Get Out star Daniel Kaluuya will co-produce a Barney film, based on the hit kids television series from the 1990s. I had to re-read that headline a couple time this morning to make sure it was real. While I’m certainly not against a Barney film (though I was never a fan when I was a tot) I have to say that I’m surprised to see Kaluuya‘s involvement. I just didn’t see this one coming. The man is coming off a string of huge hits and has the whole world at his fingertips and he chooses to produce a Barney movie? Barney? Like, the big purple dinosaur?
Man, famous people really are weird.
But Mattel Films suggests that this won’t be a typical Barney movie. They say that it will be a “completely new approach to ‘Barney’ that will surprise audiences and subvert expectations.” That makes me wonder if this will be one of those projects that has a lot of in-jokes, winks and nods to the audience. It’ll be celebrating Barney but it’ll also be maybe, kinda making fun of Barney too.
Barney and Friends dominated childrens television in the 1990s after originally being created by Sheryl Leach. Barney’s brand of pure, unironic sweetness was perfectly summarized by his theme song/call-to-arms/threat “I Love You, You Love Me.” That really captured Barney’s essence in a nutshell. He was all about kids spreading love and didn’t need to coat it in anything clever or sarcastic. The show became a massive hit and that damn song was stuck in everyone’s heads. Expect to hear more of it soon when this film launches. .
Kaluuya isn’t currently set to star in the film but that could change as production approaches. While the power of Barney may have stood the test of time and might still be very strong, surely producers wouldn’t pass up on the opportunity to have an Oscar nominee appear.