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Barbie arrived in theaters on July 21, 2023, to an amazing response. The film premiered in Los Angeles on July 9 where it was met with amazing reviews and positive feedback from critics for its set designs, costumes, humor and direction alongside performances by the cast.
Barbie is a fantasy comedy-drama from the house of Warner Bros. Pictures. Greta Gerwig directed the film with a screenplay she co-wrote with Noah Baumbach. The film is a cinematic adaptation of Mattel's iconic fashion doll lineup of toys of the same name.
The film features a star-studded ensemble cast with Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling as the central characters alongside Issa Rae, Kate McKinnon, Emma Mackey, Dua Lipa, Simu Liu, Kingsley Ben-Adir, John Cena, America Ferrera, Will Ferrel, Michael Cera and others in pivotal roles.
Although it was released alongside Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer, another big-budget highlight of the year, Barbie has more than held up its own against it. With Greta Gerwig's nuanced direction and Margot Robbie's strong performance, the film is set to reach heights of success as the first few days in theaters have proved.
Keeping that in mind, we dive a bit deeper into the film and explore the behind-the-scene facts of the film. In this article, we list out some very interesting facts about Greta Gerwig's latest work that you might not have known about.
7 interesting things you didn't know about Greta Gerwig's Barbie
1) The pajama party
The Barbie doll film kicked off with a bang with a happening party on the night production started. Greta Gerwig invited all the female cast members for a pajama party. However, the male actors were given a partial invite. They could appear for the party but could not stay over for the night.
It was a fun experience as Margot Robbie said during an interview. She found it was a great way of getting to know each other and getting comfortable with the cast members while also getting into the correct mindset of the film.
2) The iconic Barbie feet scene
One of the most iconic things about the toy lineup from Mattel that it originally used to come with was the arched feet. From the very first Barbie that rolled into the market, the dolls were wearing high heels. To accommodate the arch of the heel, the feet were also designed in the same arch, resulting in Barbies permanently having arched feet.
This came to be known as Barbie feet and was the mandate as recently as 2015 when Mattel finally came out with an alternative style. In 2015, a collection of 23 new dolls was introduced as part of the Fashionista lineup. These dolls featured flat feet and other characteristics that aimed to provide a more realistic representation.
However, Barbie feet has not lost its novelty and is still an iconic part of the Barbie image. Even the trailer for the movie features a shot of the same, with Margot Robbie's feet holding on to the arch even after getting out of her heels. This was actually shot while Robbie held on to a bar while standing on her tiptoes.
3) Clearing out all the pink paint available in Hollywood
Even before the film could arrive in theaters, the trailer release alone became a popular phenomenon. The film expands upon the iconic lineup of dolls from Mattel that has ruled the world of kids' toys for decades and adds a pinch of real-world drama to the idealistic fantasy.
However, keeping in mind the brand image that Barbie has maintained over the years, the set was designed in accordance. The color pink has a lot of significance as well as recurrence in the film. Understandably production used a lot of pink paint.
In fact, the film cleaned out Hollywood's go-to paint supplier, Rosco, of all their stock of pink paint.
4) The weekly movie ritual and pink days
To get into the proper mindset and character, Robbie actually had her company organize movie parties every week to watch with the whole cast. The film usually included titles that inspired Greta Gerwig's vision for the film itself like The Wizard of Oz, The Red Shoes and The Umbrella of Cherbourg and others. This helped the whole cast in internalizing Gerwig's vision.
Robbie did not stop at organizing watch parties but also set up a weekly "pink day". The whole cast and crew had to maintain a pink dress code for the day, and Robbie went around fining people who did not follow it.
The money all went to charity, in case you were wondering.
5) Ryan Gosling's portrayal of Ken
Ryan Gosling's character, Ken, has also attracted the attention of fans and critics. While his portrayal of the male counterpart of Barbie might not be the titular character, it holds a lot of significance in the film. However, Gosling was a bit unsure about the role.
After getting a call from Gerwig with the offer for playing Ken and reading the script for the film, he was dwelling on the decision of whether he would play the character. What changed his mind and convinced him was a facedown Ken doll rolling in the mud in his backyard.
He felt like Ken was a largely underappreciated accessory and his story also deserved to be told.
6) A surreal poem got Gerwig to be a director
The film rights to Mattel's iconic lineup of dolls was bought by Margot Robbie alongside Warner Bros. Studios, who together started the venture to make the Barbie film a reality. This was when Greta Gerwig got involved in the project when she was invited by Robbie to write the script for the film.
While Gerwig was not very sure how the adaptation would go about, she and Noah Baumbach soon got invested in the project. In fact, Gerwig loved the script so much that she was reluctant to let anyone else make the film.
In an attempt to convince the producers to let her direct, she actually wrote a poem that she has since described as "surreal".
According to her, the poem had a Biblical theme around Job and his laments, while also somewhat conveying what the movie was about. This got her the role of director that she so much wanted.
7) Margot wears Chanel in the film
The Barbie line of toys were all originally created to be fashion dolls. Starting from 1959, the dolls dawned the popular styles and looks of the era, being a torchbearer of modern fashion.
Understandably, when the film adaptation came about, the dresses and costumes were set to play a major part in representing the iconic dolls. A lot of effort and time was put into creating the costumes by acclaimed British designer, Jacqueline Durran and her team.
However, another major contributor to the on-screen costumes has been Chanel. With Margot Robbie being an ambassador for the fashion brand for over 5 years, they helped out with almost anything the design team needed.
