A candy-coloured toy story that looks good enough to eat

When Laila Lockhart Kraner first slipped on the headband and cat ears for “Gabby's Dollhouse” at age II, she couldn't have predicted how her character's mantras of positivity and resilience and “failing fantastically” without giving up would shape her own life.

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Six years later, those lessons are so embedded in Kraner's life that they've become core principles rather than just lines in a script. That voice of imagination and persistence—which has become familiar to millions of kids around the world — now moves from the series’ cozy living room to DreamWorks Animation's first ever live-action animation hybrid film, “Gabby's Dollhouse: The Movie,” opened in theatres on Friday.

“I've said (those lines) so many times that they've become ingrained in me,” said Kraner, now 17, who has also appeared in “blackish,” “Shots Fired” and the indie thriller “The Secret of Sinchanee.” The actor is heading into her senior year at a public high school outside Boston. “I hear Gabby’s voice in my head, encouraging me to keep going and smile even when I don't feel like it,” she said.

Kraner points to children’s shows like “Sesame Street” as being foundational to her own childhood, teaching her how to share and be kind. She says now it feels surreal to see “Gabby’s Dollhouse” having that same influence on young viewers.