PAW Patrol: The Movie

It is the first instalment in the PAW Patrol film series. It is directed by Cal Brunker, who co-wrote the screenplay with Billy Frolick and Bob Barlen from a story by Frolick. 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 (voicing Chase), 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 in order to stop the recently-elected Mayor Humdinger from wreaking havoc.

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, and also premiered in the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood on August 14, and was theatrically released in both Canada and the United States on August 20, 2021. 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 writing, pacing, and focusing on the show’s merchandising arm, and became a box office success, grossing over $151 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; 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 31, 2026.

After Ryder and his pups save the day, a dachshund named Liberty alerts them that their arch-nemesis, Mayor Humdinger, has just become mayor in nearby Adventure City. 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 with the help of Liberty.

During the response, 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, causing him to feel distress. The next day, Humdinger unveils a loop-the-loop extension he has designed for a subway train, which breaks down and leaves the train trapped at the top of the last loop.

While trying to stop the train from falling, Ryder sends Chase up to a rooftop to zip-line to the train cars so the passengers can be saved, but ends up freezing due to his fear of heights. Skye saves Chase, and Marshall rescues the passengers instead.

After the rescue is finished, Ryder advises Chase to take a break, but a heartbroken Chase accuses him of breaking his trust and runs away, only to be captured by Humdinger’s henchmen, Butch and Ruben, and taken to an obedience school which Humdinger has turned into a dog pound. There, Chase meets his cellmates who had also been kidnapped.

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 here, she meets a poodle named Delores and speaks with Chase. Ryder and the rest of the PAW Patrol follow, allowing them to break into the pound and set the other dogs free.

After Butch and Ruben came in, Rocket, the Jack Russell Terrier, yells “Get Them!” and chased them off. As the other pups return to Adventure City HQ, Ryder takes Chase to an intersection where he had found him as a puppy and explains to Chase that he adopted him because he saw bravery in him.

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 becomes overfilled and goes critical, having not been designed to run nonstop or be used for controlling weather,

And begins leaking clouds with weeks worth of nasty weather, placing a massive hurricane-strength storm over all of Adventure City. Kendra contacts the PAW Patrol and they respond in a flash, with Ryder making Liberty an official member and giving her a motor scooter.

As the pups help the citizens take cover, Ryder ascends to Humdinger’s office and convinces him to evacuate by getting on the elevator. Ryder manually releases the elevator cables to quickly lower Humdinger and his kittens to the ground, and then starts rappelling down the shaft, but the tower gets blown over sideways and Ryder gets trapped.

Having seen the tower fall, Chase 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 safety light on Ryder’s suit, Chase rushes to a gap where the tower has split. He becomes worried about getting across when he has to ditch his grappling hook, but then remembers Ryder’s words about bravery and takes a leap of faith across the gap and manages to get to the other side. Soon he reaches Ryder and helps him get unstuck and they escape the building while Skye uses a kamikaze-style attack to sacrifice her helicopter and destroy the Cloud Catcher.

As the weather is cleared and sunny again, Chase arrests Humdinger for gross negligence, public endangerment, and “dognapping” and gets him removed from office. Later that day, the PAW Patrol is given the key to Adventure City in a major ceremony held by Kendra and news reporter Marty Muckraker as Ryder gives Liberty her own pup tag and collar to make her a true member, finally fulfilling her dreams. The film ends with the team being called off for another rescue by one of the dogs from the pound.