PAW Patrol (2021 live-action film)

PAW Patrol (released as PAW Patrol: The Movie in the United Kingdom) is a 2021 American action-adventure comedy film It was directed by Raja Gosnell from a writer by J. David Stem, David N. Weiss, Jay Scherick, and David Ronn, it stars Adam Sandler, Jim Carrey, Jason Bateman, Jayma Mays, Selena Gomez, Iain Armitage (voicing Chase), Marsai Martin, Jason Sudeikis, Josh Gad, Kevin Hart, Yara Shahidi, Miranda Cosgrove, Kim Kardashian, Randall Park, Dax Shepard, Danny McBride, Jimmy Kimmel, Simon Pegg and introducing Will Brisbin in his film debut as Ryder. Several cast members from the main series reprised their roles, including Kingsley Marshall (voicing Marshall), Keegan Hedley (voicing Rubble), Shayle Simons (voicing Zuma), and Lilly Bartlam (voicing Skye). In the film, Ryder and the PAW Patrol pups are called to New York City in order to stop and save the world from the recently-elected Mayor Humdinger from wreaking havoc and begins to develop food and realistic storms that Nick build NDSFDFR, a machine that can convert water into food, with the help of dogs friends.
Ronnen Harary announced that Spin Master Entertainment was "considering whether to extend the PAW Patrol franchise into feature films at some point in the next 12 to 24 months" in November 2017. Development for the feature film based on PAW Patrol television series began in February 2019, with Gosnell attached to direct. On a production budget of $110 million, filming began in September 2019 in New York City. From October 2020 to May 2021, the voice casting call began. Production was done remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic. The film was produced almost entirely in Canada; according to Gosnell, "95 percent of everything" happened in Canada, with the exception being some audio recording.
PAW Patrol: The Movie premiered in Montreal on June 13, 2021. It was theatrically released in the United Kingdom and Ireland one day later before it was released in both Canada and the United States on June 18. The film received generally positive reviews from critics, with praise for its humor, performances, visual effects, cast, soundtrack, and action sequences, but criticized for its writing, pacing, and focusing on the show's merchandising arm. It grossed $529 million worldwide, becoming the third-highest-grossing film of 2021. The film was nominated at 79th Golden Globe Awards, as well at Annie Awards and Academy Award for Best Visual Effects.
Many outlets theorized that the film provided secret social commentary on the Trump administration, with Humdinger being a direct parallel to former American president Donald Trump.
A sequel titled PAW Patrol: The Mighty Pups was released on September 29, 2023, featuring elements from the Mighty Pups sub-theme of the main show; a spin-off of the main series, focusing on Liberty, is schedule to premiere on June 6, 2025, while a third film is scheduled for release on July 25.
== Cast ==
=== Live-action actors ===
* Jim Carrey as Mayor Humdinger, the PAW Patrol's arch-nemesis from Foggy Bottom who is elected the mayor of nearby Adventure City due to his name being the only one on the ballot and the other candidate somehow withdrawing from the election. Though Humdinger despises the PAW Patrol pups, he has shown a general dislike for dogs in general because he prefers cats. Pardo said he drew inspiration for Mayor Humdinger's voice from mixing impressions of a Dudley Do-Right cartoon character with a well-known American entertainer from the 1930s-1950s.
* Will Brisbin as Ryder, a 10-year-old boy who serves as the leader of the PAW Patrol. With his leadership, Ryder confidently sends the group on their mission to save Adventure City from dog-hating Mayor Humdinger and also having a complicated relationship with Chase. Brisbin had to keep his role a closely-guarded secret for some time, which he found difficult as his nine-year-old brother is a huge PAW Patrol fan. Brisbin replaces Beckett Hipkiss from the series.
* Adam Sandler as Sam Winslow, an electronics installer
* Jayma Mays as Grace, a weather intern from Los Angeles and later Sam's love interest
* Kevin Hart as Fridge Devereaux, New York City's athletic police officer and Cal's father.
* Yara Shahidi as Dr. Kendra Wilson, a scientist who works at a university and quotes things in scientific terms that have to be repeated in normal terms until Rubble understands what she said. She invented the Cloud Catcher, a tool that Mayor Humdinger would use to clear the weather.
