PAW Patrol: The Movie

Theatrical release poster

***PAW Patrol: The Movie*** is a 2021 Canadian computer-animated action-adventure comedy film directed by Cal Brunker, who co-wrote the screenplay with Billy Frolick and Bob Barlen from a story by Frolick, based on the television series *PAW Patrol* created by Keith Chapman. Several cast members from the main series reprised their roles, including Kingsley Marshall (voicing Marshall), Keegan Hedley (voicing Rubble), Shayle Simons (voicing Zuma), Lilly Bartlam (voicing Skye), and Ron Pardo (voicing both Cap'n Turbot and Mayor Humdinger). They are joined by Iain Armitage, Marsai Martin, Yara Shahidi, Kim Kardashian, Randall Park, Dax Shepard, Jimmy Kimmel, Tyler Perry, and introducing Will Brisbin in his film debut as Ryder. In the film, Ryder and the PAW Patrol pups are called to Adventure City to stop the recently-elected Mayor Humdinger from turning the bustling metropolis into a state of chaos and face the challenge in order to save its citizens.

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 2020, with Brunker attached to direct, and Barlen and Frolick attached to write the screenplay. 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 Brunker, "95 percent of everything" happened in Canada, with the exception being some audio recording.

*PAW Patrol: The Movie* premiered at the Vue Leicester Square in London on August 8, 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 August 20. It was also made available on Paramount+ on the same day in the United States. The film received generally positive reviews from critics for its animation, themes, characterization, soundtrack, and action sequences, but criticized for its screenplay, pacing, and focusing on the show's merchandising arm, and became a box office success, grossing over $144 million worldwide against a production budget of $26 million.

A sequel, titled *PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie*, was released on September 29, 2023, featuring elements from the *Mighty Pups* sub-theme of the main show.

## Plot

After saving a semi-truck driver from an accident on a bridge in Adventure Bay, Ryder and his main pups receive a distress call from the dachshund Liberty in Adventure City. The PAW Patrol’s arch-nemesis, Mayor Humdinger, has just been elected Mayor after the other candidate mysteriously dropped out of the race, leaving Humdinger as the only name on the ballot. Chase initially refuses to go, due to PTSD from the city when he was younger, but reluctantly agrees to go after Ryder says everything will be fine.

On a rainy day as Ryder and the pups are settling into their new headquarters, Humdinger goes to a meteorology laboratory and insists on testing out the “Cloud Catcher”, a device designed by Dr. Kendra Wilson to collect clouds for research. That night, Humdinger is giving a fireworks display to celebrate his election, but the show goes awry and Ryder and the pups suit up to respond. Unfortunately, they get caught in a traffic jam for a moment, but Liberty sees them and helps to get them to the site. Humdinger is enraged that the PAW Patrol has come to Adventure City, since he was trying to get away from them, and leaves to go to his office.

As Marshall and Rocky extinguish the fireworks, Chase sees some citizens trapped on a balcony and parachutes down to rescue them, but he forgets to take off his parachute and gets blown over the railing by a wind gust. Ryder sees Chase in trouble and has Marshall put out the fire on the balcony so the citizens can lower Chase down to Ryder. After the crisis is averted, Humdinger instructs his two security guards, Butch and Ruben, to capture the pups. The next day, Humdinger unveils a loop-de-loop extension he has designed for a subway train, which breaks down and leaves the train trapped at the top of the last loop. Rocky braces the track and Rubble stabilizes it with quick-dry cement while Ryder sends Chase up to a rooftop to zipline to the train cars so the passengers can be saved. Chase ends up freezing in a fear of heights and Skye has to save him while Marshall brings his fire truck to the rooftop to rescue the passengers.

After the rescue is finished, Ryder advises Chase to take a break, but Chase becomes heartbroken and accuses him of breaking his trust and runs away, only to be captured by Butch and Ruben and taken to an obedience school which Humdinger has turned into a dog pound. While Liberty helps Ryder search for Chase, they discover from a shop owner who knows Liberty that numerous dogs have vanished recently and link it all to Humdinger since he hates dogs. To help save Chase, Liberty deliberately gets herself captured by knocking over a stage piece during a live interview of Humdinger. She is taken to the pound and comforts Chase while telling him that even heroes get scared from time to time before revealing she had Ryder and the rest of the PAW Patrol follow in order to break into the pound and set the other dogs free. As the other pups return to their Adventure City HQ, Ryder takes Chase to an intersection where he had found him many years earlier as a baby and saved him from being hit by an out-of-control car. He tells Chase that he adopted him because he was "the bravest pup he had ever met."

