PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie

 

With the continuing success of Spin Master’s PAW Patrol multimedia franchise, the logical conclusion was the theatrically-released PAW Patrol: The Movie in 2021. This proved successful enough to warrant a sequel in 2023, PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie, which revisits the Mighty Pups subline of the series. Having seen the original PAW Patrol film on Paramount+ and actually enjoyed it, I became curious about The Mighty Movie with cautious optimism for a similar level of quality, but opted to wait for its Paramount+ release since I didn’t feel strongly enough about seeing it in the theater. Upon getting the chance to watch it, I still found myself enjoying it even as a non-fan.

PAW Patrol: The Movie

One of the most successful toy brands in recent years is Spin Master’s PAW Patrol, about a group of pups with transforming vehicles who go on rescue missions, thanks mainly to its popular tie-in animated series on Nick Jr. While I fall well outside the target demographic, I have seen a handful of random episodes in the background while performing other tasks, and I can see why the show is popular with said demographic. When a theatrical film, PAW Patrol: The Movie, was announced, I was a little curious to see how they would adapt the formulaic nature of the series into a cinematic experience, however my curiosity was piqued when I read an interview in Animation Magazine about the production and the steps that were taken to make it worthy of a theatrical presentation. After watching the movie through Paramount+, I felt that it succeeded in this way, as I found it to be far better than I expected.