Word of a Barney film first arose in November 1992 when Debbie Ries, sales director for The Lyons Group said plans for a movie was in the works. In 1993, it was later announced by creator Sheryl Leach at The National Press Club in Washington, D.C. that a movie is coming. Later in 1994, a Barney Magazine article had stated that Barney the Dinosaur would star in his first ever film entitled Barney: The Movie.
At the time of development, all the major film studios wanted to do a Barney feature, with production companies pitching to the owners of Barney. One studio even assembled executives together to sing "I Love You" to Sheryl Leach when she arrived at the respective studio.
It was originally going to be distributed worldwide by Geffen Pictures through Warner Bros. and produced by Sheryl Leach and Dennis DeShazer. According to Sheryl Leach, it had a release date for summer 1995.
Plot[]
The film would have been the same as the 1998 version, but with a few changes.
Deleted Elements[]
- Originally, 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
- Miss Goldfinch was originally planned to be a comedic character.
- The circus scenes and the "Collector" character would be scrapped altogether.
- Barney and the gang would have built a plane out of cardboard boxes, rather than a log.
- The main characters Cody, Abby, Marcella, Miss Goldfinch, the grandparents, Baby Bop, BJ, and the little bird, would've been fulfilled by the end of the film. characters would've fulfilled their own dreams and desires by the end of the film.
Why It Was Cancelled[]
- Warner Bros. & the Lyons Group had a disagreement over marketing
- Stephen White's initial script was cut down because it was too lengthy
- Some of the scenes were unaffordable at the time.
Results[]
- The film rights for a Barney film were sold to Polygram Entertainment.
- Barney's Great Adventure was released in the year of 1998. It was received with mixed-to-negative reviews from film critics.
Trivia[]
- Barney & Friends show-writer Stephen White had no love for the final film, mainly because his script was butchered into what the film became.
- This began the growing rouse of anti-Barney humor in the 1990s.