Barbie (film series)

The Barbie Film Collection
Barbie logo
Produced by	Mattel Creations
Production company	Mainframe Entertainment (2001–2007) (except The Barbie Diaries) Rainmaker Studios (2007–present) Arc Productions (2013, 2015, 2016) Technicolor (2011, 2013)
Distributed by	Artisan Entertainment/FHE (2001–2003) Lionsgate (2003–2006) Universal Studios (2006–present) Sony Pictures Entertainment (upcoming live action)
Country	United States Canada
Language	English French

Barbie is a fashion doll manufactured by the American toy company Mattel, Inc. who has been a computer animated virtual actress starring in direct-to-DVD animated films. Although Barbie has appeared in miniseries and short films since 1987, the series officially began in 2001 with Barbie in the Nutcracker which is tagged as "(Barbie) Starring in Her First (Feature-length) Movie". It is followed by a total of thirty-five films while the series is on hiatus as of 2017. Other appearances of Barbie as a character in other films including Mattel's My Scene line as well as the Toy Story film series are not considered part of the franchise. Created by Mattel Creations (formerly Mattel Entertainment), the films have sold more than 27 million units worldwide, as of 2006.^[1]

The Barbie films and their plot lines center on Barbie as a singular CGI actress, and often frame Barbie as a modern girl telling the story to a younger friend while simultaneously starring in the film. Scholars examining how the Barbie films differ from Disney and other princess narratives have concluded that Mattel intentionally attempted to remediate its brand based on feminist criticisms through story-telling in the films.^[2][3] Barbie is always placed as the central heroine of the story, with male characters and romantic interests serving as secondary to the plot.

Origins

Barbie's popularity on the toy market began to decline in the 1990s,^[2] and struggled further when MGA Entertainment introduced a line of Bratz dolls, whose sexualized characters contrasted with Barbie's older, chaste image.^[4][5] Mattel therefore attempted to overhaul the Barbie brand to keep the toy relevant to consumers in the modern age by bringing in consultants and conducting research on key market groups. Mattel consultants initially considered reducing the Barbie's breast size, but later claimed that the doll's figure could not be changed because "being consistent is one of her biggest strengths."^[6] This move might also have been rejected because of the success of the sexualized Bratz dolls of Mattel's competitors. Mattel's team also considered targeting market audiences of career women and their daughters by introducing lines of Doctor or Lawyer Barbies.^[7] However, Mattel's research showed that girls were spending more time online than playing with physical dolls.^[4][7][8] Therefore, targeted career Barbies were discarded in favor of looking for more interactive platforms through online or digital media.

This resulted in the creation of the Barbie film series, which initially revolved around Barbie being reimagined a princess and eventually expanded into various worlds of fashion and fantasy. A primary benefit of this strategy revolved around marketing, as Mattel could sell dolls specific to each film separately from the DVDs and merchandise related to props, costumes, and sets from the films.^[5] Tim Kilpin, the senior vice-president for girls marketing at Mattel, stated that "What you see now are several different Barbie worlds anchored by content and storytelling. A girl can understand what role Barbie is playing, what the other characters are doing, and how they interrelate. That's a much richer level of story that leads to a richer level of play."^[9] The strategy worked: US Barbie sales, led by the princess line, "increased by two percent in 2006, saving Mattel's bottom line at a time when its worldwide share of the toy market was declining."^[7][10] Within the films, Mattel includes performances by well-known companies and orchestras, such as the London Symphony Orchestra, the Czech Philharmonic and the New York City Ballet.^[4][5] These associations could have been included as an enrichment strategy on behalf of Mattel's marketing team, to help the films be seen as educational.

Films

The following is the official list of thirty-six films in the Barbie film series.

Live action film adaptation

In 1986, a St. Petersburg Times newspaper reported that Cannon Films planned to make a Barbie film, but nothing came to fruition.

Sony Pictures and Mattel are developing a comedic live-action Barbie movie with Walter F. Parkes and Laurie MacDonald producing and Jenny Bicks writing the film.^[11] On March 4, 2015 it was announced that Diablo Cody will be doing rewrites on the script.^[12] In December 2015 it was announced that Sony would hire three different writers to write scripts, and that they would choose the best one. They are working with the draft written by Hilary Winston.^[13][14]

On August 5, 2015, Sony Pictures set the film's release date on June 2, 2017.^[15] On December 2, 2016, The Hollywood Reporter reported that Amy Schumer had been cast as Barbie. It also reported that minor changes would be made in terms of the character and the story itself, centering on a Barbie, who after she is exiled from a world full of Barbies, enters the real world as a normal woman who is imperfect.^[16] On March 23, 2017, The Hollywood Reporter confirmed that Schumer had dropped out of the project due to scheduling conflicts; similar reports stated that the film was without a director.^[17] In August 2017, it was announced that Anne Hathaway would star as the titular character and that up-and-coming director Alethea Jones would helm the film.^[18]

Originally scheduled for release on May 12, 2017, it was reported that the live-action film adaptation was pushed back and was set for a June 29, 2018 release in the United States;^[19] it was later pushed back to August 8, 2018.^[20] On April 26, 2018, Diablo Cody announced why she had dropped out as the original chosen writer on the project. Cody said that she spent too much time involved working on the screenplay for Tully to focus on writing the live action Barbie movie and that she doesn't feel she is the right person to write the script.^[21] This film's concept was discarded in 2017.^[22] Sony in January 2018 would later move its release date to May 8, 2020.^[23] With a revived film division, Mattel Films, a Barbie film was considered one of two of the division's first projects.^[22] In October 2018, it was announced that Warner Bros. would distribute the film and that Margot Robbie was in talks to play the titular character, following Hathaway's departure from the role.^[24]

References

External links

• Official website
• http://barbie.mattel.com/