{"id":29230,"date":"2025-02-28T08:50:39","date_gmt":"2025-02-28T13:50:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/worldscreen.com\/"},"modified":"2025-03-03T10:07:58","modified_gmt":"2025-03-03T15:07:58","slug":"behind-the-scenes-of-the-new-gabbys-dollhouse-season-museum-activations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/behind-the-scenes-of-the-new-gabbys-dollhouse-season-museum-activations\/","title":{"rendered":"Behind the Scenes of Gabby\u2019s Dollhouse\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gabby\u2019s Dollhouse<\/em>\u00a0returned to Netflix on February 17 with an 11th season full of new adventures. This season, the characters delve into a new room in the dollhouse\u2014a nursery room called the Kitty Care Ear, a place to love and nurture little kitties.<\/p>\n

Introducing the Kitty Care Ear \u201cgives us a new way to play,\u201d says Traci Paige Johnson, co-creator of the series. \u201cWe love new stories, and we even have a little delivery service that delivers the little babies in the room. It\u2019s expanding on all that imagination and creativity and the way that preschoolers really play with the dollhouse.\u201d<\/p>\n

Among the new main characters this season is Benny Box, Baby Box\u2019s little brother, who provides an avenue for expanding this nursery room and caretaking throughline. \u201cBenny gets his first tooth, and we get to meet the Kitty Tooth Fairy,\u201d Johnson notes. \u201cWe\u2019re super excited season after season building our Gabby cat family.\u201d<\/p>\n

Season ten introduced the Party Room, and the episodes\u2019 storylines accordingly revolved around birthdays and parties and the fun that comes with them. This season \u201cis all about family, nurturing, love and taking care of each other and the familial role of that,\u201d Johnson explains.<\/p>\n

A major part of\u00a0Gabby\u2019s Dollhouse<\/em>\u00a0is the growth mindset curriculum, and this season is no different. Growth mindset \u201cis baked into every episode,\u201d says Jennifer Twomey, co-creator. \u201cIt\u2019s all about problem-solving and modeling grit and determination for kids, where you don\u2019t give up and you\u2019re not afraid to make mistakes. Every episode of\u00a0Gabby\u2019s Dollhouse<\/em>\u00a0has growth mindset in it, even though they\u2019re all different.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the things we are really conscious of in\u00a0Gabby\u2019s<\/em>\u00a0is we don\u2019t want to hit kids over the head with the lesson of the day,\u201d she continues. \u201cThe construct of the show is the ultimate playdate. It\u2019s like you show up and your best friend Gabby is there, and she has something super exciting planned for the day. The lessons of growth mindset are baked in.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even with these lessons, \u201cthis season really is about family and taking care of each other and loving each other,\u201d she reiterates.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd the idea of how important it is to say \u2018I love you\u2019 or \u2018I care for you\u2019 and how you show your love,\u201d Johnson adds. \u201cLove is a verb. You\u2019re showing how you care for someone and how good it feels to care for somebody. And it feels good for yourself, not [just] for the other person.\u201d<\/p>\n

Their mission of furthering a growth mindset curriculum and fostering themes about family and community is being supported by a new program of Gabby\u2019s Dollhouse MEOWseum Discovery Days at children\u2019s museums around the U.S. in partnership with the Association of Children\u2019s Museums (ACM).<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re super excited to support the mission of children\u2019s museums because it dovetails so perfectly with\u00a0Gabby\u2019s Dollhouse<\/em>, which is all about imagination, play and creativity,\u201d Twomey says. \u201cThat\u2019s such an important part of childhood development and something that was our goal. We\u2019re excited to lend a little bit of\u00a0Gabby\u2019s\u00a0<\/em>magic to what these museums already do. What an important thing that is for kids to have the opportunity to go there and experience those museums.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd it takes the play off of the screen,\u201d Johnson says. \u201cOne thing we love about\u00a0Gabby\u2019s\u00a0<\/em>are all the do-it-yourself crafts and projects and recipes, and that\u2019s what children\u2019s museums are all about, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

