Barbie (media Franchise)

''Barbie'' has appeared in a media franchise produced by American toy and entertainment company Mattel since the late 1980s. The franchise encompasses a series of computer-animated films that later expanded to several other audiovisual media, revolving around the fashion doll often being portrayed as a modern girl playing various roles. Referred to among fans as the "Barbie Cinematic Universe", it has become one of the highest-grossing media franchises of all time. From 2002 until 2017, the films aired regularly on Nickelodeon in the United States. Since then, they have instead been released on streaming services like Netflix, Google Play and Apple TV+. In 2020, the films got revamped into streaming television films, which are marketed by Mattel as "specials" and picked up for television broadcast in multiple countries and regions/territories.

Since Barbie's debut in 1959, the franchise not only produced the range of dolls with their clothes and accessories, but also a large range of branded goods such as books, comic books, and video games. The franchise released two animated TV specials in 1987; '' Barbie and the Rockers: Out of This World'' and its sequel. It later started a series of films in 2001 with the direct-to-video release of its first feature-length film, ''Barbie in the Nutcracker''. The film series made its American television debut on Nickelodeon in 2002 with its second film, ''Barbie as Rapunzel''. For the following 15 years, the films were released both on home video formats and as TV specials on Nickelodeon. The 35th release, '' Barbie: Video Game Hero'' in 2017, marked the last time a Barbie film both aired on American television and released on home video formats. The franchise has since expanded to include web series like '' Barbie: Life in the Dreamhouse'', ''Barbie: Vlogger'', '' Barbie: Dreamtopia'' and ''Barbie: Life in the City'', television shows like '' Barbie: Dreamhouse Adventures'' and '' Barbie: It Takes Two'', a live-action film to be released on 21 July 2023 and an interactive short film with the release of '' Barbie: Epic Road Trip'' on 25 October 2022.

In response to a growing rise of digital and interactive media (as well as the gradual decline of dolls, toys, and accessories) in the 1980s, Mattel adapted Barbie into various facets of media and entertainment beyond the television advertisement of its dolls and related accessories (which was a prolific marketing strategy in the past) including computer-animated films, television shows, web series, theatrical events, soundtrack albums and streaming media content. In the films, Barbie is featured as a virtual actress playing the main character, and often being portrayed as a modern girl telling the story to one of her sisters or a younger friend – as a parable to present affairs. Scholars examining how the Barbie films differ from other princess narratives have concluded that Mattel intentionally attempted to remediate its brand based on feminist criticisms through storytelling in the films.Vered, Karen Orrl & Maizonniaux, Christèlel, "Barbie and the straight-to-DVD movie: pink post-feminist pedagogy", Feminist Media Studies. Apr 2017, Vol. 17 Issue 2, p198-214. 17p.

Origins

Barbie's net popularity on the toy market began to decline in the 1980s, and struggled further in 2001 when MGA Entertainment introduced a line of dolls under the name Bratz, whose sexualized characters contrasted with Barbie's older, chaste image.Ault, Susanne, "Girl Power Builds Barbie muscle: Mattel Takes Kids' Fave Forward with U Pact," Daily Variety (February 12, 2007). A11-A13.Orr, Lisa, "'Difference That is Actually Sameness Mass-Reproduced,: Barbie Joins the Princess Convergence," Jeunesse: Young People, Texts Cultures 1.1 (2009): 9-30. 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". This move might also have been rejected because of the success of MGA's sexualized Bratz dolls. Mattel's team also considered targeting market audiences of career women and their daughters by introducing lines of Doctor or Lawyer Barbies.Gogoi, Pallavi. "Mattel's Barbie Trouble." ''Business Week Online'' 18 July 2006: 7. ''Academic Search Premier''. Web. 15 Mar. 2009. However, Mattel's research showed that girls were spending more time online than playing with physical dolls. Therefore, targeted career Barbies were discarded in favor of looking for more interactive platforms through online or digital media.

History

In 1987, Mattel produced two television specials with DIC Animation City and Saban Productions; '' Barbie and the Rockers: Out of This World'' and its sequel '' Barbie and the Sensations: Rockin' Back to Earth'', both featuring Barbie as the leader of a rock band. Between the 1980s and early 2000s, Barbie got featured in video games, many of which were distributed by Vivendi-Universal Games. The launch of ''Mattel Entertainment'' in 2001 coincided with the creation of the Barbie films with the direct-to-video release of ''Barbie in the Nutcracker.'' The films initially revolved around Barbie being re-imagined as 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 video sales and merchandise related to props, costumes, and sets from the films.

Tim Kilpin, then-senior vice-president for girls marketing at Mattel, stated: ''"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."'' The strategy worked as U.S. 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." Within the films, Mattel included performances by well-known companies and orchestras, such as the London Symphony Orchestra, the Czech Philharmonic and the New York City Ballet. 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.