* Randall Park as Butch, a burly man and one of Mayor Humdinger's security guards who attempt to keep the pups out of New York City.
* Dax Shepard as Ruben, a skinny man and another of Mayor Humdinger's security guards. On his character role, Shepard stated that PAW Patrol "was the first show he was forced to watch after becoming a dad but admitted that he actually enjoys it", adding: "that earned him some serious cred with his kids". He concluded: "I get to reintroduce my kids to that experience of going to the movies that I valued so much growing up".
* Tyler Perry as Gus, a truck driver in the midst of transporting Canadian maple syrup to its destination when he is saved by Chase after his truck swerves off a bridge to avoid hitting a baby sea turtle. Perry, on his role, saying that his 6-year-old son Aman is also thrilled that his father is involved in the film. "He loves Skye and Chase and Zuma. I know the theme song like the back of my mind," he stated in an interview. "...That's the reason I said yes. I really wanted to be a part of something that he could appreciate as much as I do."
* Jimmy Kimmel as Marty Muckraker, the wig-wearing news anchor of the Adventure City News Network. Kimmel also had trouble convincing his kids, 4-year-old Billy and 7-year-old Jane, of his role in the film. "I have been telling them, trying to explain to them that Daddy's in the Paw Patrol movie," the late-night host jokes. "I'm hopeful this will make me a big shot, at least for a couple of days."
* Benjamin Bottani as Calvin "Cal" Devereaux, Fridge's young son
* Kim Roberts as Mayor Goodway, the Mayor of Adventure Bay.
* Paul Braunstein as a tough guy on a subway who Liberty scolds for littering. Richard Arnold voices the tough guy in the UK dub.
* Neil Crone as Tony, the proprietor of the namesake of his grocery store.
* Monique Alvarez as Carmen, Liberty's friend who works at the grocery store.
* Benjamin Bratt as Manny, Sam's Guatemalan cameraman and a former doctor, pilot and comedian
* Rashida Jones as Regina Devereaux, Fridge's wife and Cal's mother
* Jamillah Ross as a camerawoman working for Marty Muckraker.
* Josh Robert Thompson as the fireworks technician that Mayor Humdinger enlisted to pull off his fireworks show.
* Josh Graham as the computer voice that is heard in the PAW Patrol's vehicles and their satellite headquarters in Adventure City.
* Joe Pingue as Barney, an Old English Sheepdog and inmate at Fuzzy Buddies obedience school.
* Charles Gallant as Harris, a Labrador Retriever and inmate at Fuzzy Buddies obedience school. Ronan Keating provides the voice of Harris in the UK dub.
* Richard Binsley as Rocket, a Jack Russell Terrier and inmate at Fuzzy Buddies obedience school who often chases his tail. Tom Fletcher provides the voice of Rocket in the UK dub.
* Raoul Bhaneja as Dad
* Saara Chaudry as Daughter
* Kevin Duhaney as a window washer
=== Voice actors ===
* Jason Bateman as Nick, a mongrel (with a mixture of a schnauzer and a terrier), who is an unsuccessful and timid but determined young inventor. Bateman also voices the NDSMDFR, Nick's invention
** Benjamin L. Valic voices Young Nick.
* Selena Gomez as Mavis, an American Cocker Spaniel who is a weather dog from Los Angeles, later Nick's love interest and Grace's pet. For Mavis is the name of Disney's Hotel Transylvania.
* Jason Sudeikis as Red, a Beagle, who is Nick's brother
** Gabriel Jack voices a young Red.
* Iain Armitage as Chase, an ambitious 7-year-old German shepherd is the main protagonist of the movie who serves as a police pup. He grew up on the streets of Adventure City, giving him a "strong character arc for the film". Armitage found the role special and enjoyable. He said, "It's a new challenge because you don't get to convey anything with your body movements… that's all the animator's job," he then explained: "You can only use your voice to convey whatever you're trying to show. But it's really fun to do animation." Armitage replaces Justin Kelly from the series.
