GABBY’S DOLLHOUSE: THE MOVIE Purrs with Love, Respect and Joy

Published: September 26, 2025

By Michaela Gordoni

Laila Lockhart Kraner and Gloria Estefan opened up about all the best things about GABBY’S DOLLHOUSE: THE MOVIE this week.

“I think my favorite part of being Gabby is her positivity and just getting to play with my friends and, you know, show other kids and the Gabby Cats how to have fun and think creatively,” Kraner told Movieguide® of her character. “And I think getting to play with real-life cats is also a big plus of being Gabby but then this opportunity was awesome.So, you know, seeing it through their eyes and seeing the joy that they had just going to the movies and experiencing it, we really appreciate it.”

In the movie, Gabby takes a trip with her grandma, Gigi, to Cat Francisco, where Gabby has to take back her dollhouse after it lands in the hands of an evil cat lady named Vera.

Gabby displays a positive, loving and respectful relationship with her grandma in the movie.

“My grandma is someone very special to me. There’s, I think, all grandmas have just an innate sense of just so much love that they give to their kids and it’s so special,” Kraner said. “And just me and Gloria happened; we connected really nicely when we first met.”

They share the same Latin culture that brims with love and respect for grandparents.

“We, you know, communicate through dance and food and and that love,” she explained. “It’s really special. So I think it was a really fun thing that we get to explore [that] in the movie.”

“I think the connection really shined through the screen as well that we get to explore in the movie,” she said. “I think the connection really shined through the screen as well.”

The grandma aspect was what drew Estefan to the movie.

“My grandma was my hero. I spent a lot of time with her. She taught me so much,” Estefan told Movieguide®.

“She was fun. She was always laughing and messing around and making life as fun as possible ’cause our life was tough when we first came to the United States,” she added. “And then now I have passed on that relationship with my grandson and we constantly play.”

Estefan loves spending time with her grandson, who she shares many commonalities with.

“We have the same sense of humor. We like watching the same movies, we love escape rooms,” she said with a smile.

The movie also encourages the idea of grandparents and parents playing with their kids.

“Those are memories they’re gonna take with them,” Estefan said. “Because my favorite memories of my mom was her really just playing. You know, they see us as this big, you know, the adult and the parent.”

“And when you get down on their level and you actually just play as another kid, that’s something that will be with them forever,” she added.

Some of Kraner’s favorite memories are playing with her two older siblings.

“We were always just like creating and coming up with new ways to use toys. So like, I would have my dolls or my little beanie boos and we would build houses for them out of Legos…And we would just be able to create; we would take, like, the box and be like, oh, make this car out of it.”

“And using different sets and creating, building an entire world,” she said. “It was a lot of fun. We would just make up games as well… all the time.”

Part of Movieguide®’s review of the movie reads, “GABBY’S DOLLHOUSE: THE MOVIE is a funny, colorful, fantastic adventure for the whole family… The movie brings joy and heart to the big screen… It promotes play, imagination, showing respect, and doing the right thing.”

Gabby fans can catch the movie in theaters from Sept. 25.

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