FILM · 2023 · UK
Barbie
- Directed by
- Greta Gerwig
- Runtime
- 114 min
- Studio
- LuckyChap Entertainment, Heyday Films, NB/GG Pictures
185 archived facts 8 topics 1 source Last reviewed Sep 2026
Barbie and Ken are having the time of their lives in the colorful and seemingly perfect world of Barbie Land. However, when they get a chance to go to the real world, they soon discover the joys and perils of living among humans.
Summary: TMDB
All facts (185)
- #001
Everything in Barbieland is 23% larger than in reality, replicating the strange, disproportionate scale of real Barbies and Barbie playsets. This is why Barbie sometimes appears too big for things like her car, or why the ceilings in the Dreamhouses look so low.
- #002
According to Ryan Gosling, he accepted the role of Ken after seeing his daughter's Ken doll lying face down next to a lemon crushed in the mud. He then took a photo of the doll and the lemon and sent it to Greta Gerwig, saying: "I shall be your Ken, his story must be told."
- #003
Contains a major spoiler — show
Margot Robbie said that Barbie gradually transforms from a doll into a human over the course of the film, and that by the time she reveals her intention to become human to Ruth Handler, the transformation has already taken place. This evolution is reflected in subtle changes in her hairstyle, makeup, body language and voice, which become increasingly natural; even the costume design becomes more random and less stylized.
- #004
Contains a major spoiler — show
The montage of women at the end of the film consists of footage of the cast and crew's family and friends. Margot Robbie described the photo of the woman applying blush to her cheek as a video personally shot by a friend who was about to get married.
- #005
John Cena wanted very much to be in the film but, due to a scheduling conflict with Fast X (2023), could only take a small role. When the role of Ken Mermaid was offered to him, he accepted it instantly despite his agency's wishes, explaining: "[The agency] is just doing what they know. And what they know is: 'This asset, this commodity is heading towards these things, we should stay in this lane.' But I'm not a commodity. I'm a human being, and I operate on the thought that every opportunity is an opportunity."
- #006
Composer Mark Ronson wrote "I'm Just Ken" largely as a joke and recorded a demo for Greta Gerwig, not seriously expecting it to be included in the soundtrack. However, she liked the song, and when he shared it with Ryan Gosling, Gosling felt so strongly about it that he believed it contributed to Ken's character and successfully advocated for the song to become a musical number in the film. Ronson said he was amazed at how much Gosling's interpretation of the song evolved from its original purpose.
- #007
In the first part of the film, every character in Barbieland is backlit to make them look proud (a common cinematography trick). In fact, the sun mainly kept changing position between shots to achieve this (especially in the beach scene). But when Weird Barbie is first introduced, the sun falls directly on her face, giving her an off-putting look.
- #008
The swimsuit and overall look Barbie wears in the film's opening scene are a direct recreation of the original 1959 Barbie doll sold in stores.
- #009
Ryan Gosling improvised the "sublime" line and the shot in which he wears two pairs of sunglasses.
- #010
During dance rehearsals, Simu Liu showed off by demonstrating that he could do a backflip. Ryan Gosling's reaction inspired Greta Gerwig to give the story a rivalry between the Kens.
- #011
Michael Cera said he was cast as Allan "very last-minute," explaining: "I think I got Greta's email address through a mutual friend and sent her an email saying, 'Can I be in it too? Can I do this role?' And she said, 'Let's get on Zoom right now.' Here's a Zoom link. I'll be there for about an hour.' So I was hanging out on Zoom and it said, 'Click the link when you're ready.' Then we talked about it and everything moved very fast from that moment on."
- #012
Contains a major spoiler — show
America Ferrera's husband in the film is played by her real-life husband, Ryan Piers Williams.
- #013
The old woman on the bench is played by an Oscar-winning costume designer whose long and prolific career first began in the mid-1960s; she was 91 years old when Barbie was released. Although she still works actively as a costume designer, she did not design the costumes for Barbie, and this is her first credited role as an actor in a film. Greta Gerwig refused to cut Roth's scene, standing her ground with studio executives by saying: "I love that scene, and the old woman on the bench is the costume designer Ann Roth. She's a legend. It's a bit of a cul-de-sac, it doesn't go anywhere. And in the early cuts, when the film was looked at, it was suggested, 'Well, you could cut it. And actually the story would move the same way.' And I said, 'If I cut the scene, I don't know what this movie is about.'".
- #014
Margot Robbie had two requests for director Greta Gerwig: a slide for Barbie's house running from the bedroom down to the swimming pool, and for a mermaid Barbie to appear in the film in some way.
- #015
Margot Robbie laughed so often at Ryan Gosling's performance in their scenes together that she and Greta Gerwig had to develop a system in which she would try to hold a smile on her face just long enough to cut before it broke her character.
- #016
On Greta Gerwig's instruction, all the Ken actors trained and worked out in the same gym every morning to build and maintain the bond and competitiveness between them.
- #017
Margot Robbie revealed that while working on this film she found an old to-do list on which one of the goals was "Meet Ryan Gosling."
- #018
Barbie and Ken's skating outfits are inspired by Hot Skatin' Barbie, released in 1994.
- #019
Issa Rae plays President Barbie. Her look is based on the 2004 Barbie, the African-American version of the President in red trousers. President Barbie is a Mattel doll line that first appeared in 1992 and depicts Barbie as a presidential candidate, reappearing every presidential election year.
