Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie Director Ryan Crego on Bringing Play to the Big Screen – INTERVIEW

Beloved Netflix preschool series Gabby’s Dollhouse embarks on its first cinematic adventure.

DreamWorks Animation is bringing its global preschool hit to theaters with Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie, directed by Ryan Crego (Arlo the Alligator Boy). The live-action/animation hybrid takes Gabby and her friends beyond the dollhouse for an all-new adventure, blending playful imagination with cinematic spectacle.

Since debuting in 2021, Gabby’s Dollhouse has become a worldwide phenomenon, ranking among Netflix’s most-watched kids’ series, spawning toys, books, live events, and even theme park experiences. Now, with the movie, Gabby (Laila Lockhart Kraner) embarks on a road trip with her Grandma Gigi (Gloria Estefan) to Cat Francisco, only to find her beloved dollhouse in the hands of Vera (Kristen Wiig), an eccentric cat lady.

A Personal Mission

For Crego, the project hit close to home. “I come at it as a father of Gabby fans, so that was the biggest thing for me,” he said. “When the opportunity came up, it was like turning my daughter’s favorite TV show into a movie. I was like, absolutely, we need to do this. She’s gonna think I’m the coolest. It’s hard to get a seven-year-old to think you’re the coolest, but that was the big draw.”

Crego’s kids even played an active role in shaping the film. “All the time, I’d get their feedback. I remember very specifically a musical number in the beginning where Gabby has sunglasses and a sparkly hoodie. We couldn’t decide which one, so I called my daughter upstairs and she picked one. That’s the one that made it into the movie,” he recalled. “I wanted to make sure I had the test audience at home.”

Keeping the Spirit of Play

The interactive nature of Gabby’s Dollhouse posed both a challenge and an opportunity.

“It was really important to keep that same interactive spirit alive,” Crego said. “On the show, Gabby looks right down the pipe of the camera and asks the audience to get involved. I wanted to find a way to do that in theaters, but not necessarily at a preschool level. I referenced Ferris Bueller’s Day Off to figure out the best version of characters talking to the camera.”

That dynamic even extended to Kristen Wiig’s eccentric cat lady. “We get a lot of fun interplay with Kristen’s character not understanding what Gabby is up to as she’s talking to the audience,” he added. “As a parent, you’re in on that joke in a way younger kids might not be. And by the end, I wanted the whole audience—kids, parents, grandparents—to play along.”

Kristen Wiig’s Playful Collaboration

Crego was effusive about Wiig’s contributions.

“She’s one of the smartest, funniest, hardest-working people and so down to earth,” he said. “She was so collaborative. Sometimes we’d rework lines the day before, or even come in with lists of alternate jokes. The cat yoga scene is a great example—we both showed up with about 40 poses to try, and it was hilarious. I’d bust up laughing in the middle of takes. She’s incredible.”

Laila Lockhart Kraner’s Big Moment

Reprising her role as Gabby, Laila Lockhart Kraner experienced the scale of a feature film for the first time.

“I don’t think Laila realized how big the movie was until she got to set,” Crego said. “The series is shot on one stage in New York, but this was multiple sets and locations. She just kind of looked around like, ‘Oh, this is actually pretty big.’ She’s such a pro, such a smart, intelligent young woman, and such a great role model. We’re all lucky to have her as Gabby.”

Technical Magic of a Hybrid World

As DreamWorks’ first live-action/animation hybrid, the movie demanded seamless transitions.

“It was like creating a sleight of hand,” Crego explained. “You have the live-action world, the animated world, and the hybrid in between. We wanted the animated world to feel immersive—where imagination runs wild. We even referenced Hitchcock: how do you hide the cut? How do you make sure it feels like the same movie? That took a lot of time and attention.”

One standout was a downhill chase in Cat Francisco. “We had a dollhouse mounted to the front of a bike for VFX tracking,” he said. “It took days to choreograph, but it was also one of the most fun sequences. You’ve got Laila running after it, people crossing, and all this chaos—it was tricky, but rewarding.”

Reclaiming Family Films

Crego hopes the film contributes to a revival of family comedies.

“I really intentionally wanted to make a family film similar to the ones I grew up with—Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, Harry and the Hendersons,” he said. “Those movies were bright, colorful, cheeky, and fun. We even did a nod to Honey, I Shrunk the Kids with Gloria Estefan wearing giant glasses while making tiny food. I wanted that sense of play.”

For him, the film is as much about parents as it is about kids. “I thought, if I can get parents to sit there at the end, look at their kids, and realize, ‘This time is precious,’ then I’ve done my job,” he said. “It’s about play, about growing up, and about how fleeting those moments can be.”

Building for Fans and Newcomers

Crego also kept longtime fans in mind.

“It was super important that the kids who love the show felt like it was honest to the series,” he explained. “From a design standpoint, the characters stayed pretty much true to what they are in the series. I wanted kids to drive down the street, see the billboard, and go, that’s Gabby. It looks better somehow, but it’s still Gabby.”

At the same time, he worked to bridge the gap for parents and older siblings. “It’s really about creating a film that parents would enjoy as much as kids. Going to the movies together as a family like that is a special experience, and I’m glad we got to create one,” he said.

Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie will open in theaters on September 26th, inviting families to step inside Gabby’s world for a sprinkle-filled adventure.

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