BEETHOVEN'S 2nd

US, 1993, 89 minutes, Colour.
Charles Grodin, Bonnie Hunt, Nichole Tom, Christopher Castle, Sarah Rose Karr, Debi Mazar, Chris Penn, Ashley Hamilton, Danny Masterson, Maury Chaykin, Jeff Corey, Kevin Dunn, William Schallert.
Directed by Roy Daniel.

Beethoven was a very popular family film, and not only a family film, a family film with a dog, a very large St Bernard dog, Beethoven.

Charles Grodin and Bonnie Hunt as well as the three child actors reprise their roles here as the new family. There are some domestic scenes, the older girl having a touch of romance but being disillusioned, the younger children proving themselves by looking after Beethoven and Missy’s pups. There is a subplot about the owner of a stand in the park who is being divorced by his hyper- haughty wife, Debi Maza doing an enjoyable extreme villain, the touch of Cruella de Ville. She relies on her current boyfriend, a huge slob played by Chris Penn.

While there are the usual family difficulties, and the children keeping the dogs a secret from their parents, they eventually go on a fourth of July holiday to a house in the countryside, go to the fair where Beethoven wins the dog competition, Beethoven and Missy are reunited and there is a climax on the mountainside with the dogs being retrieved and Debi Maza and her boyfriend falling over the cliff into a mud pool and then swept down the rapids. Happy ending for all!

1. The popularity of the first film? Response to St Bernard dogs? To family stories and dogs?

2. Home, family, school, holiday home, town, water? The musical score?

3. The family situation, mother and father, inventions and business, the invention to eradicate bad smells, the company listening, the issue of banks and loans? The three children, the bonds between them? The characters of each, their age? Ryce and her eye on the boys and their attention to her – with a touch of disillusionment? Ted, his awkwardness, not being picked for teams, his attraction to the girl on holidays? Emily, very young – and the touch of the cute?

4. The focus on Beethoven, size, cuddly yet imposing? Role in the family? The encounter with the dog with her bow? The interactions? His being absent, the birth of the pups? Ted and his curiosity about Beethoven, following him, discovering the pups? Getting them and taking them home? The response of the other children? Keeping the pups in the basement, their routine in getting back from school, feeding and caring for the dogs? The puzzle about the teachers and the children’s flu injections?

5. The plot about Regina and her ex-husband, the divorce, the conditions, his presence in the park, his love for Missy, Regina using this as leverage for getting a higher alimony? Her caricature manner – for audiences to hiss the villain! A reliance on Floyd, his being a slob, her pushing him around? The discovery of the pups, her wanting the pups? Her going to the holiday house?

6. The children telling their mother, the secret of the dogs, the meal, the father hearing them, the discovery? His reaction?

7. Going on holiday, the holiday house, the condition of no dogs? The enjoyment of the holiday, Ryce and her crush on the boy, his double dealing, going to visit, the young boy on his bike, friendship? The fair, the dog show, Beethoven winning!

8. The buildup to the confrontation, the pups, Missy and Beethoven, Floyd and Regina, and the children saving the dogs, Floyd and Regina going over the cliff, in the mud, down the rapids?

9. The pups growing up, Beethoven and Missy, the family and the owner, and happy prospects?