<\/p>\n
LOS ANGELES (AP) \u2014 When Laila Lockhart Kraner first slipped on the headband and cat ears for \u201cGabby\u2019s Dollhouse\u201d<\/a> at age 11, she couldn\u2019t have predicted how her character\u2019s mantras of positivity and resilience and \u201cfailing fantastically\u201d without giving up would shape her own life.<\/p>\n Six years later, those lessons are so embedded in Kraner\u2019s life that they\u2019ve become core principles rather than just lines in a script. That voice of imagination and persistence \u2014 which has become familiar to millions of kids around the world \u2014 now moves from the series\u2019 cozy living room to DreamWorks Animation\u2019<\/a> s first ever live-action animation hybrid film, \u201cGabby\u2019s Dollhouse: The Movie,\u201d<\/a> opening in theaters Friday.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve said (those lines) so many times that they\u2019ve become ingrained in me,\u201d said Kraner, now 17, who has also appeared in \u201cblack-ish,\u201d<\/a> \u201cShots Fired\u201d and the indie thriller \u201cThe Secret of Sinchanee.\u201d The actor is heading into her senior year at a public high school outside Boston.<\/p>\n \u201cI hear Gabby\u2019s voice in my head, encouraging me to keep going and smile even when I don\u2019t feel like it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Kraner points to children\u2019s shows like \u201cSesame Street\u201d<\/a> as being foundational to her own childhood, teaching her how to share and be kind. She says now it feels surreal to see \u201cGabby\u2019s Dollhouse\u201d having that same influence on young viewers.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel really lucky to be that voice of positivity and great messages for a next generation of kids,\u201d she said. \u201cI remember all the shows I watched as a kid were so fundamental to who I am today \u2026 so it\u2019s really cool that I get to be that for kids now.\u201d<\/p>\n What\u2019s the film about?<\/p>\n The big-screen debut of \u201cGabby\u2019s Dollhouse\u201d carries forward the series\u2019 central message: creativity and problem-solving aren\u2019t just for children, but vital at every age.<\/p>\n In the movie, Gabby sets out on a road trip with Grandma Gigi \u2014 voiced and portrayed by four-time Grammy winner Gloria Estefan<\/a> \u2014 to the urban wonderland of Cat Francisco. But when her beloved dollhouse falls into the hands of Vera, an eccentric cat lady played by Oscar-nominated Kristen Wiig,<\/a> Gabby ventures into the real world to reunite with her Gabby Cats friends and rescue her prized possession.<\/p>\n For Estefan, the story\u2019s theme resonates well beyond animation.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a beautiful thing whenever you can create something that can be a shared experience in a family,\u201d said the 68-year-old singer and actor. She added that her decades-long music career has shown her the value of imagination at any age.<\/p>\n \u201cOur spirits have no age and you can\u2019t lose the hope,\u201d she said. \u201cYou can bring play into the world, so that you forget a little bit about what\u2019s going on. Our kids are under a lot of stress, so I think this is really a beautiful balance.\u201d<\/p>\n Learning from her idols<\/p>\n Kraner said sharing the screen with Estefan and Wiig felt like stepping into a master class. She grew up hearing Estefan\u2019s music in her family\u2019s home and called the singer \u201cso smart and full of wisdom,\u201d adding that she carried the same playfulness on set that she\u2019s brought to her lauded career.<\/p>\n \u201cShe laughs, she jokes, she plays pranks,\u201d Kraner said about Estefan. \u201cShe really embodies the power of play.\u201d<\/p>\n Working alongside Wiig was equally surreal. Kraner recalled doing comedy exercises in acting class using Wiig\u2019s \u201cSaturday Night Live\u201d sketches, then suddenly found herself trading lines with her in a major film.<\/p>\n \u201cIt really felt like a comedy master class,\u201d Kraner said. \u201cWatching how she transformed into Vera with the wig and nails and everything, and then just flowed with improv and new ideas. It lived up to every expectation.\u201d<\/p>\n How \u201cGabby\u2019s Dollhouse\u201d grew into a global sensation<\/p>\n The series began as a 26-episode Netflix order in 2021. But it has since grown into more than 100 episodes, becoming the most watched kids & family title with 108 million views across seasons on the platform, according to the streamer\u2019s engagement report covering January-June<\/a> this year.<\/p>\n Along the way, \u201cGabby\u2019s Dollhouse\u201d has expanded beyond the small screen, transforming into a multiplatform franchise with toys, music, games and live events reaching children worldwide.<\/p>\n On YouTube, Gabby content<\/a> has drawn more than 3.6 billion views across full episodes, toy play and music videos. The official app has been downloaded more than 50 million times. Music from the series has surpassed 500 million streams, with Republic Records releasing a new soundtrack tied to the movie featuring K-pop group aespa, MAX and Lu Kala.<\/p>\n For director Ryan Crego, who is a father of young children, the franchise\u2019s sprawling success is rooted in something simple: imagination. He said the film was inspired by watching his children invent stories in their dollhouse, and his daughter even appears on screen as young Vera, a small but pivotal role that underscores the movie\u2019s theme.<\/p>\n \u201cKids can turn on imagination instantly. Adults have to dust off the cobwebs,\u201d Crego said. \u201cI wanted parents to walk out realizing this wasn\u2019t just for their kids. It was for them too.\u201d<\/p>\n That message is being carried over into the live and physical space as well.<\/p>\n \u201cGabby\u2019s Dollhouse Live!\u201d<\/a> premiered in Australia earlier this year and launched a U.S. tour last week, spanning 80 shows nationwide. Retail partners like CAMP are rolling out Gabby-themed immersive experiences<\/a> in Los Angeles and Charlotte.<\/p>\n At Universal theme parks from Orlando to Beijing, Gabby merchandise is already a fixture, with Japan joining by year\u2019s end. And in 2026, Gabby will take center stage at Universal Kids Resort, a new park in Frisco, Texas.<\/p>\n For Kraner, seeing Gabby\u2019s world stretch into theaters and beyond feels like a full-circle moment.<\/p>\n \u201cBeing an actor is really just playing pretend,\u201d she said. \u201cYou have to fully believe in that power of play, and I think that\u2019s why Gabby connects with kids everywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n Jonathan Landrum Jr., The Associated Press<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source ca.news.yahoo.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" LOS ANGELES (AP) \u2014 When Laila Lockhart Kraner first slipped on the headband and cat ears for \u201cGabby\u2019s Dollhouse\u201d at age 11, she couldn\u2019t have predicted how her character\u2019s mantras of positivity and resilience and \u201cfailing fantastically\u201d without giving up would shape her own life. Six years later, those lessons are so embedded in Kraner\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2049340,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25173],"tags":[380333,346225,310569,380089],"class_list":["post-2049339","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-artists","tag-dollhouse","tag-gloria-estefan","tag-kristen-wiig","tag-laila-lockhart-kraner"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Laila-Lockhart-Kraner-carries-Gabbys-Dollhouse-positivity-to-DreamWorks-live-action.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2049339","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2049339"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2049339\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2049340"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2049339"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2049339"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2049339"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}