In the midst of the films, Canadian animation studio, Arc Productions, Inc., which was just renamed from ''Starz Animation Toronto'' (originally Daniel Krech Productions (DKP) and DKP Studios) and had new-consortium ownership and structural revamp, produced the first non-Barbie-film production for Mattel in 2011, a web series called '' Barbie: Life in the Dreamhouse'' which debuted on the official Barbie website and YouTube on 11 January 2012 and concluded on 27 November 2015. The web series later spawned two television specials which were broadcast in the U.S. on Nickelodeon. Impressed, Mattel gave them four Barbie films to produce while enlisting them as the third production partner after Mainframe Studios (at the time known as "Rainmaker Entertainment") and Technicolor.

Israeli animation studio, Snowball Studios, with support from the Jerusalem Film and Television Fund, produced another web series and created by Julia Pistor for Mattel Playground Productions known as '' Barbie: Dreamtopia''. This series of 2-minute to 4-minute shorts launched on 21 May 2016 by Mattel's then-latest division, Mattel Creations, on a YouTube affiliate platform known as ''YouTube Kids''. The web shorts series later spawned an eponymous television film (distributed by Universal Pictures Home Entertainment and was broadcast on television in over five countries and regions/territories), one web-based special, and a 26-episode web series – therefore invoking the first web-exclusive Barbie media franchise. This would be the catalyst for scholars and enthusiasts alike to notice Mattel heavily invested and involved in releasing more related Barbie web series and miniseries bundles on YouTube and its variants; YouTube Kids and YouTube Shorts.

Through the short video bundles on YouTube, Mattel also provided a platform for Barbie to give its audience a look into her fictional life while trying to educate them along the way. With a YouTube channel that has over ten million subscribers, Mattel reintroduced Barbie as a YouTuber through a web series called ''Barbie Vlogger'' (or ''Barbie Vlogs''), uploading its first video on 19 June 2015. Julia Pistor, who was also the executive producer and writer of the series, stated: ''"Barbie is conscious of language and words; she talks about intention and she’s self-reflective. While we might use words that kids sometimes need to look up, we try to be true to Barbie being a 17-year-old influencer."'' By giving a self-reflective nature to Barbie's character, this would allow her to discuss difficult topics (such as mental health and racism) in such a way that it inspires its audience to think about and discuss those topics as well.

With the success of its online platforms, Mattel would continue to produce web series and mini-series on YouTube and its variants. On the other hand, the media franchise as a whole has moved over to streaming services, primarily on Netflix but also including Amazon Prime Video, Google Play and Apple TV+, beginning with ''Barbie: Dolphin Magic'' in 2017. In addition, Mattel signed an agreement on 1 May 2020 with Arts Music, Inc., a then-newest record label of Warner Music Group, to make thousands of songs from their brand portfolio – including Barbie – available through online music streaming platforms. The agreement began taking effect a week later when the soundtrack albums tied to their related productions are made available through WMG's distribution label, ADA Worldwide. Mattel would extend its partnership with Netflix on 21 October 2022, 4 days before the American debut of the franchise's inaugural interactive "special", ''Barbie: Epic Road Trip'', which would also see the pre-2017 film catalogue previously held by Universal made available through the service.

Films

Mattel partnered with Canadian company, Mainframe Entertainment, (currently ''Mainframe Studios'') to produce its first computer-animated feature-length film, ''Barbie in the Nutcracker'', based on E. T. A. Hoffmann's classic tale and Tchaikovsky's accompanying ballet music, which was released in 2001. Mainframe continued to produce the majority of the future films in the series. The first decade was dominated by films based on preexisting stories, including Brothers Grimm's fairy tales: Rapunzel and The Twelve Dancing Princesses, Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake ballet, Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, Hans Christian Andersen's Thumbelina, and Alexandre Dumas' The Three Musketeers. Due to the popularity of the 2004 film ''Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper'' (based on Mark Twain's famous novel), a remake was released in 2012 entitled '' Barbie: The Princess & the Popstar'', which itself inspired two films with a more modern look: ''Barbie in Rock 'N Royals'' in 2015 and '' Barbie: Princess Adventure'' in 2020.

