| Director | Casper Kelly |
|---|---|
| Budget | $3 million |
| Box office | $18.7 million |
It's Buddy! is a 1990s-style children's television series hosted by the titular Buddy, an anthropomorphic talking unicorn with magical powers. Other cast members include child actors Freddy, Wade, Josh, and Oliver; Buddy's co-host Betty Bunny; supporting adult characters Mailman Miles and Nurse Nancy; and sentient objects Mr. Mailbox, Couchy the Couch, Clocky the Clock, Strappy the Backpack, and Charlie the Train.
Despite an increasingly angry Buddy coercing him, Josh refuses to participate in a dance party and inexplicably disappears. He is replaced with another child, Hannah, while Buddy assures everyone that Josh is traveling to utopian Diamond City. When Freddy finds Josh's bloodstained book in the trash, she consults Nancy, who promises to talk to Buddy. Freddy later witnesses Buddy bludgeoning Nancy to death before fatally punching Clocky off the wall. She convinces Wade, Hannah, and Oliver to escape to Diamond City inside Charlie, but their attempt fails when Buddy kills Charlie.
As Buddy stabs Miles to death, Wade uses a cleaning spray and a lighter to set him on fire, severely injuring his face. Freddy, Oliver, and Hannah escape with Strappy and Mr. Mailbox, whose mouth has been torn off by Buddy after seeing him killing Josh, while Buddy impales Wade with his horn. Meanwhile in the real world, a woman named Grace hires a psychic who leads Grace, her husband Ben, and their sons Timothy and Derek in a ritual to contact a spirit supposedly haunting their house. The television turns on to an It's Buddy! episode, and Grace becomes convinced that she had a third child they cannot remember, but Ben dismisses her. That night, Buddy emerges from the screen and pulls Grace into It's Buddy!, where she takes Nancy's role.
Freddy, Oliver, and Hannah gradually realize that they cannot remember their lives before meeting Buddy, though Freddy recalls vague memories of her childhood. The children meet elderly cowboy George and his foulmouthed marionette Willie, who were on a previous Western-themed version of It's Buddy! and have been hiding from Buddy for many years after he killed another child who jokingly sang a profanity-laden version of the series' theme song. The children pass out after eating flower petals, which are secretly laced, and awaken to find that George and Willie have left and stolen Strappy.
Buddy finds and kills George with an axe before drowning Willie. He begins to rip Strappy to lure the children, who arrive on bikes and save him. The children reach Diamond City, only to discover it is a miniature model. Buddy arrives and embraces them, ending the "episode" and re-setting It's Buddy! with other children, Tyler, and Miles's replacement, Mailman Justin. When Freddy seeks out Grace for a cut on her arm, Grace recognizes Freddy as her missing daughter. Outside, the children antagonize Buddy by singing the profanity-laden song, causing Buddy to mutate into a larger, monstrous form. He kills Justin, Couchy, and Betty before attacking Freddy. Grace sacrifices herself to allow the remaining children to escape.
After Tyler reverts Buddy to his original form, Buddy snaps his neck and pursues the children down a well, severing portions of his own flesh so that he can fit. The children hide in a prop room, but Buddy bursts in, kills Hannah and swallows Oliver alive. Buddy chases Freddy until Strappy trips him to fall directly onto Mr. Mailbox's post, critically impaling him. Before dying, Buddy congratulates Freddy for being brave and curses at her. Freddy finds a gymnasium containing several televisions, all displaying a real-world house with a child who stares into the screen before being absorbed into It's Buddy!.
Freddy finds an empty house and bursts through the screen, emerging into a living room. She breaks down upon realizing that Strappy and Mr. Mailbox have turned into lifeless objects. The father of the Spanish-speaking family whose house Freddy has landed in approaches her and asks who she is.