Kristen Wiig and Gloria Estefan are moving into Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie.
The two are confirmed to join the cast of the Ryan Crego-directed hybrid live-action and animated film, per DreamWorks Animation president Margie Cohn, who announced it from the Colosseum stage inside Caesars Palace in Las Vegas during Universal Pictures’ CinemaCon presentation.
Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie finds title star Laila Lockhart Kraner reprising her role from the beloved small screen series. The film follows the tween as she goes on a road trip with her Grandma Gigi (Estefan) to the urban wonderland of Cat Francisco. But when Gabby’s dollhouse, her most prized possession, ends up in the hands of an eccentric cat lady named Vera (Wiig), Gabby sets off on an adventure through the real world to get the Gabby Cats back together and save the dollhouse before it’s too late. The film was penned by Crego with Melanie Wilson LaBracio and Adam Wilson.
Now in its 11th season and streaming on Netflix, Gabby’s Dollhouse was created by Traci Paige Johnson and Jennifer Twomey. It regularly charts among the top 10 most-watched TV shows on Netflix. The series follows a tween who, after unboxing items, uses the power of her magical cat ears to shrink down into an animated version of herself to go on miniature adventures with her kitty pals, called the Gabby Cats.
During her time on stage, Cohn detailed the cultural impact Gabby has had in her short four-year life since being created by DreamWorks, citing a YouTube channel with three billion views, a best-selling consumer products line, and ratings that make keep it consistently in Netflix’s top 10. “She’s big and she’s about to get much bigger,” Cohn said, revealing plans propelled by NBC Universal that will see the franchise expanding into theme parks, live entertainment, gaming, interactive offerings and more. “Which is to say that our girl is primed and ready for her theatrical debut,” Cohn said, adding that it will be an “all new hybrid family adventure.”
Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie debuts in theaters on Sept. 26.