- #020
One of the film's early concepts had all the Barbies in Barbieland sporting "paddle hands," modeled after the molded plastic hands of real Barbies. The idea performed poorly in the first camera tests and was ultimately dropped in favor of letting the actors use their hands normally. Kate McKinnon was reportedly the best performer with the so-called "paddle hands," never breaking them even once.
- #021
Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash performs on the film's soundtrack, playing backing guitar on "I'm Just Ken" alongside Ryan Gosling. Slash later performed the song live at the 96th Academy Awards with Gosling and a number of Kens.
- #022
Contains a major spoiler — show
As Allan struggles with the Kens' construction, he quotes slogans that appeared on his box when he was first released: "He's Ken's buddy" and "All his clothes fit him!"
- #023
The actors worked with a personal trainer to prepare for their roles, focusing on core strengthening and Pilates-based exercises. At one point the actors held a plank contest, which Margot Robbie won, beating Ryan Gosling by more than a minute. She held a plank for four minutes and ten seconds, while he managed three minutes and two seconds.
- #024
The typeface used in the film is based on the font used on all Barbie dolls, products and merchandise between 1975 and 1991. The Barbie logo is usually refreshed with each generation.
- #025
When director Greta Gerwig took on the film, she insisted on certain bonding experiences, including pajama parties and "movie church" among the cast. All the Barbies were invited to spend the night at a hotel in London, and the Kens were allowed to visit (but not to stay). Apparently Ryan Gosling couldn't make it, but he didn't want his absence to go unnoticed either. Instead, he sent a singing telegram in the form of a kilt-wearing Scotsman who played the bagpipes and recited lines from Braveheart. Every Sunday, the whole cast gathered at the Electric Cinema in Notting Hill to watch films related to the Barbie story. The group began calling the weekly gatherings movie church.
- #026
Ryan Gosling's Ken was inspired by the look of Sun Lovin' Malibu Ken, who wore a turquoise swimsuit and had tanned blond hair in 1979.
- #027
Contains a major spoiler — show
Ruth Handler said in the film that she was arrested for tax evasion. This is true. In the 1970s, an investigation into falsified financial reports was carried out and led to Ruth Handler resigning as president of Mattel in 1974 and leaving the company in 1975. After the investigation concluded, she was charged with fraud and making false reports to the US Securities and Exchange Commission and was sentenced to a 57,000 dollar fine and 2,500 hours of community service. In her statement, she blamed her breast cancer, saying it caused her not to focus on her work.
- #028
For the role of Ken, Ryan Gosling drew on his time on The All New Mickey Mouse Club (1989). "At a certain point, I thought I had left that kid behind," Gosling said. "I realized that I needed his help to make this movie. So I had to go back and make peace with him and ask for his help. It was good for me."
- #029
Michael Cera is a trained martial artist — mostly from his time working on Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (2010) — and was able to use his skills in the fight scene with the Ken workers.
- #030
Barbieland was built almost entirely using real set effects and clever scenic design choices. All the backgrounds are hand-painted backdrops, and most locations, such as the Dreamhouses, are real sets. The transition scenes between Barbieland and the real world were practical too; old-style film tricks were used, such as crew members turning cranks to move the waves in the ocean to create the sense of motion.
- #031
Emerald Fennell plays Barbie's friend Midge, who was first introduced in 1963 as her red-haired friend. Her look in this film is specifically based on the 2003 Pregnant Midge & Baby doll from the Happy Family line. That doll was famously controversial when it was released; it was accused of promoting teen pregnancy (even though Midge is an adult in this version) and of apparently being an unmarried single mother (even though Midge had married Ken's friend Allan in 1990 with the Wedding Day Midge Gift Set, and Allan appears as her husband as part of the Happy Family line). The back of the Midge and Baby box did not feature a picture of Allan, which made her appear married and pregnant, so Walmart pulled the doll from its shelves and Mattel replaced it with a new box in which Allan was cropped into the corner to make her marriage more obvious; the silver wedding ring on her hand was also painted thicker to make it more noticeable.
- #032
Simu Liu plays an Asian version of Ken in the film. Although he is not based on a specific Ken, the first Asian Ken doll released came out in 2011, when Japan Ken (also known as Samurai Ken) was included as a collector's edition as part of the Dolls of the World series. He was not only the first Asian Ken but also the first (and, as of 2023, only) Ken included in Dolls of the World, a series previously exclusive to Barbie.
- #033
Contains a major spoiler — show
The Barbie that Gloria saves from being discarded is Day-to-Night Barbie, introduced in 1985 with a day look and a night look. During a press tour in Seoul, South Korea, Margot Robbie walked the carpet in a custom Versace version of the day look and then reappeared in a designer version of the night look.
- #034
After the premiere of the Netflix series Sex Education (2019), in which she shared the lead, Emma Mackey (Physicist Barbie) was frequently confused with Margot Robbie, and vice versa. According to Robbie, director Greta Gerwig wanted Mackey in the cast so she could shoot a visual twin joke with the two of them. However, the plans for that scene were scrapped after the actresses discovered that, once dressed as their own Barbies, they did not look alike at all.
- #035
Only two weeks after its release, Barbie earned the distinction of becoming the first billion-dollar film directed solely by a woman.
- #036
Greta Gerwig loves having someone "explain" a plot point or problem in a film with big, serious, pseudo-scientific talk, so she showed McKinnon short scenes from several films and said, "and I want you to explain everything with that level of authority, but it's just nonsense."
- #037
Kate McKinnon wanted to take the snow globe of Barbie's house home with her, but the production would not allow it. Greta Gerwig later revealed that she had kept it herself after filming ended.
