With Ayo Edebiri Behind it, Is Dallas Ready for an Edgy Barney Movie?

In addition to the Mavericks and some of the world’s greatest barbecue, Dallas also has the honor of being the home of the highly popular children’s television series Barney & Friends, which began airing on PBS in 1992. The live-action show featured a playful purple dinosaur whose optimism, music and lessons about friendship proved to be popular with children, but completely hated by parents. The series was shot in North Texas for nearly two decades, and continues to be highly popular on streaming and syndication.

Although there are few children’s programs that haven’t made the leap to the big screen in one form or another, the prospect of a feature-length Barney & Friends adventure seemed implausible for a number of reasons. The goofy costume, despite being well-suited for a small-scale venue with more limited production values, may seem rather ridiculous on the silver screen. There’s also the rise of what Wikipedia describes as “anti-Barney humor;” backlash against the obnoxious nature of the show and its characters sparked a rise in crude, mean-spirited jokes from the internet’s most ardent Barney & Friends haters.

The announcement of a Barney movie would be far less shocking if it were intended to be a “kids-only” CGI animated project in the vein of the recent revivals of Peanuts or Garfield. However, it was recently announced that the independent distributor A24 would be developing a live-action project from Mattel Films, which produced Greta Gerwig’s acclaimed Barbie film. Writing (and potentially starring) in the film is none other than Ayo Edebiri, the acclaimed co-star of The Bear and Big Mouth.

It was previously announced that a Barney film was in the works by producer Daniel Kaluuya, but Edebiri’s involvement suggests that it may be inching closer to active development. A Mattel spokesperson was previously quoted as saying that the film would be “leaning into the millennial angst of the property rather than fine-tuning this for kids,” and that, “it’ll focus on some of the trials and tribulations of being thirtysomething, growing up with Barney.”

While this may seem like an extended Saturday Night Live sketch, it’s not the first example of an unusual property inspiring something highly creative. Many saw the development of The LEGO Movie as a sign that Hollywood was capable of turning advertisements into feature-length films, but the 2014 animated adventure proved to be an instant cult classic that spoke to a childhood love of building. Even Barbie faced similar apprehension, with rumors of it being a cynical endeavor, but after over $1 billion in box office and several Academy Award nominations, it was evident that Gerwig’s film captured a cultural conversation.

That being said, both Barbie and The LEGO Movie were able to craft an array of characters that could be the subject of an entirely original story. Barney has a more finite universe; he’s a friendly tyrannosaur who teaches children about growing up and has friends that include the green triceratops known as “Baby Bop,” the protoceratops known as “BJ,” and the hadrosaur known as “Riff.” The “human” characters within the Barney universe were varied, much like in The Mickey Mouse Club, with children who appeared on the show and would stop showing up once they grew up.

Will Barney's super fans (if they exist) rebel against a more “angsty,” millennial-centric interpretation of their beloved purple dinosaur? It remains to be seen, but the upcoming film certainly scored a major drawing factor thanks to Edebiri’s involvement. After serving as a writer on the hit Netflix animated series Big Mouth, Edebiri joined the voice cast in the show’s fourth season, leading her to acclaimed guest roles on popular programs such as Abbott Elementary, Dickinson, Black Mirror and the reboot of Clone High.

Edebiri’s status as one of her generation’s most exciting young talents was solidified thanks to her Emmy Award-winning performance as Sydney Adamu on The Bear, the riveting Hulu series that has earned praise for its dramatic interpretation of work/kitchen drama, setting a Chicago restaurant. Edebiri’s made her directorial debut with the episode “Napkins,” which received unanimous praise, even from critics who were more mixed on the heavy-handed third season. It’s evident that Edebiri has talent as a storyteller, but tackling a project like Barney is an entirely different challenge; it remains to be seen if Barney is opting for an ironic interpretation of a derided show, or a genuine call for kindness amid a chaotic news cycle.

If Edebiri’s name isn’t enough to signify that Barney is “prestige fare,” then the fact that the film is in the hands of A24 should seal the deal. Even if A24 had once been lampooned as the favorite film studio of Letterboxd obsessives and coffee shop hipsters, the company has steadily grown into a powerful institution that has strived for originality in Hollywood. It’s become clear that while independent cinema is the bread-and-butter of A24, the studio has an interest in making larger-scale projects. After Everything Everywhere All At Once became the studio’s first film to cross $100 million at the global box office, it expanded its deal with IMAX to re-release older titles on the premium screen format.

The A24 brand may have been built on dark, subversive films such as Uncut Gems and Hereditary, but Barney could very well be its first mainstream hit amongst younger audiences. This year brings the fantasy adventure The Legend of Ochi, but mixed early reviews for the PG-rated film out of Sundance don’t indicate that it will be the breakout success that it may have been intended to be. Barney could rectify this trend, particularly in an industry that's starved for family-oriented films. Although parents could be less interested in taking their kids to see new movies in theaters in wake of rising ticket prices, the success of last year’s Inside Out 2, Kung Fu Panda 4, Despicable Me 4, Musafa: The Lion King, Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Wicked show that families make up a bulk of the cinematic ecosystem.

Will Barney be a masterpiece, or will it be a disaster in the vein of the infamously horrific live-action version of Cat and the Hat? Is this an edgy Barney made for those who grew up with the original show, or a radical reinvention aimed at kids born in a post-YouTube era? If nothing else, Google searches about dinosaur anatomy and Dallas’ retired filming locations should be at an all-time high.