The film co-stars Courteney Cox, Tone Loc, Sean Young, and then–Miami Dolphins quarterback Dan Marino and features a cameo appearance from death metal band Cannibal Corpse.

Investigating the kidnapping, Ventura finds a rare amber stone in Snowflake's tank, leading him to suspect billionaire Ronald Camp, a collector of exotic animals.

His investigation leads him to Ray Finkle, a disgraced former Dolphins placekicker who missed the potentially game-winning kick in the 1984 Super Bowl and blamed quarterback Dan Marino for it.

The event is capped off by Ventura's scuffle with the Philadelphia Eagles' mascot Swoop over a rare pigeon, earning him a standing ovation.

The Chairman and CEO of Morgan Creek Productions, James G. Robinson, in the early 1990s, sought to produce a comedy that would have wide appeal.

[4] Ultimately Robinson noticed Jim Carrey's performance in the sketch comedy show In Living Color and cast him as Ace Ventura.

[1] Opening-weekend audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade "A−" on a scale of A to F.[10] For its second weekend, it grossed $9.7 million and ranked first at the box office again,[11] outperforming newcomers The Getaway, Blank Check, and My Girl 2.

[1] Variety reported of Ace Ventura's second weekend in box office performance, "The goofball comedy defied dire predictions by trackers, slipping just 20% for a three-day average of $5,075 and $24.6 million in 10 days.

"[11] The Los Angeles Times reported, "Audiences are responding enthusiastically to Carrey's frenzied antics... [The film] is especially a hit with the 10- to 20-year-old age group it was originally targeted for.

[15] The Hollywood Reporter said before Ace Ventura, Jim Carrey was "seen mainly as TV talent" and that the film's success "firmly [established] him as a big-screen presence".

The film's success also led Morgan Creek Productions to produce the 1995 sequel Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls with Carrey reprising his role.

[16] Author Victoria Flanagan wrote that Carrey's performance "generated cult success for the film among adolescent male viewers".

[19] Ace Ventura: Pet Detective was released on VHS on June 14, 1994, on DVD on August 26, 1997, and Blu-ray on September 3, 2013 by Warner Home Video.

In 2019, Rotten Tomatoes wrote of the consensus, "Jim Carrey's twitchy antics and gross-out humor are on full, bombastic display in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, which is great news for fans of his particular brand of comedy but likely unsatisfying for anyone else.

Howe concluded, "There are some unfortunate elements that were unnecessary—a big strain of homophobic jokes for one, profane and sexual situations that rule out the kiddie audience for another.

[30] In the film, the male ex-football player Finkle disguises himself over an extended period of time as the female police lieutenant Einhorn.

"[38] In October 2017, Morgan Creek Entertainment announced plans to reboot several films from its library, including Ace Ventura: Pet Detective.

Its president David Robinson said Morgan Creek's plan was not to simply remake the film but to do a follow-up in which Ace Ventura passes the mantle to a new character, such as a long-lost son or daughter.

[39] In 2018, according to Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls co-star Tommy Davidson, Carrey displayed a lack of interest in participating.