- #038
When Greta Gerwig offered Kate McKinnon the role of Weird Barbie, McKinnon replied, "oh, so it's a documentary."
- #039
Contains a major spoiler — show
When Barbie and Ken are arrested and have their mugshots taken, Ken's placard reads "And Ken," foreshadowing his feelings of inadequacy and lack of identity beyond his relationship with Barbie.
- #040
At one point in the film, Barbie brushes her hair with an oversized hairbrush. This is a nod to the hairbrush commonly included in most Barbie accessory packs until the 2010s, when it was gradually phased out (as a cost-cutting measure and to reduce plastic waste). Until then, nearly every Barbie came with a brush scaled to a child's fingers as part of her accessories, even if the doll itself could not use it because of braids, short hair, gelled hair and so on.
- #041
Contains a major spoiler — show
The song Barbie repeatedly sings is "Closer to Fine" by the Indigo Girls. Its writer, Emily Saliers, says, "It's about not beating yourself up too much to get your answer from one place... it's about being confused, but about seeking answers and knowing that in the end you'll be fine." The recurring song the Kens sing is "Push" by Matchbox Twenty. Its writer, Rob Thomas, says, "It's not about physical violence. It's about emotions and how someone can push you around without even lifting a finger... In this song, there's a guy being pushed by a girl he's in a relationship with."
- #042
Margot Robbie helped Ryan Gosling understand the character of Ken by giving him pink beach-related gifts every day, a nod to the fact that Ken's job is really just beach.
- #043
Ryan Gosling sent Greta Gerwig a surprise group of dancers to perform "I'm Just Ken" at her morning Pilates class, wishing her a happy 40th birthday on August 4, 2023.
- #044
Sharon Rooney plays a Lawyer Barbie in the film. Although no Lawyer Barbie was ever released (the closest examples are 1963 Career Girl Barbie, 1992 Business Executive Barbie and 1999 Working Woman Barbie), an Elle Woods Barbie was released in 2003 as a promotional tie-in with the premiere of Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde (2003).
- #045
"Allan is the most tragic figure in Barbieland," Greta Gerwig was quoted as saying, and Gerwig and Michael Cera felt this was exactly right for the character, because not everyone gets to realize their dream.
- #046
Contains a major spoiler — show
Margot Robbie said: "There's a moment where Barbie's creator, Ruth Handler, hands Barbie a cup of tea and our hands touch, like in Michelangelo Buonarroti's 'The Creation of Adam,' mimicking the moment God gives life to the first man. Greta Gerwig snuck that in."
- #047
Contains a major spoiler — show
Weird Barbie's "weird" Barbie friends include Earring Magic Ken (1993), Palm Beach Sugar Daddy Ken (2009), Teen Talk Barbie (1992), Growing Up Skipper (1975), Barbie Video Girl (2010) and Tanner the Dog (2006). Happy Family Midge (2002) also appears, but lives in the Barbie Club Chelsea Treehouse next to Barbie's Dreamhouse rather than with Weird Barbie.
- #048
Contains a major spoiler — show
When the real world is reached at the end of the film, Barbie is referred to by the name "Barbara Handler," a nod to the daughter of Barbie's creator, Ruth Handler. Barbie and Ken were named after Barbara Handler and her brother Kenneth Handler. The doll's name, however, is officially Barbara Millicent Roberts.
- #049
Cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto created a unique color palette for the film, which Greta Gerwig named "Techni-Barbie" after the Technicolor format.
- #050
The shot of Barbie stepping out of her heels onto her tiptoes is a nod to the traditional Barbie body mold. Until 2015, when Barbie Fashionista dolls with flat feet were released so they could wear flat shoes, nearly all Barbie dolls were molded to wear only high heels, even if the doll had no shoes as part of the gimmick or accessories (as with beach-themed Barbie dolls, for example).
- #051
All the mermaid Barbies are played by Dua Lipa (except John Cena).
- #052
Greta Gerwig and Kate McKinnon have been friends since they were eighteen and were roommates in college. "When I met her I thought 'she's the most talented, funny person I've ever met,' and I was right," Gerwig said. Weird Barbie is prone to random splits, which they achieved with both the gymnast double and a fake leg that McKinnon could put in place of her own.
- #053
Margot Robbie explained that many of the text-covered decorations in Barbieland are not written in any recognizable language; instead, they are scribbled to imitate a child's "writing."
- #054
First announced in 2009, the project was reworked many times and overseen by three different studios. It began as a Universal Pictures production, but after five years of development Sony Pictures took over in 2014. Jenny Bicks was hired as screenwriter, only to be replaced the following year by Diablo Cody. In December 2016 Amy Schumer entered talks to star and to rewrite the script with Kim Caramele. Schumer left the project in 2017, at which point it was announced that Alethea Jones would direct, Olivia Milch would write and Anne Hathaway would star. Sony's option lapsed in October 2018 and the project moved to Warner Bros. The film finally moved forward and was released in 2023.
- #055
Besides being a parody of and homage to 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), the film's opening three shots use untouched footage from 2001; the fourth was digitally altered to replace a bone with a girl's shoe.
- #056
In the scene where Ken throws Barbie's clothes around, Ryan Gosling had trouble remembering all the outfit names (such as Pajama Jam in Amsterdam), so his dresser, Mark Avery, hid behind Barbie's closet and quietly read them out to him.
