Beethoven's 2nd (film)

''Beethoven's 2nd'' is a 1993 American family comedy film. Directed by Rod Daniel and written by Len Blum, it is the sequel to the 1992 film ''Beethoven'', second installment in the ''Beethoven'' film series and the last to be released theatrically. Charles Grodin, Bonnie Hunt, Nicholle Tom, Christopher Castile, and Sarah Rose Karr reprised their roles with Debi Mazar and Chris Penn joining the cast. Initially, no sequel was planned, but it was produced after the unexpected financial success of the previous film.

Plot

In the Newton family home, George, Alice, Ryce, Ted, Emily, and Beethoven are all well-adjusted to living together. One day, Beethoven sneaks out and meets a female St. Bernard, Missy, and her owner, Brillo. However, Brillo's estranged wife, Regina, arrives with her new boyfriend Floyd, takes Missy away, and threatens to keep her unless Brillo agrees to a divorce with a $50,000 alimony settlement.

Beethoven helps Missy to escape from Regina and Floyd's condominium, and the two dogs fall in love. Meanwhile, Ryce develops strong romantic feelings for her classmate, Taylor Devereaux, after he kisses her. A few months later, Ted and Emily become aware of Beethoven constantly sneaking out of the house and follow him. They discover he is bringing food to Missy, who has had four puppies in the basement of Regina and Floyd's condominium building. Gus, the local janitor, also finds the dogs and informs Regina and Floyd. Regina then reclaims Missy and plans to drown the puppies, until Gus talks her out of it, as purebred puppies are worth a lot of money. Regina decides to follow Gus's advice and sell the pups to a pet store.

Having overheard Regina's first plan to drown the puppies, Ted and Emily sneak the puppies out of the Regina and Floyd's condo building and into their own basement. Ryce helps her siblings to care for the pups and keep the secret from George, but he manages to discover the truth anyway. After an argument, George is reluctantly persuaded to keep the puppies until they mature.

The Newtons are offered a free stay in a mountain lakefront house owned by one of George's business associates. There, Taylor invites Ryce to a party with his friends, where she is exposed to teenage drinking and sexual harassment. Taylor locks Ryce in his bedroom, but Beethoven destroys the house's patio deck, saving a grateful Ryce from Taylor's unwelcome advances.

While still on vacation, the Newtons go to a county fair with the dogs. Ryce, Ted, and Emily persuade George to enter a burger eating contest with Beethoven, which they easily win. Regina and Floyd, who coincidentally are hiding out from Brillo in the mountains and are also at the fair, spot the Newtons. Regina snatches the puppies' leashes from Ted and Emily, but Floyd tells her that Missy escaped from their car with Beethoven's help. Regina and Floyd chase the fleeing dogs into the woods and are quickly hunted down by the Newtons. At a cliff's edge, George confronts Floyd, who threatens to drop the puppies into the river below and pokes George in the stomach with a large stick. As retaliation, Beethoven charges into the stick and rams it into Floyd's groin, causing him to lose his balance. Regina grabs Floyd's hand and they both fall off the cliff, land in a pool of mud, and are swept away by the river. Beethoven, Missy, the puppies and the Newtons return home.

Five months later, Brillo visits the Newtons with Missy, revealing that the judge in the divorce has granted him full custody of her. The puppies, now grown, run downstairs to see Missy.

Cast

The film was Danny Masterson's screen debut. His younger brother, Christopher, also had a small role, but when the producers noticed the resemblance, they removed him.

Production

The film is set in California, but the park scenes were filmed in Montana at Glacier National Park. The house used as the Newtons' home is located at 1405 Milan Avenue in South Pasadena.

Production required more than 100 smooth- and rough-coated St. Bernard puppies of various ages starting at seven weeks, who were then returned to the breeders. Missy was played by three adult short-haired dogs, and Beethoven was played by two long-haired ones, although only the dog who created the role in the first film is credited; a mechanical dog, a dog's head for specific facial expressions, and a man in a dog suit were also used.

Song

The theme song, "The Day I Fall in Love", performed by James Ingram and Dolly Parton and written by Ingram, Carole Bayer Sager and Clif Magness, was nominated for an Academy Award, a Golden Globe, and a Grammy Award.

Reception

The film grossed more than $118 million at the box office worldwide.

Critical response

Although the film was not well received by film critics, it received acclaim by audiences. Brian Lowry of '' Variety'' wrote that it "mountedto a live-action cartoon" and was "certainly a more pleasing tale" than the first. Roger Ebert of the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' gave it two stars, calling it "no masterpiece" but praising Grodin's work and noting that the dogs carried it. Kevin Thomas in the ''Los Angeles Times'' rated it "just as funny and appealing as ''Beethoven'' the first" and also praised Mazar as Regina.

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a score of 23%, based on reviews from 13 critics, with an average rating of 4.55/10. Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave it a grade "A".

In other media

* '' Beethoven: The Ultimate Canine Caper'', a side-scrolling video game titled simply ''Beethoven'', but based on the film, was released for Super NES, MS-DOS and Game Boy. Versions for Sega Genesis and Game Gear were developed, but they never saw release.
* Harvey Comics: ''Beethoven'' (March 1994)

References

External links

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{{Rod Daniel

1993 films
1993 children's films
1993 comedy films
1990s American films
1990s English-language films
American children's comedy films
American sequel films
Beethoven (franchise)
English-language comedy films
Films about dogs
Films about pets
Films about vacationing
Films adapted into comics
Films directed by Rod Daniel
Films produced by Michael C. Gross
Films scored by Randy Edelman
Films shot in Los Angeles County, California
Films shot in Montana
Films with screenplays by Len Blum
Universal Pictures films