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It’s all colours and glitters as the Netflix popular show Gabby’s Dollhouse hits the big screen in a film featuring Laila Lockhart Kraner in the titular role and Kristen Wiig and Gloria Estefan as key supporting characters. The animated Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie revolves around the titular character (repeating her role from the series), played in both human and animated form. Whether you are an animated movie lover or not, this musical fantasy is strictly for kids—and there’s nothing wrong with that.
Gabby’s Dollhouse
Gabby’s Dollhouse may be unfamiliar to anyone who doesn’t cohabit with young children. However, it was a balm for many when screen time skyrocketed across the world. It was in 2021, when COVID deaths were in a surge and preschools were closed, that Netflix launched an animated series about a girl who wears cat ears, sings cheerful songs, and says puns like “miaow-mazing,” “ab-so-cat-loutely.” Well, the puns continued, so did the songs, and adorable mentions in the movie adaptation.
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Watch Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie Trailer
Gabby is a fun, upbeat girl who lives in a cat-themed world. As you may have guessed it right from the title, Gabby possesses a special dollhouse, made for her by her grandmother Gigi (played by Gloria Estefan). Inside the dollhouse is a collection of miniature cats who come to life. Gabby also has the power to miniaturise herself, by pinching her ears with the iconic “The Pinch Pinch Song.”
The story is set when Gabby decides to join her grandmother in her van on a road trip to ‘Cat Francisco,’ which looks pretty much like San Francisco—except that the Golden Gate Bridge is pink. As scenes unfold, her beloved dollhouse and the miniature cats accidentally wind up careening down the street and falling into the hands of cat lady Vera (played by Kristen Wiig), who has lost touch with the child within. Accompanied by her pet feline, Marlena, she is a successful businesswoman with her “Pretty Glitter Kitty Litter” invention.
Gabby, who is now old enough to leave her kiddie dreams behind, teams up with her kitty friends to take control of the Dollhouse back from Vera, while encountering some new characters along the way. The movie further centres around the idea that playthings feel abandoned when the kids grow up.
Rating: 3/5
Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie is about the textures, the fun of spending 90 minutes in a child’s universe. The film’s theme will certainly remind you of Toy Story, but by the end of the movie, you might feel like the Gabby Cats were your friends too, just like the little kid sitting next to you in the theatre, with their kitty ears headband.
The movie, like the series, is interactive, so expect your children to excitedly sing in unison. With the sugary snacks theme, the movie further offers some mild life lessons along the way, but with far too many painful cat puns. Well, there are animated movies for kids and there are animated movies for kids. Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie is the latter. For the grownups, who occasionally enjoys animated movies, are you in the fim’s intended age demographic? No. But will Vera’s “Pretty Glitter Kitty Litter” be stuck in your head for at least a few days? Perhaps!