- #057
Greta Gerwig maintained that the line "it's like I've been in a dream where I was really invested in the Zack Snyder cut of Justice League" was not meant as a personal criticism of Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021), and said that "I don't have a dog in this fight" was only a joke. Snyder later explained that, with Warner Bros.' permission, the line was told to him before the film's release. After seeing the film, which he liked, Snyder added that he was proud to be a current reference in it.
- #058
Scott Evans plays a Western-themed Ken. His look is a tribute to Western Stampin' Ken, released in 1993.
- #059
It was Ryan Gosling's idea for Ken to wear Ken-branded underwear.
- #060
Production designer Sarah Greenwood claimed that so much of Rosco's fluorescent pink paint was used in building the set that it caused an international shortage. According to Lauren Proud, Rosco's Vice President of Marketing and Digital Experience, however, the production did use as much paint as the company had, but the shortages were tied to supply chain problems during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- #061
Alexandra Shipp plays a famous Writer Barbie in the film. Although no Writer Barbie was ever released specifically, Mattel honored the acclaimed writer Maya Angelou with a Barbie doll in 2021 as part of its Inspiring Women series.
- #062
Margot Robbie claimed that although she was a producer of the film and had the power to insist on playing Barbie, she told Greta Gerwig that she would respect any casting decision Gerwig made, including the lead role, since Gerwig had chosen her as director.
- #063
Dua Lipa plays Mermaid Barbie. Her look is based directly on the blue 2018 Dreamtopia Mermaid Barbie doll.
- #064
Contains a major spoiler — show
Barbie has three sisters (Skipper, Stacie and Chelsea), and all of them are referenced in some way. Skipper is the only sister who appears physically. A Stacie doll is shown in the final title sequence, and her name is mentioned in the lyrics of the "Barbie World" rap. Chelsea's name is written on drawings in the purple treehouse (visible when Will Ferrell comes out of the treehouse near the end of the film).
- #065
Although not based directly on a specific doll, Emma Mackey's Barbie was inspired by the Scientist, STEM Leader and Astrophysicist Barbie dolls Mattel had previously released as part of Barbie's various careers.
- #066
Greta Gerwig said she stood at the back of theaters showing the film to gauge audience reactions, even "turn[ing] up the volume if I felt it wasn't playing at the perfect level."
- #067
During production, Ncuti Gatwa (Artist Ken) learned he had been cast as the Fifteenth Doctor in Doctor Who (2005), but could not tell anyone until it was officially announced. When news broke that Gatwa would take on the role of the Doctor, Ryan Gosling, a big fan of the series, immediately went to Gatwa's trailer upon learning that he was a big fan of the series and that "Doctor Who is the coolest show in the world!", surprised that Gatwa was unaware of how popular Doctor Who is outside the United Kingdom. To show his support for Gatwa's casting, a photo was posted on Instagram of Gosling wearing an unofficial shirt featuring Ncuti Gatwa as the Doctor, drawing positive reactions from both Gatwa himself and showrunner Russell T. Davies, who jokingly responded that he should sue Gosling for wearing "illegal merchandising."
- #068
Rather than using any of the Dreamhouse's stairs, Barbie floats from her home down to the ground, though on closer inspection we cannot see her do it. This is a nod to the fact that earlier Barbie Dreamhouses had no stairs for Barbie to walk on, so any child playing with the doll would defy physics by moving the "float" from one floor to another.
- #069
Barbie waves to a pilot and then to some astronauts and says "Yay, space!", which Greta Gerwig said is her favorite thing. "It just feels like it captures something wonderful and dorky and genuine about Barbie," she said.
- #070
Denise Richards was originally cast as Mermaid Barbie but had to leave at the last minute due to a prior commitment. Director Greta Gerwig is a big fan of Richards and named Wild Things (1998) and Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999) as two of her favorite films.
- #071
This marks the first time Barbie has appeared in a theatrical live-action feature film, as opposed to her animated appearances in direct-to-video films and television programs. That does not include the two animated films owned by Disney and Pixar and used only with Mattel's permission, Toy Story 2 (1999) and Toy Story 3 (2010). In fact, Barbie was to appear as Woody's love interest in the first Toy Story (1995), until Mattel refused to allow her in the film and Bo Peep took her place.
- #072
Dame Helen Mirren said she filmed a cut scene: "It was a very funny scene where Olivia Colman played a drunk and we argued about who was the real grande dame of British actresses. She comes in and tries to take over the role of the Narrator, and I have to fight her off."
- #073
Contains a major spoiler — show
Noah Baumbach said: "When we first turned in the script, there was a note from Mattel. On page 111: 'Does a Mattel executive have to be shot?' At the time we thought that should only be in the ad!" Greta Gerwig added: "But all the notes ended with a question mark. It wasn't like 'This has to happen.' It was more like 'But does it have to be that way?' Mattel really gave us an enormous amount of trust and freedom. There was a real 'If you say it's right, let's go' kind of thing."
- #074
Ken's mink was initially thrown and then fell to the ground, but Greta Gerwig's stepson suggested it should have a frozen frame with a name on it, just as Barbie's outfits had done earlier.
- #075
Sharon Stone said she pitched a Barbie film in the 1990s and "was laughed out [of] the studio."
- #076
Margot Robbie said that pinning down Stereotypical Barbie's voice was difficult, because although Barbieland is adjacent to Los Angeles County (where Mattel's headquarters are located), she did not want Barbie to have a Los Angeles accent given the character's universality.
