There have been several American-Canadian computer animated and motion capture-based direct-to-video films based on and featuring the doll Barbie. Since her film debut appearance in the 1987 film Barbie and the Rockers: Out of This World, Barbie has been a computer animated virtual actress starring in several feature films and short films. Barbie has also appeared as a character in other films including Mattel's My Scene line as well as the Toy Story film series.
Many of the Barbie films are classic stories ranging from fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen to The Three Musketeers and The Nutcracker. Some are set in their own fantasy worlds such as with Fairytopia and Mariposa, which are revisited in video sequels. Others feature Barbie in storylines with her sisters.
The series was created by Mattel Creations. Mattel started the Barbie film series with Barbie in the Nutcracker using the name Mattel Entertainment with the animation work done by Mainframe Entertainment (now Rainmaker Studios) except for The Barbie Diaries. Beginning with the 2010 film Barbie: A Fashion Fairytale), Mattel referred themselves as Barbie Entertainment for the Barbie film production. Starting with Barbie and the Secret Door in 2014, Mattel used their new in-house film studio, Mattel Playground Productions to include Barbie films in its production without mentioning Rainmaker in the opening credits. Currently, beginning with Barbie: Star Light Adventure in 2016, Mattel releases newer Barbie films under the name Mattel Creations.
Although the films were released direct-to-video, some of the films have broadcast on cable television on channels such as Nickelodeon.
Video Barbie (film series)
Origins
Barbie's popularity on the toy market began to decline in the 1990s, and struggled further when MGA Entertainment introduced a line of Bratz dolls, whose sexualized characters contrasted with Barbie's older, chaste image. 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 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. 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.
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. 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." 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." 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. 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.
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. Barbie is always placed as the central heroine of the story, with male characters and romantic interests serving as secondary to the plot. In a 2009 press release, Mattel noted that although Barbie "likes wearing wedding gowns," she has "never been married." This may be incorrect, as the 2004 film Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper ends with a double wedding between Barbie as Princess Anneliese, pauper Erika, and their respective partners.
Maps Barbie (film series)
Films
Season 1 (1987)
First generation comprised two TV specials. Barbie and the Rockers: Out of this World was created in 1987 by DIC Entertainment. It was aired with Barbie and the Sensations: Rockin' Back to Earth as a two part mini-series, with each installment lasting for approximately 25 minutes. This miniseries was supposed to have been the pilot for a Monday-Friday Barbie cartoon series. However, negotiations between DIC and Mattel fell through, and the project eventually emerged with a whole new set of characters -- and the sponsorship of Mattel rival Hasbro -- as Maxie's World in 1988. The story was based on the Barbie and the Rockers doll line in which Barbie is the lead singer of a rock band.
Season 2 (2001-2009)
The second generation comprised 16 films. In 2001, the first CGI-animated Barbie movie was released with Barbie in the Nutcracker, and it was tagged as Barbie's first ever movie. Mattel auditioned 70 people to find the right voice for Barbie, and they eventually picked Kelly Sheridan (who has become Barbie's voice ever since). Even though Sheridan was replaced by Chiara Zanni for the film Barbie: Mariposa, she returned for the rest of the Barbie films of the second generation. The theme was usually based on ballet stories and fairy tales, featuring Barbie as a princess, a fairy or a mermaid.
Season 3 (2010-2015)
In 2010, beginning with Barbie: A Fashion Fairytale, Kelly Sheridan was replaced by Diana Kaarina to match this new direction. However, she returned to the role with Barbie in A Mermaid Tale 2 in 2012. Rob Hudnut, the executive producer and vice president of Barbie Entertainment (now absorbed into Mattel Playground Productions), stated that they would continue to produce Barbie films, making two or three per year. There are plans for more musicals. They have also expanded into a web series called Barbie: Life in the Dreamhouse, which ended in 2015.
Season 4 (2016-present)
With the announcement of Hello Barbie in September 2015, Mattel also announced Erica Lindbeck as the new voice for Barbie. Mattel, under its new content production division, Mattel Creations, has announced a new TV series called Barbie: Dream House Adventures aimed at focusing more on the iconic character, her sisters: Skipper, Stacie and Chelsea, Ken and her other friends and family, beginning with a 60-minute special, Barbie: Dolphin Magic which was released on Netflix on September 18, 2017. The series began on March 30, 2018.
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. On March 4, 2015 it was announced that Diablo Cody will be doing rewrites on the script. 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.
On August 5, 2015, Sony Pictures set the film's release date on June 2, 2017.
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. 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. 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.
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; it was later pushed back to August 8, 2018. The film would later move its release date to May 8, 2020. On April 26, 2018, Diablo Cody announced she has dropped out of 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.
Appearances
Aside from starring in her own films, Barbie was also featured as a supporting character in Toy Story series, and one of the main characters of My Scene movies. There are also few short films and a web show with five seasons. Barbie was supposed to appear in the first Toy Story movie as Woody's girlfriend, but she was replaced with Bo Peep. This is because Mattel did not want Barbie to be given a personality, because, to make Barbie dolls unique to every purchaser, the purchaser was supposed to think of their own personality for Barbie. In 2006, Mattel re-branded My Scene franchise in which Barbie was replaced by Kennedy, saying that "Barbie moved to California".
References
External links
- Official website
- http://barbie.mattel.com/
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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