One very literary Jack Russell is trotting onto the big screen for a nationwide celebration — if only for one Saturday.
“They really want to talk to me about the impact that show made on them as kids, turning them into lifelong readers. They’re trying to pass that on to their kids now,” original WISHBONE voice actor Larry Brantley told the Los Angeles Times in May.
Those grown-up fans can gather in theaters when WHAT’S THE STORY, WISHBONE? screens at select Regal Cinemas locations on Saturday, Sept. 19. Collider exclusively announced the one-day engagement, and tickets are on sale through Regal.
The event will reach cities across the country, including Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Seattle, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Diego and several other California and Texas markets. Showtimes and prices vary by location, so moviegoers should check the Regal listing for their nearest participating theater.
Director Joey Stewart, who worked as a first assistant director on the original PBS series, takes viewers behind the dog-sized costumes and towering literary ambitions that made WISHBONE click. The documentary’s official website says it combines rare archival footage with new interviews featuring the cast, creators and fans who grew up watching the show.
Related: This Beloved ’90s TV Show Dog Is Getting a Documentary
WISHBONE debuted in 1995 and starred Soccer, a Jack Russell Terrier, as the imaginative title character. Brantley supplied the dog’s playful inner voice as Wishbone stepped into stories drawn from Shakespeare, Don Quixote, Oliver Twist, Frankenstein and other classics.
The recipe was wonderfully odd: one neighborhood dog, one everyday problem and a leap into a much bigger story. Yet the series never treated children like they needed literature watered down; it gave them period costumes, classically trained performers and a hero small enough to curl up beside them on the couch.
That respect for young viewers still feels fresh. Families often hear that educational entertainment must choose between being useful and being fun, but WISHBONE bounded right past that false choice and made old books feel like open doors. The formula offers parents a welcome reminder: children can tackle demanding ideas when stories invite curiosity instead of talking down to them.
WHAT’S THE STORY, WISHBONE? also carries that reading mission beyond nostalgia. Reading Is Fundamental reported that the documentary team is donating 10% of net proceeds from the movie’s global digital release to the children’s literacy nonprofit.
The independent documentary previously aired on public television before arriving on major digital rental and purchase platforms in June. The creators note that they do not own the original WISHBONE series or its distribution rights, so the project focuses on the people, ingenuity and barely controlled chaos behind the beloved production.
Fans who cannot attend the Regal event still have another keepsake coming. A Collector’s Edition Blu-ray arrives Oct. 8 with three feature-length commentary tracks, fresh cast-and-crew interviews, behind-the-scenes footage, a long-lost “interview” with Wishbone and a collectible mini-poster.
For one day, though, the place to be is a theater full of readers who remember when a clever dog first introduced them to heroes, mysteries and faraway worlds. More than three decades after WISHBONE premiered, that is still a very good story.
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