Arthur Affleck, executive director of the ACM, concurs that the partnership with\u00a0Gabby\u2019s Dollhouse<\/em>\u00a0was a perfectly aligned match. \u201cWe\u2019re always looking for new ways to add excitement into our spaces,\u201d he explains. \u201cWe have some permanent exhibits and experiences, and then we bring in new things. This would be something new. It\u2019s always nice to add something to our museums that is familiar to our visitors. And while we don\u2019t encourage children to be on screens a lot, we\u00a0do<\/em>\u00a0encourage them to consume positive movies and television, like the products that DreamWorks Animation puts out.\u201d<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Gabby\u2019s Dollhouse<\/em>\u00a0activation opened first at the Brooklyn Children\u2019s Museum in New York on January 25. \u201cThousands of people showed up to the museum,\u201d Affleck says. \u201cMany people said, Oh, by the way, this is the first time I\u2019ve been in this museum. And the reason to come and participate was this MEOWseum Discovery Day event. It\u2019s a win-win for us because it gets more people in who have never been, but then also our regulars get to do something new.\u201d<\/p>\n

Twomey and Johnson were able to attend the opening event at the Brooklyn Children\u2019s Museum, \u201cand it was so much fun to see everyone so excited about\u00a0Gabby\u2019s Dollhouse<\/em>, wearing their little cat ears, making their little hamster kitties and dancing to the DJ dance party,\u201d Johnson says.<\/p>\n

\u201cSeeing that hands-on experience\u201d was great, Twomey agrees. \u201cWe try to give kids and parents things to do once you turn the TV off, and a children\u2019s museum is the epitome of that\u2014a place to go and experience creativity firsthand.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd with the friendship of other people,\u201d Johnson chimes in. \u201cBecause when you\u2019re in your homes, you\u2019re doing those things [alone]. But now, to be in an environment where you\u2019re with other fans, you can interact and [ask], Who\u2019s your favorite [cat]? It\u2019s fantastic to see that connection, especially as we\u2019re learning how important in this digital age connection is for kids\u2014and adults.\u201d<\/p>\n

Luckily for kids and families around the U.S., the activation will take place over a year across the country. About 50 or 60 of participating museums will have the Gabby character on location for one or two days, Affleck says. Another hundred or so museums will not get the character, but they will receive games and activities around the\u00a0Gabby\u2019s Dollhouse<\/em>\u00a0theme for kids to do, including scavenger hunts and crafts such as creating their favorite Gabby cat or making cat ears.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have to tell you, my expectations have been exceeded in terms of what actually happened in the museums,\u201d Affleck notes. \u201cThe number of people that have showed up, the joy on the faces of the children, the excitement\u2014it\u2019s just been amazing. We\u2019re just getting started, in three or four museums, and we\u2019ve got many more to go. I\u2019m getting calls from other museum leaders who are saying, Hey, am I on the list? I want to get in on this Gabby thing!\u201d<\/p>\n

Ultimately, \u201cwe believe in the power of play and the power of our museums,\u201d Affleck stresses. \u201cWe like to think about children\u2019s museums as a third space. Children spend time at home. They spend time at school. We\u2019re that third space where children can come and learn and grow and play and engage. My favorite quote about why this work is important with children: Frederick Douglass said, \u2018It\u2019s easier to build strong children than to repair broken men\u2019 and women. And we spend so much time trying to repair broken men and women when, if we just invested more in children, especially at the earliest stages, to prepare them for school and life, they would be stronger people and better citizens. That\u2019s what we\u2019re all about. That\u2019s what DreamWorks is about. It\u2019s a marriage made in heaven. We\u2019re so appreciative of the partnership.\u201d<\/p>\n

And for kids who can\u2019t get enough of\u00a0Gabby\u2019s Dollhouse<\/em>, even more content will be coming later in the year with a feature-length movie in September.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re super excited for the movie,\u201d Johnson says. \u201cWe will have our whole audience screaming and helping Gabby and the Gabby cats and singing and dancing along. We\u2019re super thrilled to be part of that experience, too. And DreamWorks, they know movies.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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