{"id":24589,"date":"2023-02-07T11:18:23","date_gmt":"2023-02-07T16:18:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev2.worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/inside-gabbys-dollhouse-traci-paige-johnson-jennifer-twomey\/"},"modified":"2023-03-13T12:08:15","modified_gmt":"2023-03-13T16:08:15","slug":"inside-gabbys-dollhouse-with-traci-paige-johnson-jennifer-twomey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/inside-gabbys-dollhouse-with-traci-paige-johnson-jennifer-twomey\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside Gabby\u2019s Dollhouse with Traci Paige Johnson & Jennifer Twomey"},"content":{"rendered":"

Traci Paige Johnson and Jennifer Twomey offered delegates an inside look at the process behind making the hit DreamWorks Animation series Gabby\u2019s Dollhouse<\/em> at the TV Kids Festival today.<\/p>\n

The hybrid live-action\/animated series has been a hit for Netflix and has been sold to a number of other platforms by NBCUniversal Global Distribution. You can watch the creative keynote with Paige Johnson and Twomey, moderated by TV Kids\u2019 Kristin Brzoznowski, here<\/a>, ahead of a clip of the acclaimed series.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Inspiration for the series was drawn from \u201call the things that we loved as kids,\u201d Twomey explained. \u201cWe loved dollhouses, miniatures, cats. We were very tuned in to this unboxing phenomenon and how much preschoolers were into it. We thought there was something there, but we wanted to take it to the next level. So instead of unboxing a toy or a product, what if we unbox a story? We put it all into the mix and came up with the idea for Gabby\u2019s Dollhouse<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

The creators also used their own lives as inspiration for some of the show\u2019s characters: \u201cPandy is based on Jen\u2019s youngest son Matias, and Gabby is based on her daughter Gabby!\u201d Paige Johnson noted.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven the ideas for episodes can come from anywhere,\u201d Twomey continued.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve raised six kids between us,\u201d Paige Johnson said, \u201cso we have a lot of craft and stories and silly moments that we love to bring into the show. We have that kid at heart that we bring.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the mixed-media style used in the show, Paige Johnson noted, \u201cIn today\u2019s kids\u2019 landscape, there\u2019s so much out there. You need to find something that feels different. We know that kids, through Blue\u2019s Clues<\/em> and watching YouTube videos, respond to that live-action person or kid looking into the camera and asking questions. We knew we wanted to bring that in. When we did the unboxing\u2014unboxing is the catalyst to the story\u2014we knew that the animated part would be more fun if she shrunk into the dollhouse and became animated in those worlds and all that wish fulfillment. It started as wanting to feel unique and different. As their little animated characters, they might go into Gabby\u2019s bedroom and see her live-action cat Floyd. It\u2019s just so magical. It makes it stand out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Twomey added: \u201cThe show is all about wish-fulfillment, so there\u2019s just something so magical about seeing live-action Gabby with these little miniatures playing at the top of the show, and then when you pinch, and you go into that world, it solidifies that magic to kids because they\u2019re like, I just saw that real dollhouse with little characters and now I\u2019m inside of it. Being able to do the mixed media just opened so many areas of creativity for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

She continued: \u201cAlso, once we\u2019re in animation, the show is a 3D show, but we also do a lot of 2D animation, which is both good for budget and creativity. We\u2019re able to create whole new worlds and environments in the 2D that we wouldn\u2019t be able to afford to create a new set or a world in 3D. So we\u2019ll pick and choose our worlds for 3D. The ability to go into these 2D worlds opens up so many more creative avenues for us and places to go and new places to explore.\u201d<\/p>\n

Production on an animation\/live-action hybrid requires a significant amount of \u201cforethought and planning,\u201d Twomey explained. \u201cWhen you\u2019re combining live-action and animation, you know it all has to be meticulously boarded. We have to know exactly what props are going to be used by the animated characters and what props are not, so we know if animation is making that or are the live-action miniature people making that. There\u2019s a lot of thinking and planning that goes into it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brzoznowski asked Paige Johnson and Twomey to discuss the growth mindset curriculum that underpins Gabby\u2019s behavior in the show.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we were developing, we came across Carol Dweck\u2019s book Mindset,<\/em> and we were very much inspired by that,\u201d Paige Johnson said. \u201cWe\u2019re all about celebrating our mistakes, being perfectly imperfect and letting kids know that, whoops, you made a mistake, and it\u2019s okay! That there\u2019s power in asking for help, and you don\u2019t need to do everything perfectly the first time and let\u2019s give it a go or roll with it. We love to bake that organically into the DNA of the show. Gabby just has that naturally and is role modeling that for our audience. We always have that \u2018I don\u2019t know how to do that, yet,\u2019 moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Twomey added, \u201cThe growth mindset is about teaching resilience and grit and not being afraid to make mistakes. That\u2019s how you learn. You don\u2019t learn unless you make mistakes. Gabby embodies that. We felt that was one of the most important things you can teach a child: the resilience and self-confidence to be able to make a mistake and be okay with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Episodes also encourage kids to engage in activities off-screen. \u201cWe love that we inspire kids to use their creativity once the show is over,\u201d Paige Johnson said. \u201cThat just seems sort of the essence of the ecosystem of the internet now, of doing recipes together, doing crafts together.\u201d<\/p>\n

