PAW Patrol (lost pitch pilots and early concepts of Nick Jr. animated series; 2008-2013)

The original concept art for PAW Patrol, courtesy of Spin Master.

Status: Lost

PAW Patrol is a Nick Jr. computer-animated series created by Keith Chapman. The series revolves around a boy named Ryder with a crew of rescue dogs and pups that work on missions in the fictional Adventure Bay.

The show has gone through a vast amount of changes before its initial premiere in 2013. There are believed to be a variety of pitch pilots and concept tests from before the series was finalized, and these have not seen the light of day.

Concepts

Robbie's Pup Pack

Status: Existence Unconfirmed

Sometime in 2008 to 2010, concepts and a possible pitch pilot were proposed by Spin Master and developed by Keith Chapman. The working title at this time was Robbie's Pup Pack and the design took a more realistic and 2D approach.^[1]

Ryder was named Robbie in this stage, and the pups were of the middle line between cartoonish and realistic in terms of design. The original name was confirmed by Guru Studio in an image posted on their social medias promoting the anniversary of PAW Patrol.^[2]

Currently, the only images that exist for this pilot are the logo and two seperate concept art sheets. It is not known if this animation style was ever tested or worked on.

Robbie’s Rescue Dogs

Status: Lost

In an unknown timestamp, another concept was pitched, approaching for a way less realistic design and the name Robbie's Rescue Dogs (also known as Robbie's Rescue Pups). A variety of design changes were pitched and considered during this phase, with the only known ones being the earliest sketches of one and a potential later one that resembles the final show closer.

There is a lack of information about this phase in development, however an image of the earlier concept art was given to the NickALive! blog by Keith Chapman. A few pieces of concept art were also available on John Mariella's website, but have since been taken down and only a few have been archived.

There is confirmed to exist an animation test and a trailer that was pitched and shown to Nick Jr. during either this phase or an earlier one, but this has never resurfaced as of now.^[3] According to John Mariella's website, there was an Otter character in the test scene. ^[4]

Ryder's PAW Patrol

Status: Existence Unconfirmed

Around 2012, another concept was pitched, this time having the name Ryder's PAW Patrol. The design was changed drastically and resembled the final show more in terms of these factors, outside of the fact that designs were still 2D in this stage. The name Ryder was also finalized during this stage.^[5]

One scrapped character during the development was a dog named Timber, who resembled the design and would've been the companion of another character named Jake. The reason why Timber was scrapped is unknown, however he was replaced with Everest in the final series. The change from 2D to 3D for designs happened sometime in late 2012 or 2013.^[6]

There exists multiple pieces of concept art from this stage, however it is not known if any animation or tests exists, though it is most likely they exist in some format.

Availability

While concept art exists and has resurfaced for most of the stages, any animation tests, trailers, or footage has currently not seen the light of day yet. Only one stage is also confirmed to have footage as of now.

It is unknown if any more concept art or images will be posted by production members or make its way online.