* Marsai Martin as Liberty, a spirited long-haired dachshund who grew up and lives in Adventure City and becomes the newest member of the PAW Patrol. She considers the team to be her heroes and works hard to keep the city clean, she also dreams of becoming the team's member before joining them. She is outspoken and often snarks at other people. Martin said this particular role was unique because it hits close to home. Martin expressed her feelings about her role, "She's so wild and a free spirit. She's so energetic and fun, and I feel like she'd actually make a perfect fit into the PAW Patrol because of how amazing and wild she is."
* Josh Gad as Chuck, a french Bulldog.
* Danny McBride as Bomb, a bulldog.
* Simon Pegg as Steve, Nick's pet vervet monkey and best friend, who communicates through a thought translator Nick invented
* Keegan Hedley as Rubble, a wisecracking 5-year-old bulldog who serves as a construction pup. He becomes the main comic relief character in the film as opposed to the series, so Hedley was encouraged to make up his own dialogue during his recording. After recording, director Cal Brunker says that his personality is a mix of Disney/Pixar comic-relief sidekicks such as The Seven Dwarfs, Jiminy Cricket, the Genie, Timon and Pumbaa, Mushu, Dory, Mater, Olaf, Ducky and Bunny, giving him a personality change from being a tough pup to a funny comic-relief character in this film.
* Lilly Bartlam as Skye, a sweet 7-year-old cockapoo who serves as an aviator pup.
* Kingsley Marshall as Marshall, a cuddly 6-year-old Dalmatian who serves as a firefighting pup.
* Callum Shoniker as Rocky, a clever 6-year-old Mixed-breed who serves as a recycling pup. Shoniker previously voiced the Copycat from the Mighty Pups, Charged Up sub-series and replaces Jackson Reid from the series.
* Shayle Simons as Zuma, an energetic 5-year-old chocolate Labrador retriever who serves as an aquatic rescue pup.
* Miranda Cosgrove as Stella
* Kim Kardashian as Delores, a sassy poodle who is working at an animal shelter after being jailed in the Fuzzy Buddies obedience school.
* Donna J. Fulks as Nick's mother.
== Production ==
=== Development ===
In November 2017, Ronnen Harary confirmed that Spin Master was "currently considering whether to extend the PAW Patrol franchise into feature films at some point in the next 12 to 24 months." Animation tests were conducted in 2017 to measure how the characters "would translate onto the big screen" and the company developed a film script.
Development of the film was confirmed on February 19, 2019, and it was announced with Raja Gosnell attached as director, after doing Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb (2019), while Spin Master Entertainment's president, Jennifer Dodge serves as the film's producer. In March 2019, a live-action animated film was announced. Shrek 2 writers, J. David Stem and David N. Weiss wrote the screenplay along with Zookeeper writers Jay Scherick and David Ronn; Stem and Weiss also wrote the story, both they have also worked together from The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2017). Production was done in both the United States and Canada. On March 13, 2021, an exclusive first look of the film was shown during the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards 2021.
Dodge stated that they were excited about the partnership with Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies to bring the franchise to the big screen. She adds, "This first foray into the arena of feature film marks a significant strategic expansion for Spin Master Entertainment and our properties. This demonstrates our commitment to harnessing our own internal entertainment production teams to develop and deliver IP in a motion picture format and allows us to connect our characters to fans through shared theatrical experiences."
Dodge said, "For us, it was important to be able to tell a deeper character story than what they've been able to do with the series." She also explained, "And to tell it in a way that a child really can understand and relate to, and maybe even their parents get a deeper meaning from it. You can have a hard day at school or daycare and you can rise above those difficulties and you can come through on the other side. It doesn't mean you're never scared, it doesn't mean you don't doubt yourself. But, if at the end of the day, you really believe in yourself and you have people around you who believe in you, you can overcome it."
"When the chance came to pitch my take on the movie, I was able to bring all of their experience and what my kids loved about the show to the pitch, and I think that really helped," says Gosnell. "Our take was, we really wanted to build this around the emotional journey of one character, so it felt like more of a theatrical experience. You go on a journey with one of these characters overcoming their struggles, and the whole team is involved, but we felt that that was the best way to bring an audience deeper into the story."
