Natalya

Natalya is the main antagonist of the 1998 film Air Bud: Golden Receiver, the first sequel of the Air Bud series. She is a Russian animal poacher who wants to kidnap Buddy and use him as her main attraction. She is the boss of Popov.

She was portrayed by Nora Dunn.

Role
As she tests her performances on a parrot, Popov walks in and introduces her to a stolen chimpanzee named Mortimer. She berates him for interrupting her performance and Popov tries to demonstrate the Mortimer's skating performance, but he hits Natalya with his skate instead. Popov wants to go back to Russia, but Natalya lashes out that she needs the perfect performance. After watching Buddy's basketball performance on TV, Natalya decides to kidnap him and use him as the perfect attraction.

As the pair drive in their ice cream truck in their search for Buddy, they immediately stop as Josh and Buddy cross the street. Natalya continues to drive until she realizes that the dog was Buddy and they follow them. The pair catch up with Josh and Buddy playing football with Tom and plan to catch him with a net. Josh throws the football hard, hitting Popov and causing them to tumble down a hill and into a pond.

Later, Natalya and Popov pull over in the Framms' driveway to capture Buddy in the backyard. However, Buddy has heard them and tries to escape. As the pair get out their nets, they are distracted by two kids who want ice cream, but Natalya drives them away. Buddy escapes from Josh's room and a chase is ensued. Buddy leads them to a backyard and they are beaten by an old lady, allowing Buddy to escape.

As Josh runs away from his home, Natalya and Popov successfully manage to capture Buddy. As Josh returns, he finds Buddy gone and heads out to find him, but is eventually forced to give up.

As Natalya leaves the area, she puts Popov in charge of the animals and orders him to not do anything. As Popov watches TV, Buddy knocks over his cage, setting Mortimer free and the chimp sets him free in return. Buddy and Mortimer free the other animals and they rebel against Popov. As Natalya returns, she finds the animals free from their cages and gets sprayed by a skunk, causing her to fall onto a seesaw. The ball that was on the seesaw bounces off and hits Popov in the head, causing him to fall onto a porcupine and scream in pain. Mortimer taunts Natalya and she chases him, but she slips on his skateboard, causing her to run into the parrot's cage. Natalya and Mortimer engage in a duel with each other and Popov tries to catch him, but Buddy presses the button that activates the crane and pulls Popov with it. The crane continues to pull Popov up and down and Natalya berates him until he is finally let down and knocked unconscious.

As Natalya wakes Popov up, Mortimer pulls the lever that activates a can full of fish guts to pour down onto the pair. Mortimer drives their ice cream truck and crashes into a electric tower, sending it to fall down onto a box of fireworks, lighting them up. Mortimers flees the scene and a chase is ensued between Buddy and the pair in their truck. Buddy leads them to a dock and the pair try stop, but the brakes don't work. Patrick pulls Buddy out of the way and the truck crashes, sending them flying into a fishing net. The police find the pair in the net and they arrest the two kidnappers.

Trivia

 * The actors who played Natalya and Popov were both born in Chicago.