Barbie Movie: All the Curiosities About the Film Before Its Release

Barbie is a film full of curiosities and details that you will want to know if you are a true fan. Furthermore, these curiosities do not stop only at the film but also reveal anecdotes about the protagonists, Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, the stars in the role of Barbie and Ken in the magnificent film by Greta Gerwig. So, let’s go together to discover them, waiting for the film to arrive at the cinema on July 20th. There has been a lot of speculation about what the next Barbie movie will be about, but nothing has been confirmed so far. During the 20th Unforgettable Gala, Simu Liu teased that the film would focus on “inner beauty” and that Gerwig paid particular attention to diversity and inclusiveness when it came to choosing what to talk about in the film.

It looks like Barbie will explore the iconic doll’s journey while being “less than perfect.” In April 2023, a clip from the film showed Barbie as she went through an existential crisis. Barbie‘s life takes a turn once her “invisible high heel” feet turn unexpectedly flat. So, once you experience the everyday inconveniences, we all face, like cold showers, burnt waffles, bad haircuts, and weird smells, in the utopia that is Barbie Land, something snaps. These oddities lead her to decide to run away with Ryan Gosling‘s Ken, “to find her true happiness after being expelled from Barbie Land for not being perfect”. The shot of Barbie stepping out of heels onto her toes is a nod to the traditional Barbie body shape. Until 2015, with the introduction of Barbie Fashionista dolls with feet molded to be flat so they could wear flat footwear, all Barbie dolls had feet molded to wear high heels only, even though the doll had no shoes as part of makeup or accessories (like beach-themed Barbie dolls for example).

Barbie Movie: Trivia About the Film

Barbie, like many modern films now, has gone through several stages of planning. Originally announced in 2009, this project has gone through several iterations and has been owned by three different studios. It was originally a Universal Pictures production, but after five years of development, Sony Pictures took over in 2014. Jenny Bicks had been hired as a writer but was replaced by Diablo Cody the following year. In December 2016, Amy Schumer entered talks to star in the lead role, as well as rewrite the script along with Kim Caramele. Schumer then exited the project in 2017, when it was announced that Alethea Jones would direct, Olivia Milch would write, and Anne Hathaway would star in the role. However, Sony’s option expired in October 2018 and the whole thing was transferred to Warner Bros. Pictures, where the project has finally made progress towards the upcoming film.

But let’s start with one of the first curiosities: in a recent interview Ryan Gosling said he accepted the role of Ken only after seeing his daughter’s doll – Ken’s – lying face down in the mud next to a squashed lemon. So, he took a picture of the doll and the lemon, and then sent it to Greta Gerwig, saying, “I’ll be your Ken, his story needs to be told.” These days all kinds of memes are all the rage about Barbie‘s cinema release but despite the expectations of the fans, the song from Aqua: Barbie Girl (1997) will not be present in the film. Mattel has a nasty legal history with the band over the song and has unsuccessfully attempted to sue Aqua for “copyright infringement.” But Aqua won the case as their single was a parody and was protected by fair use. However, the main trailer, released on May 25, 2023, featured a short sample of the song at the end. It was a cover, not the original version.

The more attentive of you, especially to the graphics, will have guessed that the font used in the film is based on the one used for all Barbie dolls, products, and merchandising from 1975 to 1991. The Barbie logo usually undergoes restyling for each generation. Like any film in the Quotation Age, the first teaser trailer is an homage to Stanley Kubrick’s science fiction film 2001 (1968). Why this film was chosen is not entirely clear, but the answer could come from watching the film.

The second trailer instead is a tribute to The Matrix (1999) by Lana and Lilly Wachowski. Here instead we know that the quote wants to recall that side of the film that suggests the existence of multiple possible realities in which to act. In this case a reference to the utopian world of Barbie. And speaking of which, the older woman Barbie is talking to in the real world, according to the Official Trailer’s subtitles, is called Ruth and she’s not a random presence. She is named after Ruth Handler, the co-founder of Mattel, and is considered the “Mother of Barbie” as she created the first Barbie in 1959.

But that’s not all: This will mark the first time Barbie has appeared in a live-action feature film as opposed to her animated appearances in the films. But this does not include the two animated films Toy Story 2 (1999) and Toy Story 3 (2010) which are from Disney and Pixar, who were only able to use Barbie with the authorization of Mattel. Barbie would appear in the first Toy Story film (1995) as Woody’s love interest until she was replaced by Bo Peep as Mattel refused to let her appear in the film.