=== Writing ===
Gosnell said later that year that it would be a homage to Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009), and a parody of, disaster films such as Twister, Armageddon, The Core, and The Day After Tomorrow. Screenwriter David Stem described the main character to be focused on in the film: "Chase is kind of like the quarterback. Chase sort of seems like the main character, and so being able to expand and kind of have a character who fails and who has to overcome an obstacle is important. We were able to do more than the TV show time allows. Starting in Adventure Bay, you see him as that same perfect pup from the show where he's executing things flawlessly. That's really where we were able to expand on his backstory and create something that would be worthy of the feature film. So, you're seeing him for the first time really ever make mistakes and mess up and come to terms with not being perfect, and then pushing through and overcoming that fear. That was really something that we were excited about in terms of telling a story."Scherick adds, "At its core, the movie is about what it means to be scared, and how to overcome your fears. It felt really important to be doing something that we could share with people at this time as the movie comes out. I think people are coming out of this time of fear and uncertainty, and I think the movie has a lot to say about that. And we really feel proud that hopefully this is going to be one of the first movies that people get to see in theaters again." Stem and David N. Weiss that the film was mostly like the movie of The Angry Birds Movie (2016).
=== Casting ===
In May 2019, it was reported that Neil Patrick Harris was in talks for a lead role as Sam, but he rejected. A day later, it was announced that Adam Sandler was in the cast as Sam Winslow. In June, Jayma Mays was cast as Sam's love interest Grace, with Jim Carrey confirmed to cast for play the villain, Mayor Humdinger. For the role of Ryder, more than 1,000 people auditioned before Will Brisbin a 15-years old actor from Sherwood Park, Alberta, Canada, got the role. On August 15, 2019, Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis, Iain Armitage, Marsai Martin, Miranda Cosgrove, Josh Gad, Danny McBride, Keegan-Michael Key, Maya Rudolph, Kim Kardashian, Simon Pegg were announced as part of the cast. In September 2019, Amy Adams was announced to voice Mavis, a white Pomeranian, but later, she declined from the film. It was revealed that Selena Gomez confirmed to voice Mavis. Sandler and Gomez had previously worked in Hotel Transylvania (2012) and Hotel Transylvania: Escape 2 Internet (2018). Kevin Hart, Randall Park, Dax Shepard, Yara Shahidi, Tyler Perry, Jimmy Kimmel were added to the cast later that month. On July 14, 2020, it was announced that Ronan Keating, Richard Arnold, Sam Faiers and Tom Fletcher were added to the cast as part of the voice cameos for the dubs in the UK and Ireland. It was revealed that Kate McKinnon will have a cameo in the film.
During an interview with Collider, Gosnell spoke about enjoying the voice cast overall. "The core cast of pups are all kids, and that was new for us and really wonderful. We really worked with them to try to get true, meaningful performances out of all the characters, and I thought they did an amazing job. The character of Chase, played by Iain [Armitage], goes on such a wonderful emotional journey that's a little bit unexpected, and he just brought so much to it. He broke our hearts in some moments. You really end up rooting for him. In terms of improvisation, I would say Marsai's deliveries were the things that were most surprising. She almost couldn't do anything bad. When we were going through the takes, it was like, “This is great. This is great in a different way. And this is great in a different way.” She was wonderful and brought so much energy to it. Everybody was wonderful. Dax [Shepard] is the nicest guy, who was game on for everything. Tyler Perry was thrilled to be a part of it. His son is a big fan, and he certainly loves to improvise and do lots of takes. We couldn't have had a better cast or a better experience for recording them."
In an interview with Screen Rant, Iain Armitage spoke about the film and how he aspires to be like his canine counterpart Chase, ahead of the film's home entertainment release. He stated about the film's main character, "Chase is a fun, funny, smart, brave, loyal dog. And he's a police dog, and he's sort of the, I don't think he's the head of the team, but he's really on top of things. I think he's very cool under pressure. He's very helpful. And he always loves to help other people. And he's always very kind, which I think is very important. And I think I try to be like him in everyday life. I don't always succeed, but I try."
According to Armitage, "The cool thing about voice-over is, you can't convey things with your body because, of course, they don't see it. So you sort of have to have everything that you're going to be doing for the character come through in your voice, which is hard, but it's also kind of fun. It's a fun challenge, but on the upside, you can show up to work in pajamas, and they won't get mad at you. So that balances out. But I think just trying to really bring emotion into my voice in some of those scenes and to really make it clear that I care about Ryder [Will Brisbin] and my fellow pups on the team."
