''Barbie: Life in the Dreamhouse'' is a

web series A web series (also known as a web show) is a series of scripted or non-scripted online videos, generally in episodic form, released on the Internet, which first emerged in the late 1990s and became more prominent in the early 2000s. A single i ...

of computer-animated

shorts Shorts are a garment worn over the human pelvis, pelvic area, circling the waist and splitting to cover the upper part of the legs, sometimes extending down to the knees but not covering the entire length of the leg. They are called "shorts" b ...

produced by

Arc Productions Jam Filled Entertainment is a Canadian animation studio based in Ottawa, Ontario with additional facilities in Toronto and Halifax and is a division of Boat Rocker Media. It is best known for animating '' Thomas & Friends'' between 2013 and 20 ...

and

Mattel Mattel, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company founded in January 1945 and headquartered in El Segundo, California. The company has presence in 35 countries and territories and sells products in more ...

which originally aired on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

and the official Barbie website from 10 January 2012 to 27 November 2015. The series is currently available on

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

, but only as specialized bundles of episodes instead of the series' original chronological episode order. Two TV specials aired on

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television television channel, channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its List of assets owned by Param ...

on September 1, 2013. A follow-up long-form CGI-

animated series An animated series is a set of animated works with a common series title, usually related to one another. These episodes should typically share the same main characters, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series can have either ...

, titled '' Barbie: Dreamhouse Adventures'', was released between May 3, 2018 and April 12, 2020 on

Setting

The series is set in a fictional version of

Malibu, California Malibu ( ; es, Malibú; Chumash: ) is a beach city in the Santa Monica Mountains region of Los Angeles County, California, situated about west of Downtown Los Angeles. It is known for its Mediterranean climate and its strip of the Malibu ...

, where all of its inhabitants are dolls. The dolls behave like humans, though a number of the show's gags rely on their doll-like nature. The series centers on the life of

Barbie Barbie is a fashion doll manufactured by American toy company Mattel, Inc. and launched on March 9, 1959. American businesswoman Ruth Handler is credited with the creation of the doll using a German doll called Bild Lilli as her inspiration. ...

, her friends, her siblings, her boyfriend

Ken Ken or KEN may refer to: Entertainment * ''Ken'' (album), a 2017 album by Canadian indie rock band Destroyer. * ''Ken'' (film), 1964 Japanese film. * ''Ken'' (magazine), a large-format political magazine. * Ken Masters, a main character in ...

, and a number of pets. The series is stylized as a mock

reality show Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

featuring confessionals of the characters in between scenes. The show heavily relies on

slapstick Slapstick is a style of humor involving exaggerated physical activity that exceeds the boundaries of normal physical comedy. Slapstick may involve both intentional violence and violence by mishap, often resulting from inept use of props such a ...

humor, and makes a lot of

satirical Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming or e ...

and

self-parody A self-parody is a parody of oneself or one's own work. As an artist accomplishes it by imitating their own characteristics, a self-parody is potentially difficult to distinguish from especially characteristic productions. Self-parody may be us ...

references to the Barbie doll line.

Characters

* Barbara Millicent "Barbie" Roberts (voiced by

Kate Higgins Catherine Davis Higgins is an American voice actress, singer and jazz piano, jazz pianist. Career Music career Higgins earned a degree in music from Auburn University in 1991. She is a trained pianist who studied with the jazz artist Bob Richard ...

): Barbie is the lead character of the show. She lives in a large pink mansion called the "Dreamhouse" along with her younger sisters Skipper, Stacie, Chelsea and their pets. Barbie is a fashion icon and has had over 135 careers, and counting. Despite being a celebrity in Malibu, she is friendly, humble and good-natured. * Kenneth "Ken" Carson (voiced by

Sean Hankinson Sean Hankinson is an American actor. Hankinson was born and raised in Tucson, Arizona, living briefly in Albuquerque, New Mexico, before moving to Los Angeles, California. He attended Tucson High Magnet School, a performing arts public school. D ...

): Ken is Barbie's long-time boyfriend. Ken strives to be the perfect boyfriend for Barbie and is always there when Barbie needs him. He is an inventor who makes high-end machines and gadgets for Barbie to use, though they usually end up malfunctioning. * Skipper Roberts (voiced by Paula Rhodes): Barbie's teenage sister who enjoys technology and

DJing A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music festival), mobile ...

. * Stacie Roberts (voiced by Paula Bodin; ''née'' Rhodes): Barbie's tomboy tween sister who loves sports and organization. * Chelsea Roberts (voiced by Laura Gerow): Barbie's youngest sister who is mostly interested in collecting and playing with stuffed animals (including her eye-catching favorite ''Unicorn Plushie of the Month'' or simply ''Plushie''). *

Teresa Teresa (also Theresa, Therese; french: Thérèse) is a feminine given name. It originates in the Iberian Peninsula in late antiquity. Its derivation is uncertain, it may be derived from Greek θερίζω (''therízō'') "to harvest or re ...