When writing for preschoolers, Twomey noted: \u201cYou need to base the adventure and story in something that resonates with them and something that they know. With so many preschool shows out there, everybody\u2019s covered everything in the preschool tropes. For Gabby\u2019s<\/em>, we strive to say, all right, if we\u2019re doing a birthday party, how do we make it a Gabby\u2019s Dollhouse<\/em> birthday party? Because we\u2019ve put so much thought into the development of the show, now it\u2019s easy and natural for us to say, like, okay, how do we turn this on its head and do it the Gabby\u2019s<\/em> way? That\u2019s important for the show and us: to keep that quirkiness, that humor, that signature Gabby-ness. There\u2019s a sense of casual play; we want the home viewer to feel like you\u2019re just on a play date. The fact that we get to do a full 23-minute episode allows us to take the time where we can just play and be silly with Baby Box and do a whoopsie moment. Those features are just important to us in the show as the main thrust of the story. So it feels like you\u2019re on a playdate with Gabby and the Gabby cats.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Traci Paige Johnson and Jennifer Twomey offered delegates an inside look at the process behind making the hit DreamWorks Animation series Gabby\u2019s Dollhouse at the TV Kids Festival today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":290,"featured_media":24590,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[159,6382,7116,5088,7247],"class_list":["post-24589","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-top-stories","tag-dreamworks-animation","tag-gabbys-dollhouse","tag-jennifer-twomey","tag-traci-paige-johnson","tag-tv-kids-festival-2023","pmpro-has-access"],"yoast_head":"\nInside Gabby\u2019s Dollhouse with Traci Paige Johnson & Jennifer Twomey - TVKIDS<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/inside-gabbys-dollhouse-with-traci-paige-johnson-jennifer-twomey\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Inside Gabby\u2019s Dollhouse with Traci Paige Johnson & Jennifer Twomey - TVKIDS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Traci Paige Johnson and Jennifer Twomey offered delegates an inside look at the process behind making the hit DreamWorks Animation series Gabby\u2019s Dollhouse at the TV Kids Festival today.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/inside-gabbys-dollhouse-with-traci-paige-johnson-jennifer-twomey\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"TVKIDS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-02-07T16:18:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-03-13T16:08:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2017\/07\/GabbysDollhouse-Feb7-223.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"319\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mansha Daswani\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Mansha Daswani\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/inside-gabbys-dollhouse-with-traci-paige-johnson-jennifer-twomey\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/inside-gabbys-dollhouse-with-traci-paige-johnson-jennifer-twomey\/\",\"name\":\"Inside Gabby\u2019s Dollhouse with Traci Paige Johnson & Jennifer Twomey - TVKIDS\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2023-02-07T16:18:23+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-03-13T16:08:15+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/#\/schema\/person\/83da304c8bad8bfdb3edd7eb47cfe5ad\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/inside-gabbys-dollhouse-with-traci-paige-johnson-jennifer-twomey\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/inside-gabbys-dollhouse-with-traci-paige-johnson-jennifer-twomey\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/inside-gabbys-dollhouse-with-traci-paige-johnson-jennifer-twomey\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Inside Gabby\u2019s Dollhouse with Traci Paige Johnson & Jennifer Twomey\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/\",\"name\":\"TVKIDS\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/#\/schema\/person\/83da304c8bad8bfdb3edd7eb47cfe5ad\",\"name\":\"Mansha Daswani\",\"description\":\"Mansha Daswani is the editor-in-chief and associate publisher of World Screen. She can be reached on mdaswani@worldscreen.com.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/author\/mdaswaniworldscreen-com\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Inside Gabby\u2019s Dollhouse with Traci Paige Johnson & Jennifer Twomey - TVKIDS","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/inside-gabbys-dollhouse-with-traci-paige-johnson-jennifer-twomey\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Inside Gabby\u2019s Dollhouse with Traci Paige Johnson & Jennifer Twomey - TVKIDS","og_description":"Traci Paige Johnson and Jennifer Twomey offered delegates an inside look at the process behind making the hit DreamWorks Animation series Gabby\u2019s Dollhouse at the TV Kids Festival today.","og_url":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/inside-gabbys-dollhouse-with-traci-paige-johnson-jennifer-twomey\/","og_site_name":"TVKIDS","article_published_time":"2023-02-07T16:18:23+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-03-13T16:08:15+00:00","og_image":[{"width":600,"height":319,"url":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2017\/07\/GabbysDollhouse-Feb7-223.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Mansha Daswani","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Mansha Daswani","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/inside-gabbys-dollhouse-with-traci-paige-johnson-jennifer-twomey\/","url":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/inside-gabbys-dollhouse-with-traci-paige-johnson-jennifer-twomey\/","name":"Inside Gabby\u2019s Dollhouse with Traci Paige Johnson & Jennifer Twomey - TVKIDS","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/#website"},"datePublished":"2023-02-07T16:18:23+00:00","dateModified":"2023-03-13T16:08:15+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/#\/schema\/person\/83da304c8bad8bfdb3edd7eb47cfe5ad"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/inside-gabbys-dollhouse-with-traci-paige-johnson-jennifer-twomey\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/inside-gabbys-dollhouse-with-traci-paige-johnson-jennifer-twomey\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/inside-gabbys-dollhouse-with-traci-paige-johnson-jennifer-twomey\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Inside Gabby\u2019s Dollhouse with Traci Paige Johnson & Jennifer Twomey"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/#website","url":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/","name":"TVKIDS","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/#\/schema\/person\/83da304c8bad8bfdb3edd7eb47cfe5ad","name":"Mansha Daswani","description":"Mansha Daswani is the editor-in-chief and associate publisher of World Screen. She can be reached on mdaswani@worldscreen.com.","url":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/author\/mdaswaniworldscreen-com\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24589","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/290"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24589"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24589\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24590"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24589"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24589"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24589"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}