- #077
Star and producer Margot Robbie said that as of 2023 she was extremely torn about whether to make a sequel, noting that everyone wanted this film to be a single movie that tells a complete story: "I think we put everything we had into this film. We didn't do it to be a trilogy or anything. Greta put everything into this film, so I can't imagine what would come next." She added, however, that she would give anything to return to Barbieland and work with Greta Gerwig and Ryan Gosling.
- #078
The Kens running on invisible horses accompanied by coconut-style clip-clop sounds are a homage to the running gag in Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975).
- #079
Ncuti Gatwa plays a version of African American musician Ken in the film. The first AA Ken released on the market came out in 1982 with the Sunsational Malibu Ken doll. His look in this film is also inspired by the Ken in the Grand Ole Opry Country Duet Giftset, in which both Barbie and Ken appear as country musicians.
- #080
Ritu Arya plays a Pulitzer Prize-winning Barbie in the film. She is not based on a specific Barbie, but a commemorative Barbie edition of Ida B. Wells, herself a Pulitzer Prize winner, was released in 2021 as part of the Inspiring Women series.
- #081
Ana Cruz Kayne plays Supreme Court Justice Barbie in the film. The first Barbie depicted as a court judge was released in 2019 as part of the Career of the Year doll series.
- #082
Greta Gerwig presents Ken as a blend of the screen actors Marlon Brando, Gene Wilder, John Barrymore and John Travolta.
- #083
Contains a major spoiler — show
Allan explains that Allans crossed over from Barbieland to the real world before and that some even became famous. He claims the late-1990s boy band *NSYNC was made up entirely of Allans. As a child, Ryan Gosling was part of the cast of The All New Mickey Mouse Club (1989), where he appeared alongside future *NSYNC members JC Chasez and Justin Timberlake. Gosling briefly lived with Timberlake's family, after Gosling's mother had to return to her job in Canada and left him in Florida to shoot the series.
- #084
Greta Gerwig says she was influenced by the films of musical director Jacques Demy, particularly The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964), Model Shop (1969) and The Young Girls of Rochefort (1967). Gerwig is a great admirer of Demy's work: "His movies are delicious, with these amazing constructed worlds that operate on their own rules." Other musicals that influenced Gerwig include Saturday Night Fever (1977), Grease (1978), Gold Diggers of 1935 (1935), The Wizard of Oz (1939), Oklahoma! (1955), The Red Shoes (1948), An American in Paris (1951), Singin' in the Rain (1952) and All That Jazz (1979).
- #085
The production could not obtain the rights to the classic version of Aqua's big hit 'Barbie Girl'. Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice's new version was used instead.
- #086
They made some Ken Mojo Dojo Casa houses as toys, and Gerwig tried to persuade Mattel to put them into production for sale.
- #087
Contains a major spoiler — show
The cinema in Barbieland is showing The Wizard of Oz (1939), foreshadowing Barbie's journey to another world.
- #088
Ryan Gosling was nominated for an Oscar for his performance in the film, but Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie were not nominated. After the nomination, Ryan issued a statement saying there would be no Ken without Barbie and no Barbie film without Greta Gerwig.
- #089
Hari Nef plays Doctor Barbie in the film. She is inspired by the historically significant Doctor Barbie released in 1973, depicted as a doctor in a teal apron, surgical mask and stethoscope. Mattel had released a commemorative reproduction of the doll in 2022.
- #090
As a child, Greta Gerwig's mother discouraged her from playing with Barbies. She eventually gave up.
- #091
Emerald Fennell briefly appears as Midge. Margot Robbie's production company LuckyChap also produced Fennell's directorial debut Promising Young Woman (2020). With that film, Fennell won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay in 2021.
- #092
During the roller-skating scene on Venice Beach, Margot Robbie genuinely felt shy and uncomfortable as people watched in disbelief.
- #093
The film grossed 26 million dollars domestically on its first Monday, earning more than other Warner Bros films. It surpassed The Dark Knight (2008), which took 25 million dollars.
- #094
Jodie Foster said: "When I was young, there really were no American female directors, maybe a few. I didn't think I was allowed to be a director. And that's not true anymore. I couldn't be more proud than to have watched Greta Gerwig this year with 'Barbie.'" This great director was not only recognized, but recognized because she had people behind her saying 'You are not a risk.' I never thought that would happen. So I have a big smile on my face."
- #095
Mattel COO Richard Dickson initially objected to the scene in which Sasha calls Barbie a "fascist," but Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie persuaded him to keep the scene. Robbie later explained: "When you look on the page, the nuance isn't there, the delivery isn't there."
- #096
The home-movie montage at the end is made up of clips from cast and crew members. Billie Eilish wrote the song "What Was I Made For?" after watching only thirty-five minutes of the film.
- #097
Barbie's big dance party was designed and choreographed with only the backing track of Dua Lipa's song ready, since the track was not yet finished. Lipa sat in the booth and sang the song "to the picture," according to Greta Gerwig.
- #098
When Ryan Gosling was first sent a copy of the script, its title was "Barbie and Ken," with "and Ken" crossed out.
- #099
Margot Robbie was reportedly paid more than 50 million dollars in salary and box-office bonuses for the film. This made her the second highest-paid actor for a single film, after Sandra Bullock, who earned 70 million dollars for Gravity (2013).
- #100
Nicola Coughlan's Barbie is a diplomat. Although there is no specially released Diplomat Barbie doll, Australian diplomat Julie Bishop was honored by Mattel with a Barbie doll in 2021 for being the first woman to serve as Australia's Minister for Foreign Affairs.
