Buddy

Freddy (Delaney Quinn, "The Roses," "If I Had Legs I'd Kick You"), Wade (Caleb "C.J." Williams) and Oliver (Tristan Borders) seem enthusiastic singing and dancing with the orange unicorn who stars in the show geared towards kids their age, but when Josh (Luke Speakman, "Weapons") would rather read a book than attend a dance party, he'll see a very different side of "Buddy."

Laura's Review: B-

Cowriter (with Jamie King)/director Casper Kelly, perhaps most well known cinematically for "Mandy's" Cheddar Goblin commercial, spins a more creative take on the recent trend of twisting child friendly characters into sociopathic killers. His is a film in two parts and it is the first part, a string of 'It's Buddy!' episodes, that offers the most enjoyment, the second part answering a big question from the first but getting bogged down in plotting.

After a colorfully animated title sequence, we're introduced to a show that is like 'Barney' crossed with 'Pee Wee's Playhouse' with a dollop of 'Sesame Street's' muppeteering and life lessons. After Mailman Miles (Bennie Taylor) slips dance party invitations into Mr. Mailbox (voice of Eric Bauza), the kids start practicing their moves, but Josh resists Buddy's (voice of Keegan-Michael Key) urging to join them. Buddy persists, enlisting the Worry Well to deliver a pair of magic dancing shoes which appear on Josh's feet, but he steps out of them not once, but twice, telling Buddy he 'just wants to be left alone.' Buddy follows Josh offscreen and a very disturbing commotion is heard. Later, inside Buddy's playhouse, Freddy will notice Josh's book inside Trashy, staining on it looking an awful lot like blood, her concerned expression appearing over closing credits before we're thrown into the next episode where Josh has apparently been replaced by the exuberant Hannah (Madison Skyy Polan). But Freddy has convinced Wade something's really wrong and after catching Buddy in a lie they'll witness something so horrific they convince Oliver they need to get out, which leads to the question of just how they got here in the first place.

With the kids onto him, Buddy's malignant tendencies come out into the open, Wade lighting him on fire, giving the now half-burned unicorn the appearance of the monster he really is. After an ill-fated attempt to leave on Charlie the Train (voice of Devon Hawkes Ludlow), Freddy remembers the Worry Well and the kids shimmy down its rope into a liminal space. End credits warp and flip over and when we next see the blue sky that heralds the beginning of a new show, the 'It's Buddy!' logo fails to appear, instead placing us in the normal suburban home of Grace (Cristin Milioti, TV's 'The Penguin') and Ben (Topher Grace, "Spider-Man 3") and their two sons, Timothy (Seamus Flynn) and Derek (Bryson JonSteele). But things aren't exactly normal as mom Grace is convinced someone should be sitting in that empty chair at their dining room table, something vaguely supported by the big gap in age between those two boys, even if Ben begins to question her sanity.

As the action shifts between Freddy's gang, who have an adventure much like Dorothy's trip on the Yellow Brick Road (its poppy field equivalent spawns one of the film's funniest jokes) where they also meet characters from an earlier, Western rendition of the unicorn's show, George (Clint Howard, "Terrifier 3") and the marionette Willie (voice of Michael Shannon), and increasingly disturbed mom Grace, who engages Dr. Deborah Burr (Brooke Bloom, "Marriage Story") to conduct a seance, Tyler (Tory Jacqui Malone) suddenly appears as the latest, happy kid at Buddy's playhouse.

Production designer Anna Kathleen and art director Vince Calabrese go to town on the 'It's Buddy' set, so clearly modelled on Pee Wee's Playhouse, its human characters, like Nurse Nancy (Phuong Kubacki, "The Bikeriders"), also reminiscent of Mr. Roger's Neighborhood. Almost all its inanimate objects are 'alive,' from Trashy the trash can to Strappy (voice of Patton Oswalt), Freddy's backpack. Always in a state of panic, Mr. Mailbox is like 'Sesame's' Beaker crossed with SNL's Mr. Bill. Songs are right out of the kids' show playbook, the one professing love for Buddy a necessary component of his makeup.

While the second half of film focusing on Grace's attempts to find her forgotten child begins to drag, one could regard its first half as a Trumpian allegory where a large orange lying hypocrite steals kids from their parents, bullies them into doing what he wants and destroys everything that doesn't go along with his plans. "Buddy" may tie itself into knots trying to find its resolution, but for most of its running time, Kelly has something delightfully twisted going on.

Robin's Review: B

"It's Buddy" is a popular children's show starring the giant, orange unicorn loved by kids everywhere. But, when one of the boys on the show decides he would rather read than dance, the unicorn's true colors come out in "Buddy."

When Buddy makes his appearance as the big, ginger-hued unicorn who abuses children, I was gob smacked by the blatant metaphor of a certain occupant of the People's House. That notwithstanding, director and co-writer Casper Kelly (with co-scribe Jamie King) makes a parody of, what many will say, is "Barney." I sort of agree but I think that "Peewee's Playhouse" had an equal influence, especially for set and non-human character design.

When we first meet the titular unicorn, things are all honky-dory in Buddy-land with the kids – Freddy (Delaney Quinn), Wade (Caleb Williams), Josh (Luke Speakman) and Hannah (Madison Skyy Polan) – his adoring juvenile followers. Then, Josh refuses to dance and would rather read. A short while later, the boy has gone, Buddy says, to "Diamond City." Then, they find the book that Josh was reading in the trash with red strains on it. Paradise, they learn, it is not.

What comes to mind watching "Buddy" is how closely the filmmakers adhere to the formats of "Barney" and "Peewee's Playhouse." They take these settings and turn it into a monster/horror dark comedy that takes its time to unfold but the monster idea works. Think Big Bird goes totally bad – a scary thought.

Keegan-Michael Key gives voice to Buddy and makes the endearing  unicorn a monster that brooks no rebellion in his world and dispatches anyone opposing him with "extreme prejudice." The kids see Buddy for his true self – loyalty to him but not him to you. Sound familiar. The youngsters do well opposite a giant orange unicorn.

Besides wearing their heart on their sleeves, politically, the filmmakers have fun with taking something "normal" and twisting it in a unique way that parodies things that we hold dear. One thing, though, when mom Grace Cristin Milioti is pulled into "It's Buddy," it takes us out of the moment. The reason for this is sort of explained but it could have been transitioned better.

Still, "Buddy" is an amusing, very dark parody of 1990's children's programming. I hope PBS can forgive the filmmakers for having fun.

Roadside Attractions and Saban Films release "Buddy" in theaters on 8/28/26.