(voiced by

Katie Crown Katherine Crown (born November 23, 1985) is a Canadian voice actress and writer. She is known for voicing Izzy in ''Total Drama'', Fin in '' Stoked'', Mary Wendle and Melanie Baker in ''Clarence'', Tulip in ''Storks'' and Ivy in ''Amphibia''. In ...

): Barbie's extremely chatty but ditzy best friend who lives near the Dreamhouse and often makes silly, half-witted remarks. *

Nikki Nikki may refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Nikki (Barbie), a fashion doll in the Barbie toy line * Nikki (comics), a Marvel Comics character * Nikki and Paulo, from the TV series ''Lost'' * Nikki, the mascot of Swapnote * N ...

(voiced by

Nakia Burrise Nakia Burrise (born October 21, 1974) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Tanya Sloan, the Yellow Zeo Ranger and later, the first Yellow Turbo Ranger on the television series ''Power Rangers Zeo'' and ''Power Rangers Turbo'' ...

): Barbie's principal Black American best friend who is also close friends with Teresa. She manages a fashion blog and loves taking pictures as a hobby. She is creative, smart, sassy, outspoken, and very protective of her friends. * Raquelle (voiced by Haviland Stillwell): Barbie's frenemy and rival for Ken's affections. She lives a very posh lifestyle in an attempt to outshine Barbie. She is portrayed as vain and arrogant and is not above deceit to attain what she wants. She is also clumsy, and her plans to sabotage Barbie often backfire. * Ryan (voiced by Charlie Bodin): Raquelle's twin brother and struggling musician. He is in love with Barbie and often writes songs about her to impress her. He is a

frenemy "Frenemy" (also spelled "frienemy") is an oxymoron and a portmanteau of "friend" and "enemy" that refers to "a person with whom one is friendly, despite a fundamental dislike or rivalry" or "a person who combines the characteristics of a friend ...

of Ken and will often brawl with him to win Barbie's affections. Like his sister, Ryan is also very vain and is often seen carrying around large cardboard standups of himself. * Midge Hadley (voiced by Ashlyn Selich): Barbie's childhood best friend from Barbie's hometown of Willows, Wisconsin. She and Barbie lost touch when Barbie's family moved to Malibu. Prior to her makeover, she appears in

black-and-white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white in a continuous spectrum, producing a range of shades of grey. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, and as technology improved, altered to color. ...

, dressed in

vintage fashion Vintage (design), Vintage clothing is a generic term for Clothing, garments originating from a previous era, as recent as the 1990s. The term can also be applied in reference to second hand retail outlets, e.g. i''n vintage clothing store''. W ...

, and speaks in early through late 1960s slang. She is also quirky, smart, and is fond of arts and crafts (particularly

macramé Macramé is a form of textile produced using knotting (rather than weaving or knitting) techniques. The primary knots of macramé are the square (or reef knot) and forms of "hitching": various combinations of half hitches. It was long crafted by ...

). She moves to Malibu and develops a crush on Ryan, who does likewise after her makeover. *

Summer Summer is the hottest of the four temperate seasons, occurring after spring and before autumn. At or centred on the summer solstice, the earliest sunrise and latest sunset occurs, daylight hours are longest and dark hours are shortest, wit ...

(voiced by

Tara Sands Tara Jayne Sands is an American voice actress and co-host of Cartoon Network's ''Fridays'' from 2005 to 2007. Sands has voiced in anime dubs and cartoons, including Bulbasaur in the ''Pokémon'' anime series, Spyler in the US dub of ''I Spy'', ...

): Barbie's fun and energetic best friend who loves sports and games. She is competitive, and her hyperactive nature is sometimes too much to handle. * Grace (voiced by Lillian Sofia): Barbie's new best friend and a new resident in Malibu. She is very smart and interested in science. * The Mall Cop: A strict and sometimes angry

security guard A security guard (also known as a security inspector, security officer, or protective agent) is a person employed by a government or private party to protect the employing party's assets (property, people, equipment, money, etc.) from a variety ...

who goes by the Malibu Mall codes of conduct. * Closet (voiced by Todd Resnick): A robot who lives in and manages Barbie's closet. The robot speaks in monotone and has an evil side.

Episode list

References

External links

The show's official website
(Archived) * {{Barbie Barbie television series 2012 web series debuts 2010s American animated television series 2010s Canadian animated television series American animated web series American children's animated comedy television series American computer-animated television series Canadian children's animated comedy television series Canadian computer-animated television series Sentient toys in fiction Works based on Mattel toys American children's web series Canadian children's web series Television series by Mattel Creations Television shows set in California Works set in Los Angeles

Setting

Characters

Episode list

See also

References

External links