Premiering on Netflix in 2021, Gabby’s Dollhouse took off in popularity, so it made sense that the next step would be a feature-length movie. While the film, Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie, changes its format a bit to give the story a bigger scope, it’s no less engaging and entertaining for kids. A mix of live-action and animation, the film features adventures for Gabby (Laila Lockhart Kraner) and her Gabby Cats — including Kitty Fairy (Tara Strong), Carlita (Carla Tᴀssarra), and CatRat (Donovan Patton) — inside and outside Gabby’s magical dollhouse.

Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie is interactive like the series. For a song Gabby sings with MerCat (Secunda Wood), she asks the audience to sing along and clap, which the kids in my screening did enthusiastically. It’s a great way to maintain children’s attention, and they feel like they’re more a part of the experience rather than pᴀssive viewers. The film is wholesome and endearing without overdoing it.

Older audiences will recognize some of the same themes from movies like Toy Story 2, especially when Chumsley (Jason Mantzoukas) reveals his backstory of being abandoned by Vera (a genuinely funny and weird performance from Kristen Wiig), an eccentric cat lady and the inventor of Kitty Glitter Litter, who took Gabby’s dollhouse for her collection. Gabby, with later help from her grandma Gigi (Gloria Estefan), works to rescue her Gabby Cats and bring them home.

But just when it’s ᴀssumed that Vera, whose outfits are honestly spectacular and fit her odd personality and social awkwardness, is the villain, Chumsley begins a dollhouse takeover to ensure he never goes back to the drawer again. Gabby — still full of imagination, and who can become tiny by pinching her magical cat ears — must contend with the doubts she starts to have about playing with her Gabby Cats forever. After all, kids grow up to be adults who no longer play with toys, and Gabby is growing up fast.

Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie Is A Fun, Interactive Viewing Experience For Kids

To that end, the live-action animated adventure nicely captures its themes about what it means to grow up, pondering whether adults are too old to play with toys — and play in general. The definition of play here isn’t constricted to toys, but extends to being inventive and the willingness to free one’s mind from a singular idea of what it means to be an adult.

Vera still has toys, but they sit on counters and stands or in gardens, unused and only for show. The film equates becoming an adult with a loss of imagination and creativity; Vera doesn’t know how to have fun, either, and has lost a sense of curiosity. Creative

Gabby has to not only save her dollhouse and its residents, but she has to convince Vera and herself that adulthood doesn’t have to erase the parts that made being a kid so exciting and worthwhile. This, in many ways, ensures that Lockhart Kraner can continue as Gabby despite growing up, while also introducing a next-chapter-esque moment at the end of the film that locks in its continued existence.

Ryan Crego’s direction is very straightforward, but unlike some other projects made for kids, Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie doesn’t have a cringe factor. It’s sweet and energetic and popping with vibrant colors, especially in the final act, which sees Gabby on an animated in-dollhouse adventure. Traci Paige Johnson and Jennifer Twomey, who created the original Gabby’s Dollhouse, wrote a script that’s full of imagination and delightful fun.

The result is a cute, thoughtful film that allows a new generation of kids to contemplate what it means to grow up, and whether they will retain that sense of pᴀssion and creative spirit in adulthood. Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie isn’t for everyone, nor is it trying to be. It knows its target audience and delivers an entertaining adventure, while also offering a valuable lesson for adults.