Keegan-Michael Key’s brand-new horror comedy film Buddy just hit theaters on Aug. 28, and although horror comedies can certainly go the wrong way sometimes, so far, Buddy has actually been doing fairly well. Currently, the movie has an impressive 88% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes, and the audience score isn’t too far behind at 78%. Neither seems to be a temporary fluke, either, even in light of the movie’s very recent release. There are, as of this writing, more than 100 critic reviews and more than 500 audiences reviews, suggesting that these current scores are offering a fairly accurate representation of the film’s reception overall. Praise for the movie includes its practical approach, “trippy” style, and true creepy nature.
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Part of what makes these various elements work is the premise itself, which draws upon children’s television shows as the center of the narrative. Specifically, in the movie, a little girl becomes trapped inside a kids’ TV show with her friends and has to survive and escape all while being hunted down by the show’s formerly jovial-seeming protagonist, the orange unicorn named Buddy. Already, Keegan-Michael Key confirmed the influence that the real-life kids’ show Barney & Friends had on his portrayal of Buddy, sharing that he “was certainly inspired by Barney’s cadence.” That context only makes the recent seal of approval from one unexpected icon all the better.
Barney the Dinosaur Himself Approves of Buddy
It honestly makes sense that Barney & Friends’ Barney the Dinosaur could be used as inspiration for a horror movie because, although the show and its main character were actually created with the best intentions and were meaningful to many children—the show ran for 14 seasons, after all—the truth is, there is something a little unsettling about Barney’s constantly cheerful demeanor and frozen smile. The fact that a talented comedian like Key could take that and turn it into the perfect fuel for a horror film performance completely tracks. More surprising, however, is the fact that one of the voice actors for the real Barney character, Dean Wendt, has shared his perspective on Buddy, and he actually loved it.
Taking to his Instagram account with a new video, Wendt said, “I know it’s not Barney-like, Barney would never love it, but I loved it. I thought it was hilarious. I thought it was fun. There’s so many things about it that reminded me of being back on set. It was good, and they did a great job. Keegan did a great job with the voice. Just amazing performances all around.” In addition to this high praise, Wendt did warn his followers that the movie is definitely not meant for kids, and he ultimately highlighted that he still feels Barney & Friends did something genuinely important and “share[d] love with people all over the world.” He concluded the video by reinforcing that he loved Buddy and is glad the movie is doing well and signed off with, “And remember, I love you,” in Barney’s voice.
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