Ideas For New Disability Representation: Forest the Wildlife Pup
(Just a dog I got off of google, what the design would probably be) ⚠️ SPOILERS ⚠️
Obviously with Paw Patrol: The Dino Movie out in theaters right now, the movie is doing fantastic overall with critics, reviews and voting, and they had a massive money amount in the box office, and hopefully there is a high chance there will be a fourth movie to continue this on!
One of the reasons why the movie is doing so well is because of one of the characters featured from the original series, Rex.
Since Rex has been a huge hit overall in Paw Patrol, why not we introduce some more?
This is just an idea, and I am not an expert on move making so please don’t come after me. I am just a minor hoping to see representation.
The dog above is Forest the Chihuahua. I know, it’s an image but please roll me with here. Maybe Forest isn’t with the Paw Patrol, she lives somewhere else, but Forest is a small brown chihuahua with white paws and a patch of white on her chest who lives in deep, dense forest taking the time to watch over the animals and rare creatures that live here. Her design alone would be very marketable, and kids and people in general love seeing the smallest underdogs complete the biggest missions.
Her job would be maybe Wildlife Conversation and Habitat Specialist. Her small size would mean that she could squeeze into tight wedges or spaces to rescues trapped animals under debris or other stuff, and with her calm and patient presence, she would be able to gently guide animals to veterinarians through medical procedures and check-ups, and she would maintain the health of the forest around her. Picking up litter, planting new flowers and trees, stopping illegal hunting and people messing with the animals would just be some of those things she would be at. In her pup pack maybe she could have a first-aid animal medic kit and a thermal tracking camera to spot animals she can’t see easily hidden under bushes or in the crevices of cracks. Maybe her pup tag could be a forest of trees, or just one tree, or even a flower.
Ok, her disability (please don’t flame me this is just an idea) Childhood Onset Fluency Disorder, or a stutter.
If you don’t know a stutter is a neurological disorder which revolves in involuntary disruptions in the flow and fluency of speech and how long it takes sounds to get out of someone’s mouth. The stutterer knows what they want to say, but physically it’s going to take them a bit longer than someone without a stutter to get their words out. It does not mean she is nervous or dumb, in fact, she has some of the sharpest ears and the most patience out of any of the pups.
Stuttering is not caused by nerves or anxiety or thinking too much, those these factors can worsen it, and I think it would be amazing to see stuttering in media. Not only is it represented extremely low, so there is basically barely any representation of proper stuttering, but the VERY majority of characters of stutterers are male, and used to be comedic relief, weak, geeky or a villain. There is quite literally no female representation of stuttering which is why I made Forest a female pup. This would add on to the start absence of stuttering, especially female stuttering, which already isn’t talked about enough.
Just like Rex, despite her disability, Forest is an empathic and intelligent chihuahua who is sensitive and caring to the Forest around her. She is selfless by making sure the animals and the trees are all well and taken care of and completely devoid of trash, and she would have a quiet yet bright confidence in her abilities to lead hurt and scared animals to safety. She wouldn’t rush into danger. Instead she would be very observant in her surroundings and she would be able to accurately read animal body language and miss things the other pups would probably miss because they would be more likely to rush in a situation instead of taking the time to look around them first.
She would be fiercely brave at times even with her stutter, not hesitating oje bit to protect a bear cub against maybe a human trying to hurt it, or even guide a frantic moose out of danger, proving that your size doesn’t matter in bravery.
But most of all, by having a character, especially a girl, who stutters freely and openly, she would teach little kids that anyone’s voice should be heard even if they have different rhythms in speech and how they may pronounce their words. It would also teach kids empathy for different people and to always be patient while listening to someone, because they might miss something important. Like maybe Forest discovers a massive breakthrough in something and she goes to tell the other pups despite her stutter. That would be such a strong message to kids, and really people in general.
It would be so empowering when Ryder chooses Forest for a mission and she stutters out, chest high:
“I-I-I’m one with the f-f-forest!”
Basic catchphrase, but still. And it wouldn’t be just repetitions; prolongations and hard blocks and word swapping would be so cool to see. The producers could work with the National Stuttering Association and speech language pathologists to consult with to make sure Forest is an accurate and respectful representation of stuttering, and also how to accurately interpret and write it out. Maybe they could pre-record certain lines instead of standing to an immediate script, snd they could have a girl who actually stutters voice act. Instead of a script handed to them, the voice actor and the director can have an unscripted natural conversation with them and they could record it to put in the movie. All the natural stuttering would be captured organically. Then they could take all the parts and audio editing them to make it a natural part of the dialogue. Maybe even for fun they could custom animate her blocks with maybe her eyes closing or her head gives a slight, determined nod of physically pushing through it, showing realistic blocking moments and stuttering in general.
Maybe if she were to have a backstory, it most likely wouldn’t be as dramatic as Rex’s, but definitely more on the emotional side of things. Maybe as a little pup she was teased viciously by the other pups around her for her stutter, and she couldn’t defend herself verbally, or the other pups would get impaitent and tell her to spit it out or just walk away all together because they didn’t have the paitent to just listen. Despite having so much to share, she would start to believe that her voice didnt matter and she would become withdrawn and self-conscious about her stutter, so she would always go into the forest when she had she chance too and sit in it and just relax in it, interacting with all the living things in it because this was the one place she was free from all the torment. Bullying is a realistic experience for stutterers, so it would be nice to show this with her backstory. The woods are quiet, they are beautiful, and nature never judges. She would find peace in the forest. Then over time her isolation would turn into her biggest strength, which would cause her deep love for the forest.
Maybe a big moment for her is that the Paw Patrol, or someone, gets stuck in something like a mudslide, and because Forest knows the forest better than anyone else, she would be the one to lead them out of it and rescue the trapped hikers with her voice. She would help the Paw Patrol by using her stuttering voice to locate them where they were covered under the mud, and no one would tell her to slow down, take a deep breath, they would just listen with deep patience and immense respect for Forest as everyone was located and moved out to safety.
Like before, her pup tag would be maybe of multiple trees or just a single tree to represent the forest and her deep love and overwhelming desire to protect it from danger. Maybe for some hobbies, she loves collecting dead insect wings and plants and putting them in a scrapbook she loves, dipping into the nearby river for a swim, and sitting somewhere to just be at peace for a while, and maybe she lives in the forest, full of choice, so she can watch over the forest more easily instead of running back and forth. Maybe because she is used to the quiet, she would be really afraid of loud machinery like bulldozers or even lawn mowers, and maybe she loves dried fruit, specifically maybe apples or dried cranberries, though she mainly uses them to gain the trust of animals. She may also like drawing in the mud or splashing in puddles on rainy days, and maybe her design could actually be a large log cabin where she lives at, showing her resourceful side and her survival skills.
Again, this is JUST AN IDEA, though I didn’t mean to type this much and go this deep, but if they were to add more disability representation, I think Forest would be a really neat add to the pack, though I know with the amount of forest-based pups already in the show, I’m not sure if this would happen. But this is a really cool idea otherwise, and I really enjoyed creating her!