While Barney’s new movie broadens his horizons and introduces him to new friends, it stays true to Barney’s overall theme. Bamey’s Great Adventure: The Movie begins with nine-year-old Cody Newton, his little sister Abby and her best-friend Marcella traveling along the highway in their parents’ mini-van towards Grandma and Grandpa’s farm. Cody is not happy — a whole week without cable television, marooned with Abby, Marcella and his baby brother, Fig. Of course, Abby and Marcella insist on tormenting him with their toy, a plush, purple dinosaur, Barney. Although their creature is a stuffed animal, the girls are convinced he actually exists, at least in the great expanse of their imaginations. Cody, all sunglasses and high-tops, a study in carefully choreographed cool, has no use for such childish folly.

Wallowing in his tripper-than-thou misery, Cody refuses to acknowledge the quaint charms of his temporary home. The indefatigable Abby and Marcella try to entice Cody to join in their fun, using Barney as bait. This appeals to Cody’s malevolent side. He sees it as an opportunity to hide the vexing dinosaur from the girls. An elaborate game of “keep away” forces Abby and Marcella to use their imaginations to conjure up the concealed Barney. To Cody’s horror and wonder, they succeed except that now, Barney transforms from a small toy to a 6-foot tall, walking, talking, singing dinosaur.