Barbie: 6 lesser-known facts about the Margot Robbie film

As renowned filmmaker Greta Gerwig’s Barbie releases in theatres along with Christopher Nolan’s magnum opus Oppenheimer, we’re in for a box office battle to remember. In fact, the ‘Barbieheiemer’ frenzy has taken over pop culture, with both films garnering rave reviews from critics and audiences alike. So on today’s Now You Know, we take a look at some lesser-known facts about Barbie, the doll who happens to hail from a parallel universe.

1. Lead star Ryan Gosling, who plays the role of Ken, claims that he accepted the role after noticing his daughter's Ken doll buried face down in the dirt right next to a squished lemon. He added that he took a picture of it, and sent it to Greta Gerwig with the hilarious caption, “I shall be your Ken, his story must be told.” Now that’s a super dramatic way to accept a role.
2. There are several versions of Mattel’s Barbie collection being played by various actresses in the film including Dua Lipa’s Mermaid Barbie and Emma Mackey’s Physicist Barbie among others. The odd one in this group is the comedian and former SNL star, Kate McKinnon's Barbie, who goes by Weird Barbie. Her Barbie is a humorous take on how children tend to play rough with their Barbie dolls, using markers on the dolls and giving them messy haircuts. In the film, McKinnon's Weird Barbie flaunts messy hair, possibly from a haircut gone wrong, and marker stains adorning her face.
3. Hollywood star Michael Cera plays the role of Allan in the film. Unlike Barbie and Ken, there is just one version of Allan in the film. The first Allan was first introduced by Mattel in 1964 as Ken’s best friend. Allan also has a girlfriend-turned-wife named Midge, played by Emerald Fennell in the film. In the Barbielore, Allan and Midge were married in 1990 with the Wedding Day Midge doll collection. While the mental image of dolls saying ‘I do’ can be a tad disturbing, it’s all well in the world of fun and games.
4. Lead actress Margot Robbie had just one major request which she conveyed to director Greta Gerwig prior to filming. Being a massive fan of the Barbie dolls growing up, Robbie requested for the iconic Barbie slide from the Barbie dollhouse collection that goes directly from Barbie’s bedroom to her swimming pool. Gerwig agreed and the slide does make it into the film.
5. Those aware about the film’s plot would know that it centres around Barbie's journey into the ‘real’ world. As it turns out, Barbie happens to meet an older woman named Ruth in the real world. The character is reportedly named after Ruth Handler, the co-founder of Mattel, who is widely regarded as the "Mother of Barbie” for designing the very first Barbie in the year 1959.
6. The film’s vividly pink background in most scenes required a lot of pink paint for creating the set. But you will be shocked to find out just how much pink paint was actually used for the film. According to production designer Sarah Greenwood, the amount of fluorescent pink paint used in the film led to an international shortage for Rosco Paint, the company that produced it. However, the vice president of this paint manufacturing firm claims that while the film did require an unprecedented amount of pink paint, the shortages were largely pinned on supply chain issues during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Well that's the Now you know for today's episode, until the next time it's your host Nikhil signing out.

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• Written by Ryan Gomez

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