". CinemaScore. Archived from the original on April 13, 2022. Retrieved April 15, 2022.
4. "Beethoven (1992)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved April 9, 2018.
5. "Beethoven's 2nd (1994)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved April 13, 2018.
6. "Beethoven's 3rd". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved October 8, 2018.
7. "Beethoven's 4th". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved October 8, 2018.
8. "Beethoven's 5th". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved October 8, 2018.
9. "Beethoven's Big Break". Rotten Tomatoes.
10. "Beethoven's Christmas Adventure". Rotten Tomatoes.
11. "Beethoven's Treasure Tail". Rotten Tomatoes.
12. "ProReview: Beethoven". GamePro. No. 64. IDG. November 1994. p. 104.