Johnson Thomas
Candy colored child-friendly fare
Film: Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie
Cast: Laila Lockhart Kraner, Gloria Estefan, Kristen Wiig, Logan Bailey, Eduardo Franco, Juliet Donenfeld, Donovan Patton, Sainty Nelsen, Thomas Lennon, Jason Mantzoukas, Ego Nwodim, Kyle Mooney, Melissa Villasenor, Fortune Feimster
Director: Ryan Crego
Rating: * * 1/2
Runtime: 98 min.
The popular Netflix show gets a live-action animation movie makeover, DreamWorks Animation’s Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie, directed by Ryan Crego, with Laila Lockhart Kraner as Gabby, Kristen Wiig as Vera and Gloria Estefan as Grandma Gigi.
The film probably hopes to create a franchise nearing the size of the Netflix series that spawned 11 seasons, 76 episodes. This film, given the pre-teen target demographic may not achieve that kind of success but certainly the kids would love it.
The titular character Gabby, played in both human and animated form by Laila Lockhart Kraner, possesses a special dollhouse, made for her by her loving grandmother Gigi (Gloria Estefan), with a collection of miniature cats who come to life. Gigi has taught Gabby to miniaturize herself by pinching each put on ear and launching into “The Pinch Pinch Song.”
When Gabby joins her grandmother in her “Kitty Wagon” — on a road trip to “Cat Francisco,” her beloved dollhouse and its denizens accidentally fall off and land into the hands of Vera (Wiig). Vera, a successful businesswoman, having invented “Pretty Glitter Kitty Litter,” has a pet feline Marlena, who accompanies her everywhere. In order to get back her dollhouse, Gabby is forced to set off on an adventure through the real world. Gabby puts on the magical ears, shrinks in size, so that she can rescue her toy friends and reclaim the dollhouse.
Along with her furry animated friends and an assortment of others, she also encounters Chumley (Jason Mantzoukas), a stuffed animal who resents Vera because she stopped playing with him.
Gabby starts out as a live girlish 17yr old and then transforms into an animated version of herself. The Movie, like the series, is interactive, so kids are likely to get excited. The animation is glitter bright and colorful. The events sewn together have a fresh and weird appeal. From start to finish there’s music and song and the kiddie audience is encouraged to sing along and dance. So it’s easy for kids to stay glued to the screen.
The adults accompanying them are more than likely to fall asleep because there’s absolutely nothing in the movie to rouse their interest. The narrative veers into mild life lessons while serenading the young audience with lively pop songs and cat puns. For kids it’s fun to be told “ You’re never too old to play” and “grab the hands of the person sitting next to you.” I can just imagine what the accompanying adult would have to face if he followed that latter instruction.
Kraner serves up likability like in the series. Estefan as the grandmother lends nurturing warmth to her role and Wiig does well to ratchet up some comedic moments. The voice performers —Donovan Patton as CatRat, Julien Donenfield as Cakey the cupcake, Maggie Lowe as Baby Box, and the others including Thomas Lennon, Kyle Mooney, Melissa Villasenor, and Fortune Feimster perform with an effusiveness suitable for a live action animation film .
The script panders to easy acceptability by kids, like in the episodes on TV. There is nothing challenging here. That a 17 year old Gabby is still playing with a dollhouse seems a little innocuous. This is a patchy series of events brought together to seem like a magical realm with bright colors and animation of the most unlikely of toys. The Golden Gate Bridge gets a lavender glow, a cupcake sprinkles tears, miniature cats, winter wonderland of cotton-candy clouds, a doughnut raft, giant gummy worms, Day-Glo underwater dance-pop number - all add to the charm of this hybrid combo specially targeted at children. Ryan Crego manages to draw affection from unchained fantasy and uncomplicated visual design that is why the film garners interest.
Johnsont307@gmail.com
No comments:
Post a Comment