- #101
A large number of celebrities and well-known figures tied to Barbie were used to promote the film. Rapper Nicki Minaj's fans are often called "Barbz" after Barbie, and Minaj contributed a track to the film's soundtrack. Drag performer and comedian Trixie Mattel, whose drag persona was modeled on a Barbie doll, was also invited to the film's premiere. Nail artist, YouTube Barbie lifestyle phenomenon and collector Azusa Sakamoto, whose collection includes at least 1,000 dolls, was also invited to the Barbie premiere.
- #102
Greta Gerwig wanted Ruth Handler's room to look like a David Lynch work. The kitchen itself is generally based on the kitchen Gerwig grew up with.
- #103
In earlier cuts, Ryan Gosling's Ken sang "Boys Just Want to Have Fun" nonstop for three minutes while Kingsley Ben-Adir's Ken danced beside him, but "it stopped the movie completely."
- #104
According to casting director Allison Jones, Bowen Yang, Dan Levy and Ben Platt turned down offers to play various Kens, and Jonathan Groff also turned down an offer to play Allan.
- #105
Margot Robbie's Barbie never wears rings on her fingers, a nod to the classic toy doll, whose fingers are fused together in a way that would not allow rings to fit.
- #106
Ryan Gosling lost 10 kilos and bleached his hair to play Ken.
- #107
Gal Gadot was considered to play Barbie but was unavailable. Margot Robbie, who until then had only served as a producer, was asked to play Barbie and reluctantly accepted as long as the film featured various groups of Barbies.
- #108
The character's identity is never stated in the film, but the character at Weird Barbie's house who looks like someone from the 19th century is meant to be Proust Barbie.
- #109
Greta Gerwig and her team enjoyed the film's effects work because they did as much as possible using "old school" practical effects and tricks, even with CG assists. Everything from miniature sets to 2D dioramas was both painstaking and rewarding. "I have a great love of painted backdrops," Gerwig said.
- #110
The montage scene in which Ken discovers the real world to the music of Eumir Deodato's "Also Sprach Zarathustra" resembles the scene in Being There (1979) in which Peter Sellers's character Chance first walks through the outside world to the same music.
- #111
Saoirse Ronan was to appear in the film, but scheduling conflicts prevented her from doing so. Ronan had previously worked with Greta Gerwig on Lady Bird (2017) and Little Women (2019). She also appeared with Margot Robbie in Mary Queen of Scots (2018).
- #112
It received 18 nominations at the Critics' Choice Awards, more nominations than any other film, surpassing The Shape of Water (2017) and Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022), which each had 14 nominations.
- #113
Contains a major spoiler — show
When Ken gets "injured" on the beach, the opening sound of the mobile hospital is the same as the sound of a music box.
- #114
Margot Robbie had been a Barbie fan since childhood and got a Barbie Dreamhouse at Christmas.
- #115
Greta Gerwig accepted the directing job only on the condition that her partner Noah Baumbach help write the screenplay.
- #116
The giant plastic legs were modeled on Margot Robbie's legs.
- #117
Will Ferrell's character describes Barbieland as "like a town in Sweden." Ferrell frequently visits Sweden, his wife's homeland, and has made various advertising campaigns to promote Swedish tourism.
- #118
In Barbieland, the men dance for the women, but some of the actors were worried about their dancing skills. "No, you're gonna be perfect," Greta Gerwig replied. "The imperfections of it is what makes it charming." The background characters in this scene and in the other group scenes are actually dancers. "They stand in a way that people like me don't stand, it's just a heightened quality."
- #119
The maze of cubicles in the Mattel headquarters is a tribute to French comedian and director Jacques Tati's film Playtime (1967).
- #120
Greta Gerwig never expected to make a car chase film, let alone Barbie, but she praises second unit director George Cottle for being great at his job and for working so well with her and cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto.
- #121
After Frozen (2013), Captain Marvel (2019) and Frozen II (2019), it is the fourth film directed by a woman to gross $1 billion worldwide.
- #122
Margot Robbie, who plays Barbie, had previously portrayed actress Sharon Tate in Once Upon a Time in… Hollywood (2019). The iconic Malibu Barbie was inspired by Sharon's character in the film Don't Make Waves (1967).
- #123
"I felt it was really important that we criticize Barbie very clearly from a character with a very legitimate point of view," Greta Gerwig said. That character is Sasha, played by Ariana Greenblatt, who auditions and immediately intimidates both Gerwig and Robbie.
- #124
In the background outside the window of the Mattel office is a building with the name of the film's distributor, Warner Brothers Discovery.
- #125
A survey by The Quorum found that 11% of people who saw this film had not been to a cinema since before the COVID-19 pandemic, and another 11% "couldn't remember the last film they had seen in a theater."
- #126
When Barbie takes the milk out of the refrigerator, you can see inside it. What's inside, just as in the Barbie Dreamhouses of past years, is a sticker on the wall showing what would be inside.
- #127
It overtook The Dark Knight (2008) as the highest-grossing Warner Bros. film in domestic box office revenue. These are the studio's only two films to gross over $500 million domestically.
- #128
Lucy Boynton said her Proust Barbie had more scenes, but they were cut because test audiences did not know who Marcel Proust was.
- #129
It was shot over a four-month period, mostly at Leavesden Studios outside London. The location scenes were filmed at Venice Beach in California.
