Paw Patrol: The Movie Parent Guide

When their biggest rival, Mayor Humdinger (Ron Pardo), becomes mayor of Adventure City, the PAW Patrol answer the call to protect the city’s inhabitants, both human and animal. With a new headquarters and some high-tech gadgets, the heroic pups are ready for action.

As a bit of background, I don’t allow my four-year-old son to watch the PAW Patrol TV show. When I was a daycare teacher, I had a lot of students who were obsessed with the show and wanted to have all the branded merchandise, so my household ban was a way to head off requests before they could happen. Even though he doesn’t watch the show, my son is very aware of PAW Patrol, through advertising and playdates with his friends. (I’m also pretty sure his grandparents let him watch it when I’m not looking.) All that said, I know about the franchise, but I’m not familiar with the specifics of it. My son was incredibly excited to get to view this movie with me, and to share his thoughts with our readers.

I have about five million questions about PAW Patrol and how the whole thing works (how all that tech is funded, for starters), but I’m going to set that aside for now and just focus on what’s on screen. Viewing this film as a piece of media aimed primarily at toddlers and preschoolers, I have to say it’s actually pretty good. There’s a handful of decent jokes, the action sequences are well done, and there is some important messaging around bravery, resilience, and teamwork. The studio obviously put some money behind this production, and it shows. Young children who are fans of the TV show are going to love this feature length adventure, and parents will find it tolerable enough to sit through without wanting to claw their eyes out.

My son’s review is: “I loved all of it”. I asked him if he learned anything and he said, “It’s ok to be scared, and don’t give up”. If I were a studio executive, I’d be happy with that! I can’t imagine that children older than about five or six will be terribly interested, but for the very young crowd, it’s a recommendation from me. It’s also probably the cleanest movie I’ve seen in a while, so parents needn’t worry if they zone out and focus on their own thoughts rather than the harmless story unfolding across the big screen. Frankly, the coronavirus epidemic is more of a hazard than anything your little one is likely to see. It’s the epidemic; not the content that will be the bigger issue as you decide whether to take your preschooler to a theatre now, stream it on Paramount+, or wait for broader digital release in a few months.