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Hello fellow Barney fans. If you haven't heard, Mattel announced yesterday we'll be getting a brand new theatrical Barney movie. That's exciting news for sure, but I've heard that some fans have some concerns and are worried about how it will turn out. For example, making this movie Rated R and turning Barney into something he doesn't stand for, like a Godzilla type parody, or going the same direction as the recent Banana Splits horror film. But I'm not too worried, and I'm gonna tell you why:

As far as we know, Daniel Kaluuya, known for starring in "Get Out", is producing this film. That's a major concern among fans, and I can understand why, because he was involved in many thrillers, dramas, horror, among other movie genres that don't sound fitting for kids, so why this guy of all people to be involved with Barney? But wait, here's a quote from him in an article:

"Barney was a ubiquitous figure in many of our childhoods, then he disappeared into the shadows, left misunderstood,” said Kaluuya. “We're excited to explore this compelling modern-day hero and see if his message of 'I love you, you love me' can stand the test of time."

Quite a way to word it. There's a lot of different ways to interpret that quote, but let me point you to something else. If we look at Kaluuya's wikipedia page, he was born in 1989, around the time Barney was new. So there was a good chance he could've watched Barney as a child, and has a soft spot for it, and wants to give this "misunderstood" character a chance for critics to "get it" (something Stephen White was robbed of during production of BGA). 

Now here's another quote from the Mattel Films employee Robbie Brenner:

“The project will speak to the nostalgia of the brand in a way that will resonate with adults, while entertaining today’s kids.”

See? Mattel understands that many adults have a soft spot for Barney, but they still know that he's a children's character. Sure, Mattel has made a few questionable decisions with new Barney merchandise (i.e. the Biggie backpack, representing him as a rapper/gangster on select shirts, etc.) but what's important is that they know they should be marketing this movie to kids too.

Besides, Mattel from what I can tell, is a family friendly company. To my knowledge, they haven't tried to ruin their brands by making them "edgy and mature", so I don't think their dumb enough to make that move on Barney. Plus, Barney's been around for 31 years, singing, dancing, teaching, and entertaining kids for several generations. Why would they try now to make such huge changes to a very well established character?

So that's it. I hope I could give you all a more positive point of view. Thanks for reading and have a Super Dee Duper day!



Source:

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/barney-movie-works-mattel-daniel-kaluuya-1248599

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