- #130
Although most of the actors are referred to only as "Barbie" or "Ken", in a Hollywood Reporter Actor's Roundtable interview Margot Robbie explained how the script distinguished the Barbies from the Kens by adding each performer's name next to the character's. For example, Margot Robbie's character was scripted as "Barbie-Margot" and Ryan Gosling's as "Ken-Ryan".
- #131
Hari Nef, a transgender woman, plays a Barbie in the film. The first transgender Barbie doll Mattel had released up to that point was the Laverne Cox Barbie doll in 2022, part of the Tribute Collection series honoring iconic women.
- #132
According to Michael Cera, Ben Affleck was supposed to appear in Allan's fight scene but was busy directing Air (2023). Cera said: "'Okay, Ben's gone, something needs to happen here. So you're going to fight them.' So I had to join the stunt team. I had just gotten over COVID and they trained me and I was nearly dying. I'm just doing the warm-up! I had to lie down in my trailer and they sent the nurse to see me and I was sent home. Then we did a second rehearsal and I learned it. That's basically the story."
- #133
The film's cast includes three Oscar winners: Ann Roth, Dame Helen Mirren and Emerald Fennell; and four Oscar nominees: Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, America Ferrera and Annie Mumolo.
- #134
It became the first Warner Bros. film to gross over $600 million domestically.
- #135
The strange Barbie who asks Barbie to choose between a high-heeled shoe and a sandal recalls the "red pill/blue pill" scene in The Matrix (1999).
- #136
In a 2023 interview with Film Comment, Greta Gerwig spoke about the care given to the film's overall design: "Sarah Greenwood was leading the production-design team and we had to build these large-scale sets, these beautiful painted skies. Cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto and I got to look at photographs of 20 permutations of painted sky and different clouds and blues to see how they responded to different photographs. I mean, we spent a lot of time with them. Just the blue of the sky and how it would respond if we lit it from below, because we wanted to do the old film technique of making it look like twilight through lights hidden behind the mountains, something like that. Also, we had a miniature department that built small versions of big things and then expanded the world so we could photograph it and use it as in 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) and Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977); I find miniatures very emotional because they're so beautiful but also because of the work put into them. I remember the day I saw these incredible palm trees they made with painted leaves, and then I saw them on the miniature set and they were all the same. There wasn't much opportunity."
- #137
Clips from Grease (1978), Pride and Prejudice (1995) and The Godfather (1972) can be seen in the film.
- #138
Most of the film was shot in Leavesden, England, on the same stages as the Harry Potter films.
- #139
It overtook Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011) as the highest-grossing Warner Bros. film worldwide.
- #140
"There are so many things our art department did that I didn't even realize until we were there." Greta Gerwig is not referring to the map in Strange Barbie's house that caused the film to be banned in Vietnam for representing China's "nine dash line" territorial claim with eight dashes.
- #141
Timothée Chalamet visited the set and told Greta Gerwig, 'I should have been in this.' She replied: 'I know! Why aren't you?'.
- #142
Kate McKinnon's Strange Barbie is a humorous nod to the kind of rough play a child's Barbie doll can be subjected to. The marks on her face come from a felt-tip pen, and her messy haircut from a child cutting the doll's hair with scissors.
- #143
Contains a major spoiler — show
Near the end of the film, Gloria's husband says "Si se puede", which Sasha claims is a kind of cultural appropriation. America Ferrera was one of the lead stars of the Disney Channel show Gotta Kick It Up! (2002), where it became their dance team's mantra.
- #144
This is the first Barbie project rated PG-13 by the MPA, in contrast to previous animated projects and the appearances in Toy Story 2 (1999) and Toy Story 3 (2010), all of which were rated G.
- #145
Both Margot Robbie and Kate McKinnon had previously appeared in Bombshell (2019). In that film, McKinnon's character called Robbie's character "anchor Barbie".
- #146
It is the first toy-themed film to be nominated for the Best Picture Oscar.
- #147
Contains a major spoiler — show
According to an article on Time Magazine's website titled "An Exhaustive List Of (Almost) Every Single Reference In The Barbie Movie:", when Barbie enters the real world to understand why she has suddenly begun thinking about death, she discovers that a mother named Gloria (America Ferrera) played with her and in fact left her mark on Barbie. When they meet, they realize they share the same thoughts about death, depression and cellulite. When Gloria's daughter learns this, she asks her mother whether she and Barbie are now "shining", a reference to the mystical ability to form a telepathic connection in Stephen King's horror story The Shining (1980).
- #148
Frozen II (2019) became the highest-grossing film by a female director in domestic box office revenue.
- #149
After winning for No Time to Die (2021), Billie Eilish and Finneas O'Connell won their second Academy Award for Best Original Song for the film. This made them the fourth and fifth people to win two Oscars at age 30 or under: Luise Rainer, who won Best Actress for The Great Ziegfeld (1936) and The Good Earth (1937); Jodie Foster, who won Best Actress for The Accused (1988) and The Silence of the Lambs (1991); and Hilary Swank, who won Best Actress for Boys Don't Cry (1999) and Million Dollar Baby (2004). At 22 and 26 respectively, Eilish and O'Connell are also the youngest people to win two Oscars.
- #150
After Barbie's success, Mattel began developing 45 more film projects, including American Girl Doll, Barney, Hot Wheels, Magic 8 Ball, Masters of the Universe, Matchbox, Polly Pocket, Rock'em Sock'em Robots, Thomas & Friends and Uno.
