Barbie (Franchise)

Barbie has appeared in a media franchise produced by American toy and entertainment company Mattel since the late 1980s.[1] 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.[2] 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[a] and as TV specials on Nickelodeon.[4] 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.[5] The franchise has since expanded to include web series like Barbie: Life in the Dreamhouse, Barbie: Vlogger, and Barbie: Dreamtopia, 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 in 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.[6][7]