PAW Patrol’s Adventure City is undeniably Vancouver (PHOTOS)

The bridge from Paw Patrol: The Movie (left) and the Lions Gate Bridge in Vancouver (right). (Spin Master Entertainment/Paramount Pictures/Nickelodeon Movies/Shutterstock)

Any parent with a young child has watched PAW Patrol, the never-ending rescue missions of a group of adopted technology-loaded puppies led by the young Bruce Wayne-esque child billionaire, Ryder.

Until 2021’s blockbuster release of PAW Patrol: The Movie, audiences were only really familiar with the quaint seaside village of Adventure Bay and a handful of its hapless adult residents.

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But the movie introduced us all to neighbouring Adventure City, which is, without a doubt in our minds, Vancouver.

Lions Gate Bridge

For those that haven’t yet watched the movie, let us set the scene for you. It opens with a Canadian truck driver driving a tanker of maple syrup, and he crashes on… the Lions Gate Bridge.

Any Vancouverite watching had an almost immediate anxiety attack as we watched in horror as a truck was suspended by cables off the side of the bridge.

Paw Patrol: The Movie. (Spin Master Entertainment/Paramount Pictures/Nickelodeon Movies)

Lions Gate Bridge in Vancouver. (Shutterstock)

Originally built by the Guinness family (yes, the beer people) to pave the way for the development of the North Shore, the Lions Gate Bridge has been synonymous with this city since its opening in 1938, and is an iconic and often-photographed landmark in Vancouver.

Paw Patrol: The Movie. (Spin Master Entertainment/Paramount Pictures/Nickelodeon Movies)

Lions Gate Bridge in Vancouver. (Shutterstock)

SkyTrain

Evidence point number two: the Adventure City subway. Although the interior might look the same as any other subway, the blue bottom, yellow line, and grey upper painted for the exterior livery was unmistakably Vancouver’s SkyTrain.

And while we have yet to see a mayor in Vancouver attempt to send the train in loop-the-loops, the truth might not exactly be far off around here.

Paw Patrol: The Movie. (Spin Master Entertainment/Paramount Pictures/Nickelodeon Movies)

skytrain expo line stadium station downtown vancouver

SkyTrain Expo Line train approaching Stadium-Chinatown Station in downtown Vancouver. (Shutterstock)

skytrain expo line commercial-broadway station

Commercial-Broadway Station on SkyTrain Expo Line. (Shutterstock)

Mark I SkyTrain cars during snowfall. (Shutterstock)

Vancouver Art Gallery

Although the subtlety of the SkyTrain’s colours might only be recognizable to Vancouverites, anyone can see that Mayor Humdinger’s fireworks scene is 100% the Vancouver Art Gallery.

The building in real life has had many lives. Opened in 1906 as a courthouse, in the 1980s it was renovated, along with Robson Square, by the renowned late Arthur Erickson and became the building and plaza residents know and love today.

Paw Patrol: The Movie. (Spin Master Entertainment/Paramount Pictures/Nickelodeon Movies)

View of the Vancouver Art Gallery building from Robson Square. (Shutterstock)

Vancouver Art Gallery. (Shutterstock)

No Fun City

But probably the most convincing “tell” was Mayor Humdinger’s speech about Adventure City, which many people would likely consider spot-on for Vancouver.

“You know, they call this place Adventure City. But what’s so adventurey about it? The truth is, it’s boring. Libraries? Boring. Museums? Boring. Little dog parks? Definitely.”

As Vancouver is known for its landmark Library Square, a smattering of museums, and the label of being “adventurey” but a “No Fun City” — a description that’s proven to be very hard to shake over the years — it seems Mr. Mayor’s speech was aimed nearly directly at our fair city.

We could go on, and we may just, should you want us to.

But, for now, our collective thanks as Vancouverites go to Toronto-based Spin Master Entertainment, the creators and owners of PAW Patrol, for their homage to our beautiful city.

And for their challenge to us (or perhaps a warning) to be more fun, lest Mayor Humdinger jump off the screen at some point in our city’s future.

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