The first original film in the franchise, '' Barbie: Fairytopia'', was released in 2005, which in turn spawned the first-in-series franchise made up of two sequels ('' Barbie Fairytopia: Mermaidia'' in 2006 and '' Barbie Fairytopia: Magic of the Rainbow'' in 2007) and two spin-offs ('' Barbie: Mariposa'' in 2008 and its sequel, '' Barbie: Mariposa & the Fairy Princess'', in 2013).' The success of the first three films (''Barbie in the Nutcracker'', ''Barbie as Rapunzel'', and ''Barbie of Swan Lake'') had led to the princess-themed lineup in the series, releasing its second original film ''Barbie and the Magic of Pegasus'' in 2005. Starting with ''Barbie in A Mermaid Tale'' in early 2010, the film series moved away from the classic princess stories to focus on more modern themes like fashion, music, and on stories revolving around Barbie's friends, family and careers. In 2017, the film series was put on hiatus after '' Barbie: Dolphin Magic'', which served as the pilot to the streaming television series, '' Barbie: Dreamhouse Adventures'', in Mattel's attempt to focus on expanding the franchise to other audiovisual media. Mattel later revamped the films in 2020 as animated "specials", beginning with the musical, '' Barbie: Princess Adventure'', all of which fall under the ''"Dreamhouse Adventures"'' canon.

The following is the official list of the computer-animated films in the film franchise:

Live-action film

A live-action adaptation of the toyline from Mattel Films in association with LuckyChap Entertainment and Heyday Films is currently awaiting its American theatrical debut on 21 July 2023 by Warner Bros. having wrapped on 15 July 2022. The film was directed by Greta Gerwig who co-wrote the screenplay with Noah Baumbach and stars an ensemble cast led by Margot Robbie as Barbie and Ryan Gosling as Ken.

Television specials

Mattel released two animated TV specials in 1987 as follows:
* '' Barbie and the Rockers: Out of This World'', a 1987 animated TV special created by DIC Animation City with Saban Productions and featuring Barbie as the leader of a rock band. It is supposedly the pilot to a daily Barbie cartoon series that was cancelled in 1988.
* '' Barbie and the Sensations: Rockin' Back to Earth'', a sequel to ''Barbie and the Rockers: Out of This World'', released the same year.

Television/web series

Mattel has released several animated television shows, web series and miniseries since 2012 which as follows:
* '' Barbie: Life in the Dreamhouse'', a YouTube-exclusive web series aired between 10 January 2012 and 27 November 2015 with 75 episodes (including two TV specials which aired in the United States on Nickelodeon).
* ''Barbie: Motion Comics'', a web-based animated motion comic series that began on 5 February 2015 and is composed of miniseries, namely: ''Be Super'' (inspired by ''Barbie in Princess Power''), ''Raise Your Voice'' (inspired by ''Barbie in Rock 'N Royals''), and ''Puppy Adventures'' (inspired by ''Barbie & Her Sisters in The Great Puppy Adventure'').
* ''Barbie Vlogger'' or ''Barbie Vlogs'', a YouTube-exclusive CGI-animated sequences that began on 19 June 2015 and featuring Barbie as a vlogger either by herself or along with one or more of her family and friends.
* '' Barbie: Dreamtopia'', a web-exclusive franchise that began in January 2016 with a release of 2-minute to 4-minute shorts on YouTube. It then spawned one 44-minute TV special (which aired on television in 5 countries/regions/territories), one web-based special and an initially-exclusive YouTube Kids series with 26 episodes. The latter was made available later on YouTube from 5 November 2017 to 1 April 2018 and aired as an actual TV series in over 6 countries.
* '' Barbie: Dreamhouse Adventures'', the first TV series in the franchise released between 3 May 2018 and 12 April 2020 on Netflix in the U.S. It consisted of 52 episodes over 5 "season" episode bundles and aired as an actual TV series in over 8 countries.
* ''Barbie's Dreamworld,'' a YouTube-exclusive web series franchise created by Ireland-based Relish Studios that began on 25 January 2021 and is composed of several different miniseries, including ''Barbie: Return to Dreamtopia'' and ''Barbie and the Nutcracker'' among others.
* '' Barbie: It Takes Two,'' a 2022 streaming TV serial follow-up to the film, '' Barbie: Big City, Big Dreams'' that aired on television in 5 countries/regions/territories services in between its launch in the U.S. on April 8 on Netflix. The series launched with 26 episodes, with the first half of them having its debut in the spring and the other half released on 1 October.
* ''Barbie: Life in the City'', a YouTube-exclusive web series which debuted on 15 September 2022, primarily focusing on Barbie "Brooklyn" Roberts and expanding her character to emphasize her role and prominence within the brand.

Short films

Mattel produced a number of animated short films featuring Barbie as tie-ins with other titles within the franchise which include as follows:
* ''Barbie as Sleeping Beauty,'' a 1999 short film based on the fairy tale released as a TV commercial to supplement a doll line and a video game of the same name. A full-length version supposedly adapting Tchaikovsky's ballet was cancelled in 2009.
* ''Barbie: A Camping We Will Go,'' a 2011 short film produced by Technicolor that revolved around Barbie and her sisters to accompany the film, ''Barbie: A Perfect Christmas.''
* ''Barbie in the Pink Shoes: Land of Sweets,'' a 2013 short film and Christmas special for ''Barbie in the Pink Shoes'' that was first released in German, then was later dubbed in English.
* ''Barbie and the Nutcracker,'' a 2021 short film released on YouTube as an episode for ''Barbie's Dreamworld'' and, along with a doll line, was part of celebrating the 20th anniversary of the first film, ''Barbie in the Nutcracker''.

