Puppy Dog Pals Premieres April 14th! #PuppyDogPalsEvent #Cars3Event

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I was invited by Disney to attend this event. All of my expenses were paid, but I promise all opinions are my own.

While in San Francisco for the Cars 3 Event, we also had the opportunity to screen the premiere episode of Puppy Dog Pals which is coming to Disney Channel on Friday Apri 14th at 10:30am with two back-to-back episodes! I am so excited to share the details with you and tell you why I’m excited to share this show with my 2 year old! 

About Puppy Dog Pals

Fun-loving pug puppies, brothers Bingo and Rolly, have thrill-seeking appetites that take them on exhilarating adventures in their neighborhood and around the globe. Whether helping their owner Bob or assisting a friend in need, the pugs’ motto is that life is more exciting with your best friend by your side. Each episode features two 11-minute stories that showcase Bingo and Rolly’s similarities and differences while demonstrating positive lessons about friendship, problem-solving, collaboration, creativity and adventure.  The series is created by comedian Harland Williams and executive-produced by Sean Coyle.

In addition to screening the premiere of Puppy Dog Pals, we were given the opportunity to chat with Sean Coyle (Executive Producer) and Diane Ikemiyashiro (Disney Junior Creative Executive)  regarding how Puppy Dog Pals came about. 

The Creation of Puppy Dog Pals

“Early on, we did some focus testing with some preschool kids and the original design of Hissy was orange. All of the girls loved Hissy and then one of the girls suggested that she would be better if she was pink or purple so I thought that was a great idea.” – Sean Coyle

I was very curious about what age range Puppy Dog Pals is geared towards. Sean told us, “We’re aiming for two to five, as sort of the sweet spot.” Sean is a parent of two little kids himself and states that he is picky about what they watch so it has to be something that he wouldn’t mind spending time watching with them either. That was a focus for himself and the crewmembers too when creating Puppy Dog Pals.

Sean summarizes that what drew him to the project originally was that he had worked at Disney in the past and then sort of went away and did his own thing. They invited him back and asked if he would be interested in working on this show. What he appreciated was that right at that time, his kids were getting into the age where they watched TV so he started to study a little more of Disney Junior programming! He loves that it is story first and characters and that they didn’t talk down to their audience which some preschool show sort of do. He states that kids are a lot smarter than we give them credit for. All of this was on their minds as they went forward with the show. 

One of the things I loved at Puppy Dog Pals is that each episode contains two 11 minute stories. The intent of the show creators was to treat these 11-minute shorts like little 11-minute movies and just to see what appeals to kids and see what sticks with them. He states that with Disney there is a standard of quality and that he would be able to turn on Disney and sort of leave them there because he knew there wouldn’t be anything suspect in the shows. 

Family is the Core

Diane chimes in to state that at the core of this particular show is family! The two pug puppes, Bingo and Rolly are brothers and they love each other, they are very rambunctious and they really support each other even though they have different personalities. They have friends all throughout the neighborhood that they meet and all around the world. So, at the core of this particular show is family bonds, being friends, making friends and being a good brother. 

The songwriter for the show, Andy Bean, is super brilliant and creates a unique song for each 11 minute short! Sean and Diane agree that he is brilliant!! They also feature all kinds of songs and styles based upon where Bingo and Rolly go in the episode. 

Diane states that they have a whole team of educational consultants and in their Disney Junior department they have the educational resource group who watch every episode. They’re not necessarily trying to each lessons or instill any kind of really didactic type of lesson but hopeful that in their stories there’s something inspiring that the kids can learn from the interactions between the brothers or when they’re out in the world meeting other characters. 

Bingo and Rolly’s Journeys

Each episode surely has Bingo and Rolly going on a journey together but not all of the episodes will have them going to an international destination. I loved seeing the episodes and cannot wait to see what other journeys Bingo and Rolly take. 

Bob inspires a lot of their journeys or at least plays quite a bit into the storylines. Sometimes they’re sparked by something Bob hears on the news in the morning. There is one particular episode that takes place in China but it has a different twist where the pugs hear from Bob that the Mona Lisa is missing which is a catastrophe! It’s the greatest painting in the world so the dogs thing, what will we do to find the greatest painting in the world? On the greatest wall in the world. They get to China and actually find the Mona Lisa for Bob. There are a lot of episodes where they definitely try to play out four- year old detective skills and how four-year olds would sort of piece together a puzzle or a mystery. 

Additional Characters Coming

There was mention of additional characters and Sean lets us know that they’re not all introduced at once. We will see them sprinkled in and then once we meet them, they appear more often throughout the season. There is one character that is a junkyard dog who is sort of the neighborhood big brother. In their missions, if Rolly and Bingo are ever backed up and don’t know what to do, they rely on the junkyard dog.

Premiere Episode Details

You’ll want to tune in on Friday, April 14th at 10:30am ET/PT so you can see two back-to-back episodes on Disney Channel. The premiere episode will also become available that day on the Disney Junior app and Disney Junior YouTube page. There are a total of 25 half-hour episodes and each half- hour is two 11-minute stories. There are a total of 50 stories in the season! 

Now that you know a little more about this fun show for your family, be sure to tune in on Friday or catch it on the app and Disney Junior YouTube page. I know that Liam and I are excited to watch it together!! 

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