A320
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 250; Flight Crew Total 13000; Flight Crew Type 1200
Communication Breakdown; Distraction; Time Pressure; Confusion
Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Other / Unknown
Company Policy; Human Factors; Aircraft
Our ACARS was deferred [with the] clock and printer inoperative but able to use any functions that worked. During set up ACARS and the printer operated normally. We briefed the departure (including the maintenance release status) approximately 20 minutes before schedule departure. A few minutes later we received an ACARS message that a new maintenance release was required as well as a status message on the printer advising the aircraft was ready for release. Before having an opportunity to address the maintenance status the lead flight attendant advised she was concerned about the location of an armed passenger and the status of a dog on board and advised another attendant had had a verbal conflict with a gate agent regarding overhead bin space and was asking for our intervention. Finally after dealing with these issues we pushed back and immediately realized we hadn't called maintenance about the unusual maintenance release status. Maintenance attempted to send the release to the printer but were unable. They then sent a truck out with a hard copy passed in through a cockpit window.  We; then; started engines and continued the flight uneventfully.
[Report narrative contained no pertinent additional information.]
Broken and deferred communications functions of ACARS combined with conflicts between flight attendants and passenger agents created a chaotic pre-departure scene which culminated with the flight crew's failure to obtain a hard copy maintenance release prior to gate departure.