=== Filming, visual effects and animation ===
Principal photography began in mid-September 2019 and ended in New York City, Vancouver, Vancouver Island and Montreal on October 20, 2019. The visual effects are provided by Moving Picture Company (MPC), Mikros Image Montreal, Rodeo FX, Framestore, Method Studios, Lola VFX, and Image Engine. There are 250 filmmakers with a team of about 60 devoted to the animation. Their biggest challenge was creating high-quality theatrical animation that didn't lose the style of the series. They were also especially interested in creating action scenes that had more of a realistic quality.
While they wanted to focus on the backstory of one character, it was also important to them to add a new female pup to the crew, since the character Skye is usually the only female on the team. New pups often appear in the series for a specific adventure to round out the team, but then are not necessarily in every episode going forward. Moritz, Dodge and Gosnell both thought the style of the animation needed to remain true to the series, but with some significant adjustments to give it a more theatrical feel. According to Gosnell, they wanted to redesign some things noticed in the movie: "The back legs of the dogs actually look and function like real dog legs and in the TV show they're kind of more cartoony; just kind of stick legs. We felt it would allow them to move more like real dogs, and if we could push the realism of the movement, then it would make the fact that they're doing these great big rescues and all this heroic stuff even more exciting."
At a reported budget of $26 million, the CGI animation is more polished and textured than the series, with Gosnell and his team reshaping and rebuilding every character, vehicle and environment from scratch. Aside from some voice recording in Los Angeles (including recordings from most of the cast remotely) and orchestral scoring in Nashville, “95 percent of everything” happened in Canada, according to Gosnell.
=== Music ===
Heitor Pereira composed the music for the film. On April 2, 2021, it was confirmed that Maroon 5 lead singer Adam Levine had provided an original song, titled "Good Mood". It was written by Shellback, Savan Kotecha, Oscar Görres and Adam Levine; Shellback and Oscar Görres are the producers, while Savan Kotecha serves as the executive producer. The track was officially released on June 6 by Republic Records, and sent to Italian radio on October 1, 2021.
Another song, titled "The Use in Trying", was announced on June 4, 2021, as well as the official release on June 10, co-written by Alessia Cara (who performs the track) and Jon Levine, who additionally serves as producer. Levine stated that "her one-of-a-kind voice weaves a beautiful song that captures the sadness and uncertainty during a pinnacle moment in the film".
== Release ==
=== Theatrical ===
During Spin Master's first quarter 2019 earnings conference call, an animated theatrical film based on the series was announced to be "in the works" with an June 2021 theatrical release date. On April 24, 2020, the film's theatrical release was announced to be June 18, 2021. Because Canadian distribution is handled by Elevation Pictures, the Canadian version of Paramount+ did not initially offer the movie, and it is unknown if it will.
In July 2021, Paramount Pictures UK and Ireland announced that the film would be released in British and Irish theatres on August 9, 2021. This version also retained the voice actors of the British dub.[citation needed] The film had its red carpet premiere at the Cinéma Banque Scotia in Montreal on June 13, 2021 and it was released theatrically in both regular formats and in IMAX 2D and 3D. PAW Patrol was released in China on January 14, 2022.
=== Home Media ===
Paramount Home Entertainment released PAW Patrol on digital on August 20, 2021, then on DVD and Blu-ray on September 7, 2021. The digital release features hours of entertainment with exclusive bonus content, including a look at the team, additional news reports with reporter Marty Muckraker (voiced by Jimmy Kimmel) and a sing-along with a reimagined PAW Patrol theme song lyric video. It also includes the bonus episodes with one never-before-seen episode from the popular Nickelodeon series, and a never-before-seen episode of Blaze and the Monster Machines. When the film was released on disc, it entered the national NPD VideoScan First Alert sales chart at No. 2, debuting at No. 3 on the dedicated Blu-ray Disc chart.
=== Television broadcasts ===
PAW Patrol aired on Nickelodeon US on November 18, 2022. Following its debut, PAW Patrol encored on the following Saturday (Nov. 19) and Sunday (Nov. 20).