- #151
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The film contains four references to Stanley Kubrick's movies. First, the desert opening scenes are a parody of 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). Second, the Mattel CEO's office resembles the War Room in Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964). Sasha asks Gloria and Barbie whether they are "shining," meaning whether they share telepathy as in The Shining (1980). Finally, the "Ken is me!" anthem is based on "I am Spartacus!" from Spartacus (1960).
- #152
With this film, Greta Gerwig became the first woman to direct three films nominated for the Best Picture Oscar, having also directed Lady Bird (2017) and Little Women (2019). Only two women have directed more than one Best Picture nominee: Kathryn Bigelow, with The Hurt Locker (2008) and Zero Dark Thirty (2012), and Dame Jane Campion, with The Piano (1993) and The Power of the Dog (2021).
- #153
It overtook Deadpool (2016) as the highest-grossing comedy in domestic box office revenue and held the record until Deadpool & Wolverine (2024) surpassed it.
- #154
When Barbie first meets Ruth, an instrumental version of "What Was I Made For" plays.
- #155
Warner Bros. had the studio's opening logo altered for the film.
- #156
Will Ferrell's role as Mattel's CEO is similar to his role as the President of Business in The Lego Movie (2014), which is also based on a toy line. The theme of a fictional world coming to life and interacting with the real world is similar to another Ferrell film, Stranger Than Fiction (2006).
- #157
Barbie's visions of the human girl she connects with were referred to on set as "The Shining."
- #158
Foreign-language music groups and posters are used to accommodate dubbing in non-English-speaking countries.
- #159
After Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021), Top Gun: Maverick (2022), Jurassic World: Dominion (2022), Avatar: The Way of Water (2022) and The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023), it is the sixth film to gross over $1 billion worldwide since the COVID-19 pandemic.
- #160
It surpassed Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011) as the highest-grossing film based on a toy worldwide.
- #161
At various points in development, Amy Schumer, Anne Hathaway and Gal Gadot were considered for the role of Barbie.
- #162
When the film opened with box office success, James Gunn wrote to Margot Robbie: "Thank you for helping keep theaters alive."
- #163
A great deal of time was spent deciding on the colors, brightness levels and the mix of 2D and 3D elements.
- #164
Due to scheduling conflicts with Timothée Chalamet and Saoirse Ronan, this film is the first Greta Gerwig directed without them.
- #165
This is director Greta Gerwig's first film shot in the Univisium 2:1 aspect ratio. Nights and Weekends (2008), Lady Bird (2017) and Little Women (2019) were all shot in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio.
- #166
With this film, Ryan Gosling became the first actor nominated for an Oscar for playing a toy.
- #167
Barbie reunites three actors who previously appeared together in Sex Education (2019): Emma Mackey (Maeve Wiley/Physicist Barbie), Ncuti Gatwa (Eric Effiong/Artist Ken) and Connor Swindells (Adam Groff/Aaron Dinkins).
- #168
Barbie is the first Barbie project to be rated PG-13 by the MPAA, and it is also the second Mattel project after Masters of the Universe: Revelation (2021).
- #169
The exterior shots of the Mattel headquarters were filmed at the Bank of America Plaza in Los Angeles. The same building exterior was used for the Zenotec office building in Office Christmas Party (2016), another film starring Kate McKinnon.
- #170
Mattel's office space is based on the films of Jacques Tati.
- #171
Barbie reunites Greta Gerwig with Jacqueline Durran, the costume designer of Little Women (2019).
- #172
Ava Max, who sings "Choose Your Fighter" on the film's soundtrack, had previously released a song titled "Not Your Barbie Girl," which samples Aqua's "Barbie Girl."
- #173
The odometer in Barbie's car reads 031959. The first Barbie doll was released in March 1959.
- #174
Alexandre Desplat was originally set to compose the score, but scheduling conflicts meant he had to leave the project.
- #175
It is the first Oscar-winning toy-themed film.
- #176
Contains a major spoiler — show
The final scene, in which Barbie exits Gloria's car and enters a building to make an appointment with her gynecologist, was shot at a location owned and developed by American TV group leader Lawrence Welk; the building was part of a structure known as "Champagne Towers." Welk's main musical show, The Lawrence Welk Show (1955), was satirized on Saturday Night Live (1975) by Fred Armisen, Will Ferrell and Kristen Wiig in sketches featuring Wiig's character "Dooneese," who has a large forehead and small hands.
- #177
It was the fastest film to reach 1 million viewers on Letterboxd, doing so 12 days after its theatrical release. It held the record until Hail Mary Projesi (2026) surpassed it in 11 days.
- #178
It was the most Googled film of 2023.
- #179
Patty Jenkins was initially considered to direct.
- #180
Ncuti Gatwa, who plays African American Ken, became the 15th Doctor in the BBC's Doctor Who (2005) shortly after filming this movie. Nicola Coughlan, who plays Diplomat Barbie, also appeared as his temporary companion in the Doctor Who Christmas special, Joy to the World (2024).
- #181
It is Margot Robbie's first and second collaboration with Ryan Gosling and John Cena, respectively.
- #182
As of April 2026, the film has 7.1 million viewer logs on Letterboxd, making it, along with Fight Club (1999), the film with the second-highest total among all films. Interstellar (2014) is the film with 7.2 million logs.
- #183
Michael Cera (Allan) appeared in Scott Pilgrim Dünyaya Karşı (2010), another film that blends the real world with manufactured fantasy.
- #184
After Titanic (1997), it is the second highest-grossing film worldwide to be nominated for an acting Oscar.
- #185
Rhea Perlman's character in 13: The Musical (2022) was also named Ruth.
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