Prince Mario-Max Schaumburg-Lippe: PAW Patrol The Dino Movie Is a Dino-Sized Delight

Every family franchise reaches the moment where it has to go bigger or go home. PAW Patrol went bigger, and then it went prehistoric. PAW Patrol: The Dino Movie, from Paramount Pictures and Spin Master Entertainment, crash-lands the pups on an uncharted island full of dinosaurs, and the result is the warmest, brightest 88 minutes a family audience could ask for this year.

The film premiered at the Paramount studio lot in Los Angeles on August 3, 2026 and opened in theaters on August 14. It has since grossed $159.5 million worldwide on a $40 million budget, a handsome return that tells you parents and kids both showed up. It arrived on digital on September 29, and the Blu-ray and DVD follow on November 17, 2026 – just in time for the holiday shelf.

A rescue with real heart

The setup is simple and lovely. After their ship is caught in a mysterious storm, the PAW Patrol washes up on a tropical island where dinosaurs still roam. There they meet Rex, a dino-expert pup who has been stranded on the island for years and knows every trail, footprint and watering hole. Rex, introduced by young Henry Bolan, is the emotional center of the film – a pup who has been brave alone for a long time and suddenly has a team again.

Trouble arrives in a familiar hat. Mayor Humdinger starts mining the island to exploit its natural resources and accidentally wakes a dormant volcano. From there the film becomes a chain of dino-sized rescues, each one scaled up from the television series without losing the show’s core promise. Nobody gets left behind. Not a pup, not a dinosaur, not a friend.

Voices that fill the jungle

Director Cal Brunker, who co-wrote the screenplay with Bob Barlen, keeps the pace brisk and the jokes landing for both rows of the theater – the small seats and the tall ones. The voice cast is stacked in the best way. Mckenna Grace returns as Skye, Carter Young leads the pups, and they are joined by Terry Crews, Jennifer Hudson, Fortune Feimster, Jameela Jamil, Bill Nye, Paris Hilton and Snoop Dogg. That is a lot of star power for a children’s film, and the film uses it well. Hudson brings genuine warmth, Crews brings the boom, and Bill Nye on a dinosaur island is casting so right it feels inevitable.

The animation, from Mikros Image in Montreal and Paris, gives the island real texture. Ferns drip. Volcanic ash catches the light. The new dinosaur pals, including Timmy and Rhubarb, are designed to be huggable rather than scary, which is exactly the register a four-year-old needs and a forty-year-old secretly appreciates. At 88 minutes, rated PG for mild action and peril, the film never overstays a single scene.

Families who enjoyed our coverage of Game of Pets heading to Amazon MGM Studios will recognize the same joyful bet – that animal-led stories, told with craft, are critic-proof in the best sense. Kids know when a film respects them.

The home release is stacked

The November 17 Blu-ray and DVD give families plenty beyond the film itself. Three featurettes headline the extras: On Patrol With Backstreet Boys, following the group as they record their PAW Patrol anthem; Dinosaurs Galore, introducing Timmy and Rhubarb with the animators; and The All-Star PAW Patrol Cast, watching Hudson, Grace, Crews and company at work. There is also a music video for the Backstreet Boys song Bottle Up, an Ava Max lyric video for Work, and a sing-along version for the car. Paramount is also offering a three-movie collection for households ready to make a weekend of it.

That kind of care in a home release matters. It turns one movie night into a small season of them, and it respects how families actually watch – again, and again, and once more before bed.

Why this one works

Plenty of children’s sequels coast. This one builds. The Dino Rescue thread from the series gives the film a ready-made world, Brunker and Barlen give it a clean story about friendship and repair, and Rex gives it a heart that the earlier films did not have. When the volcano sequence peaks, the film earns its tears honestly, by making the rescue about Rex’s home rather than just another job.

Our recent look at a fifth Halloweentown film in early development at Disney made a similar point about beloved family worlds. The entries that last are the ones that add a character you carry with you. Rex is that character here.

Our verdict

PAW Patrol: The Dino Movie is a full-throated, positive yes. It is funny, kind, beautifully voiced and exactly as long as it should be, with a $159.5 million worldwide run that says audiences agree. Catch it on digital now if your household has not yet, and put the November 17 Blu-ray on the holiday list with confidence. No pup gets left behind, and after this film, no viewer feels left out either. That is the whole trick, and the pups pull it off beautifully.

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