With the successful release of PAW Patrol: The Movie, fans young and old finally have the chance to see some of their favorite characters on the big screen. While the film does feature some iconic pups from the original TV series, there's no doubt that the action looks radically different from how it might appear on the small screen. Of course, any transition from TV to cinema is going to have an impact. However, there's no getting away from the fact that this particular switch has had a seriously weird effect on the animation.
PAW Patrol: The Movie tells the story of a team of heroic dogs who head into Adventure City in order to thwart the corrupt mayor, Humdinger. Featuring a mix of human and animal characters, the film has been warmly received by both audiences and critics, and currently holds a solid 75% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. It has also been a modest success at the box office, grossing $41 million so far against a budget of just $26 million.
Given both the critical and financial response to the film, it's fair to say that PAW Patrol: The Movie has succeeded on many levels. However, there's no doubt that there are some dramatic differences between the new movie and the preexisting and much-loved animated series. In particular, there is a stark difference between the two interpretations' physical appearance on screen, largely as a result of a new approach to the animation.
The main reason for the different animation styles between the TV show and the movie is the different personnel responsible. For the series, animation duties are handled by Guru Studio – a well-established Canadian team responsible for several other popular animated TV shows. However, the movie instead relied on Mikros Animation in Montreal, who employed a completely new team of 60 dedicated animators for the project. According to an Animation Magazine interview with animation supervisor Guillermo Dupinet, "Their biggest challenge was creating high-quality theatrical animation that didn’t lose the sense of the series. They were also especially interested in creating action scenes that had more of a realistic quality." This goes some way to explaining why the movie looks so drastically different from the TV show.
Although the visual disparity is one of the most immediately obvious differences between the two PAW Patrols, there are a few other notable contrasts. For instance, the lead role of Chase in the movie was played by Young Sheldon star Iain Armitage, as opposed to the regular voice actor Justin Paul Kelly. With the prospect of even more PAW Patrols further down the line, it seems likely that this trend will continue. Fortunately, in the case of PAW Patrol: The Movie, it looks like the decision played dividends.