September 28th, 2023 
Jackson Murphy 
A little over two years after Nickelodeon’s popular “PAW Patrol” gang hit the big screen in their first theatrical film, sequel PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie opens nationwide this Friday September 29th. Returning writer Bob Barlen and director Cal Brunker discuss being inspired by superhero movies and Top Gun: Maverick, working with the talented voice cast, and the just-announced third PAW Patrol feature coming in 2026. (Interview with Barlen was conducted over Zoom. Interview with Brunker was conducted over Email. This Animation Scoop Q&A was edited for length and clarity.)
Jackson Murphy: Congratulations on this. How does it feel to have another “PAW Patrol” movie out there in 26 months’ time? That’s amazing.
Bob Barlen: We’re really excited to have the movie out in theaters. We’ve been getting a great response so far. Our goal with making the first movie, from the show, was to sort of step things up from the TV series. And from Movie 1 to Movie 2, we kind of had that same challenge for ourselves to go, “How do we push things further?”
JM: I saw the movie the other day. It’s bigger. It’s bigger from the opening scene, with explosions. This is an epic superhero action movie with big sequences and some legitimate drama. I love what you do with the drama that’s in this “PAW Patrol” movie, which I did not expect, but it’s fantastic! Why did you guys decide to go in this direction… with the tone?
Cal Brunker: When we decided to make “PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie”, we knew we wanted to amp things up even more than we did on the first movie. So a superhero movie seemed like the perfect fit to allow us to do that. We wanted to make a big fun movie that everyone had to go see on the big screen. This sequel has bigger action sequences, more special effects, and the overall look of the movie is even better than the first one. Alongside all that big action, we wanted to make sure that we were still telling an emotional story of one character’s journey that would resonate with our audience.
BB: It’s an ensemble, of course, and all the pups are in there. But in the case of the first film, we talked about Chase. And in this one we really wanted to explore Skye — her backstory — and make a movie that’s got a lot of action, and we’re making a superhero movie, which is fun for us, but something that hopefully resonates with people on a character basis and is more than gags and laughs — although we love those too.
JM: It is a fun movie. There are some laughs. And then there comes a point in the film… we get a little bit of Skye’s backstory and from then on I go, “Wow. This is heartfelt. This is emotional. This has a lot to it.” In working with Mckenna Grace on her voice performance, how was it collaborating with her on this great character of Skye?
CB: When we cast Mckenna Grace as Skye, we knew we needed a performer who could carry the full emotional range of Skye’s story. From comedy to heartfelt moments, Mckenna was always willing to give her all. She also wrote and recorded “Bark To The Beat”, an original song for the movie.
BB: Mckenna was amazing. Came in right from the start with a lot of energy and a lot of understanding of the character. She was game on for everything we wanted to try. Mckenna absolutely nailed it. Multi-talented… and very generous with her time.
JM: Yes. Christina Aguilera also has a song in this that’s very powerful. You’ve got the superhero aspect. When the gang gets their powers, it’s a lot of fun. What’s the key to making sure those powers work, not only for the characters but for the audience?
BB: “PAW Patrol” really does appeal to younger viewers, for sure. For a lot of kids, this is their first movie in a theater, which is really exciting and quite an honor. Hopefully they continue on to a life of cinema loving. A lot of people watch the big superhero movies and they generally skew a little older. What we were trying to do is hit that sweet spot where young kids would like it, but if you’re there with your older brother, sister or cousin… the older kids are still going to have a good time and enjoy it, as well as the parents. At the end of the day, we’re trying to make movies for the entire family audience, not just a certain age demographic.
JM: You succeed with that. Was maybe this the goal as well with working with the Nickelodeon team on this? And maybe that translates into how the franchise and show will go down the line?
BB: With Nickelodeon and Spin Master, who are both incredible partners, I think there’s been so much support for bringing “PAW Patrol” to a theatrical level. With the movies we’re trying to make it an experience. If you’re a “PAW Patrol” fan, there’s something in there you’ll recognize. But even if you aren’t as familiar with “PAW Patrol”, hopefully you can come to it and still enjoy it. They’ve been very supportive of giving us all the resources we need and more to take it to the next level and make a really big fun movie.
JM: And because it’s a big sci-fi superhero action movie, the music by Pinar Toprak is perfect. This fits perfectly with what this movie stands for. It’s terrific.
BB: Absolutely. Pinar did such an incredible job writing the score. Everything from the very first demos she sent us to actually going and recording it with the orchestra… I get chills when I hear the music.
JM: Taraji P. Henson voices one of the villains, scientist Victoria. She puts a lot into this voice performance.
BB: Taraji was willing to play. She played it really big and really fun. To make a character that paired really well with Humdinger, the other villain — the two of them together. She raised up her level and I think really elevated his performance as well. Big, fun and villainous.
JM: There are some other new characters — the Junior Patrollers. I love these guys! One of them goes up to Chase and says, “You’re Chase. You’re on the Case!” That line delivery was so perfect. And maybe there’s a future with them as well?
BB: Writing the Junior Patrollers was such a fun thing. That line was from Nano, who’s played by Alan Kim. He’s amazing. Tot is played by Brice Gonzalez and Mini is played by North West. All three of them had fun with it and delivered cute performances.
CB: [The Junior Patrollers] dovetail perfectly into the theme of “no pup’s too small” since even though they’re just little puffballs, they play a key role in the movie. It was also fun to pair them up with Liberty, played by Marsai Martin, who is hesitant to have anything to do with them at first, but ends up having a special bond with the Junior Patrollers by the end of the movie.
JM: I think a lot of young kids who wanna meet the PAW Patrol and be with them will identify with these Junior Patrollers who get to have this opportunity of a lifetime. Alan Kim (from “Minari” and “Theater Camp”) is a terrific young actor.
BB: Absolutely.
JM: Ryder wears “PAW Patrol” PJs. And the vehicles transform unbelievably. How’s the merch and the swag for “The Mighty Movie”?
BB: The team at Spin Master that actually engineers and builds the toys — mad geniuses. We will write something and then they say, “Hey, maybe we can actually build that and invent it.” They’ll show us a model. From a storytelling standpoint it’s great because the things we write get to actually exist in real life, which is such a cool experience. We wanted to have Ryder wearing pajamas. And then we said, “They actually make PAW Patrol clothes. Maybe we can actually get them to make these pajamas.” I think they did make the same pajamas that Ryder wears in the movie. Unfortunately I don’t think they’re in adult sizes, so I can’t wear them myself.
JM: We gotta get on that!
BB: (laughs)
JM: Since the first “PAW Patrol” movie came out, Paramount released another big movie, “Top Gun: Maverick”. I could feel during some of the flying sequences that there were some “Top Gun” vibes. Were you guys really inspired by what Tom Cruise pulled off and inserting that into “The Mighty Movie”?
BB: Absolutely. We’re big fans of “Top Gun: Maverick” and Tom Cruise — the spectacle that he brings to cinema. I like to think that we’re trying to do the same thing, scaled to our size of movies we make. I think we share the same DNA of going, “Let’s give audiences a thrill, and let’s give them a reason to come to theaters.”
JM: This is a legitimately thrilling film. When it comes to a third “PAW Patrol” movie…
CB: It will be coming to theaters in 2026, so thankfully we’ll have more than 26 months. These characters are so much fun, and we’re thrilled to be taking them on another new adventure!
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