Let’s continue now with some details from the set with a piece of news that has gone around the world a bit. Production designer Sarah Greenwood said that so much fluorescent pink paint from the Rosco company was used in the construction of the set that it caused an international shortage. However, while production used as much paint as the company had, the shortages were related to the supply chain issue during the Covid-19 pandemic, according to Lauren Proud, vice president of Rosco Paint.

Curiosities About the Barbies of The Film

The Barbie movie will feature more than a dozen characters from her universe including several different versions of Barbie. Let’s start with our male lead, Ryan Gosling‘s Ken will be inspired by the look of Malibu Ken from 1979’s Sun Lovin, who also wore turquoise bathing suits and had blonde hair with tan skin. Supporting Gosling/Ken will be Michael Cera who plays Allan in the film, Ken’s best friend introduced in 1964. His girlfriend-turned-wife Midge also appears in the film played by Emerald Fennell.

Gosling won’t be the only version of Ken though, in fact, Simu Liu plays an Asian variant of him in the film. While not based on any specific Ken, the first Asian Ken doll to be released was in 2011, with the Collector’s Edition Japan Ken (aka Samurai Ken) included as part of the Dolls of the World series. Not only was he the first Asian Ken, but he was also the first (and so far, only) Ken to be included in Dolls of the World, which was previously just a Barbie line.

Now it’s the turn of the various versions of Barbie that you will find in the film. One of the first will be Kate McKinnon’s Barbie in the film is a humorous nod to the kind of rough play a child might subject her Barbie doll to. The smudges on her face are Sharpie and her messy haircut is the result of a child cutting her doll’s hair with scissors. To tell you a fan fact both Margot Robbie and Kate McKinnon have already starred together in Bombshell (2019). In that film, Jess Carr (McKinnon) had called Kayla Pospisil (Robbie’s character) a “Barbie conductor”.

Then it will be time for Dua Lipa who plays Barbie Mermaid in the film. Her look is directly based on the 2018 Dreamtopia Blue Mermaid Barbie doll. Speaking of inclusiveness, Hari Nef, a transgender woman, plays Barbie in the film. The first transgender Barbie doll ever released by Mattel was the Laverne Cox Barbie doll in 2022 as part of the Tribute Collection series honoring iconic women. In increasingly important roles we find Issa Rae in the film plays a Barbie doll for President. Her look is based on the African American version of Barbie for President from 2004 which had a red pantsuit. Barbie for President is a line of Mattel dolls that first appeared in 1992 featuring Barbie as a presidential candidate, and the line reappears each presidential election year.

Still, on the same wavelength, Nicola Coughlan’s Barbie is a diplomat. While no diplomat Barbie doll has been created specifically, Australian diplomat Julie Bishop was awarded a Barbie doll by Mattel in 2021, as she was the first woman to serve as Australia’s foreign minister. Emerald Fennell plays Barbie‘s friend Midge in the film, which premiered in 1963 as her redheaded companion. Her appearance in this film is specifically based on the 2003 Pregnant Midge & Baby doll from the Happy Family line. This doll is infamous for being controversial upon release, as the doll has been accused of promoting teenage pregnancy (even though Midge was an adult in this version) and for apparently being an unmarried single mother (although Midge was married to Ken’s friend Allan in 1990 with Wedding Day Midge Giftset, and Allan was part of the Happy Family line like her husband).

The Midge & Baby box didn’t have a cutout of Allan in the back, making it appear she was single and pregnant, so Walmart took the doll off the shelves and Mattel replaced it with a new box that had a cutout of Allan in the corner of the box to make it more evident that she is married, her silver wedding ring on her hand was also painted to be thicker to make it more noticeable. From the Career Barbie series, we find Sharon Rooney who plays a lawyer Barbie in the film. While no lawyer Barbie was specifically made (with the closest examples being 1963 career girl Barbie, 1992 corporate executive Barbie, and 1999 working woman Barbie), there was an Elle Woods Barbie released in 2003, as a tie promotional -in with the release of Legally Blonde 2: Red, White, and Blonde (2003).

Alexandra Shipp plays a celebrated author Barbie in the film. While no signature Barbie has been specifically released, Mattel honored acclaimed author Maya Angelou with a Barbie doll in 2021 as part of the Inspiring Women series. Ritu Arya plays a Pulitzer Prize-winning Barbie in the film. She is not based on any specific Barbie, but there has been a commemorative release of the Ida B. Wells Barbie released in 2021 as part of the Inspiring Women series, which is a Pulitzer Prize winner. But she’s not the only one to play a big role. While not directly based on any specific doll, Emma Mackey’s Barbie is inspired by the scientist, STEM leader, and astrophysicist Barbie dolls that Mattel has previously released as part of various Barbie careers.