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As Barbie arrives in UK cinemas, the story behind the Mattel doll that became a global icon Entertainment
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As Barbie arrives in UK cinemas, the story behind the Mattel doll that became a global icon

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Barbie has been brought to life courtesy of Margot Robbie (Picture: AP)

Excitement is running at fever pitch for the release of the Barbie movie, with Margot Robbie bringing the iconic doll to big screen life.

The movie, directed by Little Women’s Greta Gerwig, follows Barbie as she ventures from her perfect Barbie Land into the real world, with Ryan Gosling coming along for the ride as her loyal boyfriend Ken.

It’s picked up great reviews across the board – Metro.co.uk describing the film as ‘an intensely feminist fable’ – and is even being tipped for awards season (with Gosling already sparking Oscar talk for his spot-on performance).

Moviegoers are expected to flock to see it – alongside Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer – as much for the stunning visuals and clever storyline as to wallow in a spot of childhood nostalgia for their very own Barbie doll.

The toy is of course one of the most popular ever created – but just who was the brains behind Barbie, and when did she first appear?

Here’s what you need to know…

Who created Barbie?

Barbie was the brainchild of businesswoman Ruth Handler, who was the president of toy company Mattel from 1945 until 1974.

Handler and her husband, Elliot Handler, previously ran a furniture business together, but co-founded Mattel in January 1945 in Los Angeles as a joint venture with businessman Harold ‘Matt’ Matson.

The name of the company, Mattel, is a hybrid of Harold Matson’s surname along with Elliot Handler’s first name – former CEO Bob Eckert revealed in 2013 saying that the founders were unable to fit Ruth’s name into the name of the company.

Ruth Handler was the brains behind Barbie (Picture: Getty Images)

Mattel was originally intended to be a furniture company, but after sales of furniture fell due to World War II the firm moved into manufacturing toy furniture instead – which proved successful.

They went on to become a fully-fledged toy company producing some of the most popular toys in the world – among them Hot Wheels, Chatty Cathy, Matchbox cars, Fisher Price toys, the Monster High series of dolls, and of course Barbie.

Hot Wheels and Barbie remain two of their hottest properties – being named the top global toy property and the top-selling global toy of the year for 2020 and 2021 respectively, by the NPD Group, a global information research company.

When was Barbie created?

Barbie made her debut in 1959.

According to the Barbie website, Handler came up with the idea for the doll after ‘watching her daughter project her dreams and aspirations on to paper dolls’.

With the only dolls available at the time being baby dolls, which only allowed the girls who played with them to imagine themselves as caregivers, Handler spotted a gap in the market for a different type of doll.

The first Barbie doll came to market in a black and white swimsuit (Picture: Getty Images)

Both her husband and Mattel were unenthusiastic about the idea until, on a trip to Germany with her children in 1956, Handler came across a doll called Bild Lilli – which was exactly what she had in mind for Barbie.

Lilli, who was based on a German comic strip character, was initially aimed at adults but had become popular with children, who enjoyed dressing the dolls in the outfits which were available separately.

Handler bought three of them and set about designing her own version of the doll – which would later become Barbie – upon her return to the US.

Barbie – who took her name from Handler’s daughter Barbara – first appeared at the American toy fair on March 9 1959, with the date also being marked as the character’s official birthday.

Barbie’s first Dreamhouse was released in 1962 (Picture: Getty Images)

The first Barbie doll was dressed in a black and white striped swimsuit and was available either as a blonde or a brunette with a top-knot ponytail.

Around 350,000 dolls were sold during its first year of production – and since then Barbie has gone from strength to strength with new products flooding the market following the success of the initial doll.

Ken – also invented by Handler – would join Barbie’s side in 1961, and was named after her son Kenneth, just as Barbie was named after her daughter.

The first Barbie Dreamhouse was released in 1962, while Astronaut Barbie landed on the shelves in 1965 to coincide with the space programme.

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A version of Barbie based on 60s model Twiggy was produced in 1967 – while Barbie’s friend Christie, who hit the toy stores in 1968, was one of the first black dolls produced, in support of Equal Rights.

However, it was 1980 before Barbie herself became more diverse, with black and Hispanic dolls named Barbie released in that year.

Petite, Curvy and Tall Barbie made it to market in 2016 Ben Nicholls)

Over the decades Barbie has also embraced a number of high-profile roles, with CEO Barbie emerging in 1985 and President Barbie in 1992.

Meanwhile, her first fashion partnership came in 1984, with Oscar de la Renta designing a range of clothes for the doll.

Rose Ayling-Ellis helped launch the first Barbie with hearing aids in 2022 (Picture: Mattel)

More recently the company embraced body positivity, with petite, curvy and tall Barbie hitting the market in 2016 – while former EastEnders actress Rose Ayling-Ellis teamed up with Mattel in 2022 to unveil their first doll with hearing-aids.

That new line of dolls also featured the first Ken doll with vitiligo, a Barbie with a prosthetic limb and another with a wheelchair.

Barbie remains one of the most popular toys in the world – still generating over $1bn worth of sales per year.

So life in plastic really is fantastic.

Barbie is released in UK cinemas on July 21.

MORE : Margot Robbie’s most iconic Barbie press tour outfits, ranked

MORE : This is what will happen to your brain when you watch the Barbie movie

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