Later, Humdinger reveals an extension he has added to the city’s tallest skyscraper, putting his office at the very top. Just then, the Cloud Catcher goes critical, having not been designed to run nonstop or be used for controlling weather. Dr. Wilson had tried earlier to tell him this, but he had waved her off twice. The device begins leaking clouds with weeks’ worth of nasty weather, placing a massive hurricane-strength storm over all of Adventure City. Knowing the PAW Patrol is the city’s only hope, Kendra contacts them and they respond in a flash. As the pups head out in their vehicles, Ryder makes Liberty an official member and replaces her original ride, a rusty wagon with an odd-out wheel, with a sleek new motor scooter.

As Marshall, Rocky, and Rubble help the citizens take cover and Liberty helps Zuma rescue a car in the water, Skye flies into the sky to stop the Cloud Catcher while Ryder ascends to Humdinger’s office and convinces him to evacuate as the storm cuts off the electricity. Humdinger is initially adamant on staying put, but Ryder’s words prove to him that the tower is unstable and he gets on the elevator. Ryder manually releases the elevator cables to quickly lower Humdinger to the ground, and then starts rappelling down the shaft. Suddenly, the tower gets blown over sideways and Ryder gets trapped. Chase, having seen the tower fall, rushes to rescue him by using suction-cupped tires on his car’s detachable motorcycle to ride straight up the side of the windows.

Upon seeing the glow from a light on Ryder’s suit, Chase rushes to a gap where the tower has split in the middle and fires his grappling hook to get across. The grappling hook is caught by the wind and Chase has to disengage his pup-pack in order to save himself from falling. Chase gets worried that there is nothing he can do to save Ryder and starts to back away from the gap, but then he remembers Ryder’s words about being the bravest pup he has ever seen and takes a leap of faith across the gap. He helps Ryder get unstuck and they escape the building while Skye stops the Cloud Catcher. Her first attempt to lasso the machine with her helicopter’s net fails and zaps her engine, so she transforms it into its jet form and uses a kamikaze-style attack to destroy the Cloud Catcher, sacrificing her helicopter, before using her winged jet pack to fly safely down to the ground.

As the weather is cleared and sunny again, Chase arrests Humdinger for endangering the city and capturing the dogs, but Humdinger tries to escape, only to be carried back by Skye’s miniature drone, which embarrassingly rips his pants. The PAW Patrol are given the key to Adventure City and Ryder gives Liberty her own pup-tag to make her a true member before they are called out for a rescue by one of the dogs from the pound.

## Voice cast

* Iain Armitage as Chase, an ambitious 7-year-old German shepherd 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."
* Ron Pardo 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
	+ Cap'n Turbot, an animal expert and one of the PAW Patrol's closest friends
* Yara Shahidi as Dr. Kendra Wilson, a scientist who works at a university and quotes things in scientific terms that have the be repeated in normal terms until Rubble understands of what she said. She invented the Cloud Catcher, a tool that Mayor Humdinger would use to clear the weather
* Kim Kardashian as Delores, a sassy poodle who is working at an animal shelter after being jailed in the Fuzzy Buddies obedience school. Kardashian said she was excited to voice the part, thrilled that her children now consider her a "cool mom."
* Randall Park as Butch, a burly man and one of Mayor Humdinger's security guards who attempt to keep the pups out of Adventure City
* Dax Shepard as Ruben, a skinny man and another of Mayor Humdinger's security guards. On voicing 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 maple syrup to its destination when is saved by Chase after his truck swerves off a bridge to avoid hitting baby sea turtles. 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."
* 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
* 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
* Kim Roberts as Mayor Goodway, the Mayor of Adventure Bay
* Paul Braunstein as a tough guy on a subway Liberty scolds him 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
* 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

Five side characters from the original series also make non-speaking cameo appearances in the film: Francois Turbot, Katie, Mr. Porter, Farmer Al, and Farmer Yumi.