Barney's Great Adventure

**Barney's Great Adventure** is a 1998 American musical comedy adventure film directed by Steve Gomer which first premiered at Radio City Music Hall in New York on March 27, 1998 and worldwide on April 3, 1998 by Polygram Filmed Entertainment.

It is based on the PBS network children's television show, "Barney & Friends".

## Plot

The film follows Barney and his three new friends: Abby, Cody and Marcella as they discover a magical egg in the barn at the farm of Abby and Cody's grandparents. After they discover that the egg is a dream maker, they have to return to the egg to the barn before it hatches.

## Cast

* David Joyner as Barney (costume)
	+ Bob West as Barney (voice)
* Diana Rice as Abby
* Kyla Pratt as Marcella
* Trevor Morgan as Cody
* Jeff Ayers as Baby Bop (costume)
* Julie Johnson as Baby Bop (voice)
* Jeff Brooks as B.J. (costume)
* Patty Wirtz as B.J. (voice)
* George Hearn as Grandpa
* Shirley Douglas as Grandpa
* David and Edouard Larouche as Fig
* Jane Wheeler as Mom
* Alan Fawcett as Dad
* Renee Madeline Le Guerrier as Mrs. Goldfinch
* Roch Jutras as Mr. Millet

## Production

Word of a Barney film first arose in November of 1992 when Debbie Ries (the sales director for The Lyons Group) said that plans for a Barney film were in the works. It originally began at New Line Cinema, but they eventually put the script in turnaround due to creative differences between creator Sheryl Leach, Lyrick Studios' Stephen White, New Line Cinema CEO Robert Shaye and executive Michael De Luca.

Afterwards, Sheryl Leach and Stephen White pitched the film idea to TriStar Pictures, but it was turned down due to budgetary reasons. Then, it was bought to Miramax Films, but Disney (who owned Miramax at the time) wouldn't allow the project to go forward because they believed it to be unmarketable.

In 1993, it was announced by Sheryl Leach at The National Press Club in Washington, D.C. that a movie is coming. In 1994, an article in Barney Magazine had stated that Barney the Dinosaur would star in his first-ever film called "Barney: The Movie."

Eventually, White and Leach brought the film to Geffen Pictures, who initially agreed to distribute it and the film had a scheduled release date for the summer of 1995; however, Warner Bros. had disagreements over the film's potential marketing and production, so it was moved to PolyGram Filmed Entertainment who green-lit the project with a $15 million budget.

On June 20, 1997, Barney himself announced the film at a news conference at the Beverly Hills Hotel in Beverly Hills, California. Later that year, teaser trailers for the film (now titled "Barney's Great Adventure: The Movie") arose on VHS cassettes of some Barney home videos.

According to Sheryl Leach: *"It was a joy to do the film because it took me back to the early days in Barney's development. Just like the beginning days of Barney, this movie takes him to places children have never experienced with him before. The film was a great opportunity to open new storylines and environments so that children travel to new places with their friend Barney. The film goes to some incredible places that we hope will appeal not only for children but to adults as well"*.

Leach adds that the film allowed them to *"take the familiar Barney and put him outdoors and in other very different settings from his traditional environments"*.

Filming for "Barney's Great Adventure" took place in July of 1997 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

The farm scenes were filmed in Rougemont, Quebec, Canada. Other filming locations took place in Rue Girouard O in Saint-Hyacinthe, Québec, Canada, the Jacques Cartier Bridge in Montreal and the Morgan Arboretum at the Macdonald Campus at McGill, University in Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, Quebec, Canada.

According to writer Stephen White, in the original script, the egg was going to hatch a giant bird who misses its mother, Baby Bop and BJ were expected to make a lot more screen time, appearing in the farmhouse attic; however, those scenes were soon scrapped because director Steve Gomer claimed the scenes to be "unaffordable."

Miss Goldfinch was originally planned to be a comedic character, as opposed to the more subdued character of the final film. The circus scenes and the "Collector" character were not in the original drafts, as well as rather than using a log, Barney and the gang would have built a plane out of cardboard boxes.

Trey Parker was offered the chance to direct the film and was offered $1.5 million for the job, but he turned it down and went on to create the Comedy Central network series, "South Park" with Matt Stone.

## Box Office

"Barney's Great Adventure" was a box office bomb, grossing $2,203,865 during its opening weekend. Overall, it grossed $12,218,638 on an estimated budget of $15,000,000.

## Critical Reception

"Barney's Great Adventure" received mixed to negative reviews from critics, owing to it being based on the aforementioned television program which is aimed for young children aged 2–7, the growing popularity of "anti-Barney humor" and the general unpopularity of the Barney series outside of its target audience of preschoolers.

On Rotten Tomatoes, it has an approval rating of 32% with an average score of 5.00\10 based on 25 reviews. The site's consensus reads: *"Barney's friends are big and small / They come from lots of places / But after this film, their parents / Will be left with pained faces."*

John Petrakis of the Chicago Tribune wrote: *"If my 21-month-old son had any inkling that I was giving a less than stellar review to [this film,] he would no doubt shoot me that look he tends to give when his milk is warm or his Cheerios a bit stale."*

The Los Angeles Times said: *"Barney looks both more real and more magical on video; on film, he's clearly a doofus in a felt outfit."'*

TV Guide Magazine wrote: *"The kids are fine, the original songs range from OK to wretched, and Barney is annoying as ever -- even more so, given his big-screen size and Dolby-enhanced guffaw."'*

Lisa Alspector of the Chicago Reader said that the film *"could have been marketed as a sequel to Invasion of the Body Snatchers"* while the Austin Chronicle called it *"all rather clumsy and routine"*.

Despite the negative feedback, Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave "Barney's Great Adventure" a positive review, stating: *"If you like him on TV, you'll like him here, too, because it's more of the same stuff, only outdoors and with animals and shooting stars and the kinds of balloons people can go up in"'* and Entertainment Weekly said it was *"insipid, but it's also harmless."*

## Awards

**The Stinkers Bad Movie Awards** (1998)

* Worst Actor: Barney the Dinosaur (*nominated*)
* Worst Resurrection of a TV Show (*nominated*)
* Worst Song in a Motion Picture: "I Love You" (*nominated*)

**Razzie Awards** (1999)

* Worst New Star (*nominated*)
* Worst Original Song: Jerry Herman and Jono Manson for "Barney, The Song" (*nominated*)