Fandom: Gummibär & Friends: Operation Cotton Candy

Gummibär & Friends: Operation Cotton Candy is an upcoming animated spy comedy feature film based on the Gummibär series and the second film adaptation of the franchise, followed by the 2012 Christmas comedy direct-to-video film The Yummy Gummy Search for Santa. Produced by Toonz Media Group, Gummybear International, Telegael and Space Age Films, it will be directed by Pete Dodd. The film is scheduled to be released in theaters in 2026 and is currently in a state of early production since February 2025.^[1]

The plot of the film will center on the titular character Gummibär and his group of two friends Kala, a martial arts expert female cat, and Harry, a male science whiz chameleon, who are recruited by a Covert Government Agency to defeat a set of nefarious villains who are led by Dr. Verde, the main antagonist who is determined to erase everything colorful from the planet, while Gummy thinks he is merely testing cotton candy flavors.^[2][3] It will be based on the spy missions genre of films transposed in a comedic and suitable plot.

History

Prior attempts

The idea of developing a feature film adaptation based on the wildly popular Gummibär series surfaced around 2009, which Jürgen Korduletsch initially proposed the idea while working on other products of the franchise, uttering: “We are working on a lot of products, but the main thing is a movie we are preparing about Gummy.” Jürgen and the rest of the team members were seeking to find the best animation company in Hungary as possible that could help to produce the film, as well as they were negotiating on working on another future project that involved an animated television series featuring Gummy as the protagonist.^[4]

In 2011, a trailer was revealed to the public online that teased the now cancelled animated television series Gummibär And Friends. At the end of the trailer, it shows an ending card that not only presented the release date of the series, but also an upcoming film that would take place as a Christmas special, which was initially set to release around September 2011. However, the trailer that was posted online would eventually be removed from all the official social media accounts as the animated series end up being cancelled, while the release date of the Christmas film was delayed a year later.

In late 2012, the Christmas special film, The Yummy Gummy Search for Santa, was finally released as a direct-to-video animated film to most countries, marking as the official debut of Gummibär to a full length film. Unfortunately, the film was heavily critizced among general audience and critics, this because of the remarkably stretched storyline and very low-budget production, and the use of an intellectual property of a character like Gummibär was seemed to not work properly for a feature film.

Around the start of 2014, rumors started to circulate online relating to another Gummibär feature film that was being planned to be in the works, which was initially first announced under the title Gummy Bear 3D: The Movie and was scheduled for a theatrical release on November 2015. The impact of the film was increased as the American actor, John Travolta, was casted to provide the dialogues of the protagonist Gummibär, thus marking his second time to providing his voice to an animated character after the Bolt character from Walt Disney Animation Studios‘ 2008 film Bolt.

Nothing new came after the announcement, until nearly two years later by October 2016, the High Court announced that the film never ended up being produced, resulting in a scam, this due to the two companies Spice Factory and Gummy Bear Films Ltd. taking £3 million from the British public, but failed to provide returns and barely spent only 11% of the fund on the film production^[5], as most of the money was divided between the company director Michael Cowan and business partner Steven Wilkinson.^[6]

Despite the previous cancelled film had caused a remarkable controversy, the idea of producing another film of Gummibär still resurfaced over the years. However, this idea never came to be in reality in earlier years, and only remained as a simple thought that was sparked on privated discussions at Gummybear International, Inc.. On June 21, 2024 on Gummibär’s Official Server, an active administrator associated with Gummybear International known online as gummydude would confirm there were still private discussions about multiple ideas for a next film, hoping that it could be developed sometime in the future.^[7]

Production

In late 2024, the film officially started pre-production. Although no detailed information about the project was publicly known, it would not be until Toonz Media Group eventually unveiled a few details regarding the film in the American Film Market as of November 1, 2024. A PDF file that contained other projects where Toonz Media Group was also involved featured a short description of the film. The PDF revealed that the film was originally going to be titled “The Gummibär Movie: Operation Cotton Candy”, and was scheduled to be released in theaters in the summer of 2026.^[2]

On February 13, 2025, the film was earlier unveiled at the 2025 Berlin International Film Festival (EFM), including the first known poster that was publicly revealed. This announcement was later spread online with an exclusive magazine of Variety relating to details on the production of the film.^[3] The first look poster also revealed that the main title of film ended up being changed to “Gummibär & Friends: Operation Cotton Candy”. Eventually, gummydude would post a high resolution variant of the first look of the poster on Gummibär’s Official Server, which has not been seen before.

Christian Schneider, CEO, and Jürgen Korduletsch, president of the company Gummybear International, said regarding their involvement with the film: “We’re very happy and delighted to once again collaborate with our friends at Toonz to bring the first ‘Gummibär and Friends’ full length feature film to GB’s myriad of fans. It’s a great opportunity to continue the successful relationship started with the ‘Gummibär and Friends Series’ and to present what is sure to be a madcap and chaotic journey for his fans to enjoy.”

Meanwhile, P. Jayakumar, CEO of Toonz Media Group, added: “There is no other character that has generated such an enduring global buzz. With Robert, Pete, and Dan at the helm, we are confident that ‘Gummibär and Friends’ will connect with audiences around the world, taking this iconic franchise to even greater heights.”.

On February 18, 2025, the film was also announced on Gummibär’s social media accounts to spread the news further.

Reception

Although the full length film has not been officially released as of currently, the first impressions of the first publicly revealed poster led to generally positive impressions based on the Gummibär community. Long time Gummibär fans are convinced that the film could work this time, while others are very concerned about believing coming across a similar “Gummy Bear 3D: The Movie” situation. Most people are looking forward to this film, as they have been waiting for a long time to see a Gummibär film that could prove to have a much better production than its predecessor film, which was blatantly recieved with negative reviews due to its low-budget production.

However, not all of reception of the first revealed poster has been recieved positively. Some people who do not have an extensive contact with the brand said that the film is only being produced to be cash-grab utilizing a very profitable character who was initially made for a comedic music video of I Am A Gummy Bear, which was widely popular across social platforms and became an Internet meme icon. Other Gummibär fanatics said that the first poster seemingly used artificial intelligence for some parts of the elements, as well as the strange looking redesigned appearance of Harry with large eyes.

Source: https://funnygummy.fandom.com/wiki/Gummib%C3%A4r_%26_Friends:_Operation_Cotton_Candy