Related animations

Mattel also featured and/or licensed for Barbie to appear in other related animations which include as follows:
* ''Dance! Workout with Barbie,'' a 1992 30-minute direct-to-video workout tape, featuring Barbie in stop-motion animation by Will Vinton Productions and teaching dance aerobics to real girls.
* ''Toy Story'', a Disney-Pixar film franchise that started in 1995 and featuring Barbie (and later Ken) as supporting characters from ''Toy Story 2'' onwards and its 2011 short film ''Hawaiian Vacation''.
* ''My Scene'', a discontinued franchise launched by Mattel in 2002 and featuring Barbie in its web series and in all of its films, namely: '' Jammin' in Jamaica'' and ''Masquerade Madness'' in 2004 and ''My Scene Goes Hollywood'' in 2005.
* ''Kelly Dream Club'', a 2002 direct-to-video animated series and featuring Barbie as a supporting character to her younger sister, Kelly (renamed Chelsea in 2011).

Timeline of media appearances

The earliest appearance of Barbie as a media character is her role in the 1987 TV specials where she was voiced by Sharon Lewis. She was voiced by Jodi Benson during her appearances in the ''Toy Story'' film franchise. In the Barbie lead-role films, she was voiced by Kelly Sheridan in 27 films altogether. Sheridan was initially succeeded by Diana Kaarina beginning with '' Barbie: A Fashion Fairytale'' in 2010, but returned to the role 2 years later with ''Barbie in A Mermaid Tale 2'' and stayed put until Mattel announced Erica Lindbeck as her successor from 2016. The film series was put on a hiatus in 2017 for the shift in focus to the TV series, '' Barbie: Dreamhouse Adventures'', where America Young would replace Lindbeck as the vocal provider for Barbie ahead of the film series resumption in 2020. She was portrayed by Australian actress, Margot Robbie, in the live-action adaptation of the toyline which is set to be released on 21 July 2023.

Reception

Commercial performance

The first 10 films in the franchise sold 40 million DVD and VHS units worldwide by 2007, grossing over in sales. As of 2013, the films in the franchise has sold over 110 million DVD units worldwide.

In other media

Video games

Mattel has produced dozens of Barbie video games since the 1980s. These games often are tie-ins with other titles within the franchise.

Books

Mattel has produced more than 400 books published by multiple authors and publishers based on Barbie since the early 1990s. Every film in the franchise has an eponymous book adaptation.

Comic books

Mattel has produced a series of comic books about Barbie published by Dell Comics between 1962 and 1963 and Marvel Comics between 1991 and 1996. Since 2016, Papercutz is currently the publisher of graphic novels based on Barbie which are usually tie-ins with other titles within the franchise.

* ''Barbie and Ken'', a 5-issue comic series published by Dell Comics from May 1962 to November 1963.
* ''Barbie'', a 63-issue comic series published by Marvel Comics from January 1991 to March 1996.
* ''Barbie: Fashion'', a 53-issue comic series published by Marvel Comics from January 1991 to May 1995.
* ''Barbie: Halloween Special'', a 2-issue comic series published by Marvel Comics in October 1993.
* ''Barbie and Baby Sister Kelly'', a special one-shot published by Marvel Comics in October 1995.

Albums

Mattel has released dozens of soundtrack albums and compilation albums based on Barbie since the early 1990s. Most of the films, especially those under the musical genre, are accompanied by their eponymous soundtracks.

* ''Barbie Sings! The Princess Movie Collection,'' a soundtrack album released on 5 October 2004 that features music from the first four Barbie films'': Barbie in the Nutcracker, Barbie as Rapunzel, Barbie of Swan Lake,'' and ''Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper.''
* ''Sing Along with Barbie,'' a direct-to-video released on 9 November 2009 and a compilation of twelve songs from different Barbie films released at that time that its viewers can sing-along to.

In popular media

On 14 February 2021, film and media podcast, ''Cult Popture'', released an 18-hour episode of ''Film Franchise Fortnights'' covering all of the 37 Barbie films released at the time. During the production of the episode, a 38th film was announced.

Notes

References

External links

*

Official Kids' website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barbie Media
Mass media franchises
Mass media franchises introduced in 1987
Film series introduced in 2001
American film series
Animated film series
Children's film series
American children's animated adventure films
Computer-animated films
Direct-to-video animated films
Direct-to-video film series
Films based on Mattel toys
Films based on fashion dolls
Mattel Creations films
Rainmaker Studios films
Barbie
Barbie films