Barney Makes Leap To Big Screen
The inexplicable phenomenon that is all things Barney (11 million weekly TV viewers, 45 million home videos, 15 million books, etc.) has made the inevitable feature leap with “Barney’s Great Adventure: The Movie.”
As kiddie adventures go, the jolly purple dinosaur makes a fairly lively, colorful splash, leaving the trusty TV set behind for a sun-drenched romp in the country that clocks in at an attention deficit-friendly 75 minutes.
While there are some who will no doubt cringe at the prospect of a big-screen Barney, let’s face the cold, hard facts: Love him or loathe him, he’s a toddler “Titanic.”
A nicely handled change of pace for director Steve Gomer (“Sunset Park”), the adventure begins when 9-year-old Cody Newton (Trevor Morgan), his impossibly perky kid sister Abby (Diana Rice), her equally sunny best friend Marcella (Kyla Pratt) and the sibs’ baby brother are dropped off for a fun-filled week on the farm with Grandpa (George Hearn) and Grandma (Shirley Douglas a k a Kiefer Sutherland’s mom).
An incurable skeptic, Cody holds little hope for a week without cable but ultimately discovers there’s life after Nickelodeon when the girls’ Barney doll suddenly transforms into the 6-foot-tall real McCoy.
When a large, colorful egg shows up in the barn, Barney and friends embark on a Rube Goldberg-inspired odyssey that includes stopovers at a main street parade, a traveling circus, a snooty French restaurant and a hot-air balloon competition. They must return to the farm before the egg hatches and reveals Twinken, a wishmaking creature that looks like a plush Ross Perot.
Screenwriter and Barney veteran Stephen White handles all the purple prose succinctly, keeping the story simple and easy to follow. Unlike most kiddie capers, you won’t find any villains in a Barney yarn.
Director Gomer, meanwhile, puts his New York theatrical roots to good use here and gets considerable assistance in the magic ambience department from Cirque du Soleil choreographer Debra Brown, who puts the moves on several spirited dance numbers.
“BARNEY’S GREAT ADVENTURE” Location: Newport Credits: Directed by Steve Gomer, starring Barney, George Hearn, Shirley Douglas, Trevor Morgan, Diana Rice, Kyla Pratt Running time: 1:15 Rating: G