Story

Gabby (Laila Lockhart Kraner), her best friend Pandy Paws (voice of Logan Bailey) and the Gabby Cats set off on a road trip with Gabby’s Grandma Gigi (Gloria Estefan), to visit her home and build a special project. When they arrive at Gigi’s house, the dollhouse that the Gabby Cats live in is accidentally unlatched and rolls away. It’s later found and bought by Vera (Kristen Wiig), a cat lady who sees the dollhouse as a valuable collectable.

At Vera’s house, the Gabby Cats meet Chumsley (voice of Jason Mantzoukas), an abandoned toy cat Vera no longer plays with since she grew up.

Meanwhile, Gabby sets off to find and rescue the Gabby Cats. When they all meet up, Chumsley is convinced that Gabby will soon grow up and abandon the dollhouse, just like Vera did to him.

Will Gabby be able to rescue the Gabby Cats, and can Vera learn how to play again?

Themes

Abandonment; separation; fear

Violence

Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie has some violence. For example:

• Gabby is threatened with a spork.
• A creature chasing Gabby falls off the dragonfly it’s riding when it’s hit by a leaf. The creature is saved from injury by one of the Gabby Cats.
• Gabby and the Gabby Cats fall after their plane flies too high.
• Chumsley steals Gabby’s magic ears before running away.
• A Gabby Cat jump-kicks another cat, though we only see a freeze-frame of the cat mid jump.

Sexual references

Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie has some sexual references. For example:

• Chumsley kisses a pancake.
• Chumsley tries to kiss Gabby.

Alcohol, drugs and other substances

Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie has some substance use. For example:

• A character acts like they’ve been smoking marijuana, however, no marijuana is shown.
• Catnip is inhaled.
• Gigi makes herself a cocktail.

Nudity and sexual activity

Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie has some nudity and sexual activity. For example:

• Chumsley undoes his bowtie and swings it around, as he and some other cats sing, ‘naked kitty’ and ‘naked kitty in the house’.
• A cat exposes and shakes its toasted behind, saying, ‘Cakey got bakey’.

Product placement

Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie has some product placement. For example:

• Gabby’s Dollhouse has many licensed toys and merchandise.
• A Shrek statue is featured during a road trip.

Coarse language

Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie has some coarse language. For example, ‘holy craft’ and ‘oh my gosh’.

Ideas to discuss with your children

Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie is a live action animation with musical sing-along elements. It’s based on the popular children’s DreamWorks/Netflix series Gabby’s Dollhouse, but while the series is aimed at pre-school children, the movie is unsuitable for children under 4 years, and parental guidance is recommended for children aged 4-5 years. This is due to some mildly scary scenes.

The main message from Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie is that you don’t have to let go of your ‘glitter and sparkles’ when you grow up, you can continue to imagine and play even in adulthood.

Values in Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie that you could reinforce with your children include bravery, teamwork, imagination, and empathy.

Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie could also give you the chance to talk with your children about feelings of jealousy and abandonment.