Barbie (film series)

Barbie's net popularity on the toy market began to decline in the 1990s,[6] and struggled further in 2001 when MGA Entertainment introduced a line of dolls under the name Bratz, whose sexualized characters contrasted with Barbie's older, chaste image.[8][9] 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".[10] This move might also have been rejected because of the success of MGA's sexualized Bratz dolls. Mattel's team also considered targeting market audiences of career women and their daughters by introducing lines of Doctor or Lawyer Barbies.[11] However, Mattel's research showed that girls were spending more time online than playing with physical dolls.[8][11][12] 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 films, which initially revolved around Barbie being re-imagined as 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 optical disc sales and merchandise related to props, costumes, and sets from the films.[9] 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."[13] The strategy worked as U.S. 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."[11][14] 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.[8][9] 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.

Mattel partnered with Canadian company Mainframe Entertainment (currently Mainframe Studios)[lower-alpha 4] to produce its first feature-length film, Barbie in the Nutcracker, based on E. T. A. Hoffmann's classic tale and Tchaikovsky's accompanying ballet music, which was released in 2001. Mainframe continued to produce most of the future films in the series.[lower-alpha 5] The first decade was dominated by films based on preexisting stories, including Brothers Grimm's fairy tales: Rapunzel and The Twelve Dancing Princesses, Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake ballet, Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, Hans Christian Andersen's Thumbelina, and Alexandre Dumas' The Three Musketeers.[15] Due to the popularity of the 2004 film Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper (based on Mark Twain's famous novel), a remake was released in 2012 entitled Barbie: The Princess & the Popstar,[16] which itself inspired two films with a more modern look: Barbie in Rock 'N Royals in 2015 and Barbie: Princess Adventure in 2020.

The first original film in the franchise, Barbie: Fairytopia, was released in 2005, which in turn spawned the first in-series franchise made up of two sequels; Barbie Fairytopia: Mermaidia in 2006 and Barbie Fairytopia: Magic of the Rainbow in 2007, and two spin-offs; Barbie: Mariposa in 2008 and its sequel, Barbie: Mariposa & the Fairy Princess, in 2013.[17] The success of the first three films had led to the princess-themed lineup in the series; releasing its second original film Barbie and the Magic of Pegasus in 2005.

Starting with Barbie in A Mermaid Tale in early 2010, the film series moved away from the classic princess stories to focus on more modern themes like fashion, music, and on stories revolving around Barbie's family and careers.[18] In 2017, the franchise was put on hiatus after Barbie: Dolphin Magic to focus on the streaming television series, Barbie: Dreamhouse Adventures, but returned in 2020 as "specials", beginning with the musical Barbie: Princess Adventure.[19]

The following is the official list of the main computer-animated films in the series:

The first ten films in the series sold 40 million DVD and VHS units worldwide by 2007, grossing over $700 million in sales.[23] As of 2013, the film franchise has sold over 110 million DVD units worldwide.[24]

In February 2021, film & media podcast Cult Popture released an 18-hour episode of Film Franchise Fortnights covering all of the 37 Barbie films that had been released at the time. During the production of the episode, a 38th film was announced.[48]

• Official website
• Official website for kids use