Beethoven is a 1992 American family film, directed by Brian Levant and starring Charles Grodin and Bonnie Hunt. The film is the first in Beethoven film series. It was written by John Hughes (under the pseudonym Edmond Dantès) and Amy Holden Jones. The story centers on a St. Bernard dog named after the composer Ludwig van Beethoven owned by the Newton family and co-stars Nicholle Tom, Christopher Castile, Sarah Rose Karr, Stanley Tucci, Oliver Platt, and Dean Jones.