‘Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie’ Review: Strictly for the Kids

There are animated movies for kids, and then there are animated movies for kids.

Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie is definitely the latter, skewing to the pre-teen demographic that has made the Netflix series that spawned it a hit (11 seasons, 76 episodes). Nothing wrong with that, of course, and if you happen to have some tykes that need big-screen babysitting, well, they’ll probably have a swell time. Just keep in mind that, other than the presence of Kristen Wiig, there’s precious little on offer for anyone who doesn’t drink beverages from a sippy cup.

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This live-action/animation hybrid revolves around the titular character, played in both human and animated form by Laila Lockhart Kraner (repeating her role from the series, as is the case with many members of the cast). As you may have deduced from the title, Gabby possesses a special dollhouse, made for her by her loving grandmother Gigi (Gloria Estefan), inside of which are a collection of miniature cats who come to life. Gabby has the power to also miniaturize herself at will, by pinching her ears and launching into “The Pinch Pinch Song.”

“It’s time to get tiny!” Gabby perkily announces, sounding like a motivational coach at a weight-loss seminar.

The story is set in motion when Gabby joins her grandmother in her van — specially designed to look like a cat and dubbed the “Kitty Wagon” — on a road trip to “Cat Francisco,” which looks pretty much like San Francisco except that the Golden Gate Bridge is a bright pink (actually, not a bad idea). Unfortunately, her beloved dollhouse and its denizens accidentally wind up careening down the street and falling into the hands of Vera (Wiig), for whom the term “cat lady” might have been invented. She’s forever accompanied by her pet feline Marlena, who’s dressed identically to her. She’s apparently also a successful businesswoman, having invented “Pretty Glitter Kitty Litter,” which is exactly what it sounds like.

Gabby thus has to rescue her furry animated friends while encountering some new characters along the way, including Chumley (Jason Mantzoukas), a stuffed animal who, we eventually learn, resents Vera because she stopped playing with him. (Now there’s a valuable lesson for your children: Play with your stuffed animals, or else suffer the consequences!).

That’s about all of the plot I could follow between frequent naps which were rudely interrupted by the many kiddos in attendance singing and clapping along to the action on the screen. What you should know in advance is that Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie, like the series, is interactive, so expect your children to get giddily excited during the screening. You might want to maintain a limit on their sugary snacks.

Speaking of sugary snacks, that’s pretty much the best way to describe the movie, which offers some mild life lessons along the way but is mostly a silly diversion featuring lots of peppy pop songs and far too many painful cat puns. Gabby frequently breaks the fourth wall, delivering such important advice as “You’re never too old to play.” At one point, she also instructs us to hold hands with those sitting next to us. But as a grown man there by myself, it might have resulted in me getting ejected from the theater.  

It’s all harmless fun, other than the fact that parents will undoubtedly be forced to shell out money for cat ears for their children. Kraner is a suitably likeable presence and Estefan provides the requisite warmth as the grandmother. The voice performers — including Thomas Lennon, Kyle Mooney, Melissa Villasenor, and Fortune Feimster — are superior to the rudimentary computer animation that probably works better on the small screen. And Wiig, God bless her, gives it her comedic all.