What’s Next for Barbie After the Barbie Movie?

What comes after a billion dollars at the box office and eight Oscar nominations? For Barbie, a 65th birthday celebration is one place to start.

The doll will celebrate six and a half decades on March 9, fittingly, the day after International Women’s Day and the day before the Oscars. To mark the milestone, the brand invited ELLE.com to the Mattel headquarters in L.A. for a behind-the-scenes look at where the iconic toy stands now. While Barbie has undoubtedly had a massive influence on kids and pop culture so far, its platform is now on a whole new level after last year’s Barbie film, directed by Greta Gerwig and starring/produced by Margot Robbie, smashed records.

“I think the enormous success of the film, to me, is a validating proof point of the flexibility and the absolute vast breadth that this brand has,” Kim Culmone, Senior VP and Global Head of Design for Dolls at Mattel, tells ELLE.com. “It’s so rare in the toy industry to have a toy brand that can do something like this. Barbie may be the only brand so far that’s ever accomplished what we’ve accomplished.

“When we were supporting Greta and Margot on this film, we wanted big things for it. We were setting out to really create a movement and have a huge cultural impact, and we absolutely achieved that. But this is success that I don’t even think in my wildest dreams I would have thought we’d be looking at. That inspires me for the future, that anything is truly possible with the brand.”

The Role Model dolls introduced for Barbie’s 65th year.

Barbie is celebrating its 65th anniversary with nine one-of-a-kind “Role Model” dolls made in the likeness of inspiring women around the world. Honorees include Viola Davis, Shania Twain, Dame Helen Mirren (who also narrated the Barbie film), Kylie Minogue, Tatuyo-Brazilian content creator Maria Gomez, Mexican director Lila Avilés, Japanese model Nicole Fujita, German comedian Enissa Amani, and French actress Leïla Bekhti.

Mirren was beyond flattered by the honor. “It’s a very special thing, and something I can add to my list of my favorite achievements; becoming a Dame of the British Empire, having an Oscar, having a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame—and having my own Barbie!” she said in a statement.

On top of that, the brand will also release 65th anniversary dolls in black and white gowns inspired by the original 1959 Barbie’s famous striped bathing suit. There will also be a set of “Fashionista” dolls that reimagine famous looks from Barbie history, as well as more career-focused dolls: Farm Vet, Pop Star, and Astronaut, to be specific—the most popular professions represented by the doll since its inception. Notably, Barbie’s 2024 Career of the Year—highlighting positions where women are often underrepresented—is Women in Film, perhaps as a nod to Gerwig, Robbie, and other women working in the industry.

Inside the making of the 65th Anniversary Barbie.

Ever since stepping out in that swimsuit decades ago, Barbie has responded to a changing world and a demand for increased representation. In the design factory, dolls with different body shapes—hips, shoulders, heights—and hair textures—straight, braids, curls, natural Black hair—were on display or being assembled. According to the site, one of the first Black Barbie dolls, Christie, was introduced in 1968. Now, Barbies range in 35 skin tones, 97 hair styles, nine body types, and counting. There are dolls that use hearing aids, wheelchairs, and prosthetics. The first Barbie with down syndrome was just introduced last year. (Elsewhere under the Mattel umbrella, gender-neutral Creatable World dolls were launched in 2019.)

But of course, there’s always room to grow, which was hinted at in the Barbie film itself. If women can be anything, why are they still made to feel like they have to do everything to be accepted, and after it all, still not feel good enough? Gerwig knowingly included critiques of the brand in the film. “I didn’t think there was any way to do this without giving that real estate and having well-articulated, correct arguments from a really smart character given to Barbie against Barbie,” she told The New York Times last year. And a viral monologue delivered by America Ferrera’s character, which earned her an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress, elaborates on how Barbie dolls symbolize the steep expectations that women are held up to, in terms of body image, career, and success.

Margot Robbie and Greta Gerwig at the world premiere of Barbie in Los Angeles.

But during the trip, Mattel proved that it wasn’t ashamed of what Barbie had to say. The company even hosted a screening for editors with breakfast, seeming proudly aligned with the film, aware of room for improvement, and proud of the 160-plus brand collaborations tied to its release.

“I have never been more proud in my life. I have never been more emotional,” Lisa McKnight, the Executive Vice President and Chief Global Brand Officer at Mattel, tells ELLE.com of watching the movie. “It was such a long journey, not just on the film project itself, but to evolve the brand, to modernize the brand, to ensure that Barbie was better reflecting the world that kids saw around them, and to see her celebrated in this way, to see her larger than life, to see her portrayed by the amazing cast, of course, led by Margot and brought to life through Greta’s incredible storytelling, was just a pinch-me moment, a dream come true, and I could never have been more proud.”

When asked whether the critiques in the film affected the brand’s approach going forward, Culmone replied diplomatically: “I think the brand is already from the beginning in a place of inspiring limitless potential, in girls in particular,” she said. “The brand was founded by Ruth Handler, who believed that her daughter had every right to have toys that inspired her for her future just like her son had. And she didn’t see that in the toy landscape at the time. She didn’t see a toy where a kid could project their adult, grown-up aspirations onto a toy. So, Barbie’s always been in a position of inspiring women and girls around the world and advocating for their equality in the world.”

As for future doll films, the Mattel Cinematic Universe is only getting started. There are over 14 films in development, including American Girl and Polly Pocket, among others, according to McKnight. There are already reports that Lena Dunham is writing the Polly Pocket film, with Lily Collins set to star.

“There’s no doubt that we’re here to continue to leverage the full potential of our intellectual property, and Mattel has one of the richest collections of brands in the industry, if not in the world, that are ripe to tap for other forms of entertainment,” Culmone says. “So I think you can be pretty sure that you’re going to see more from us, especially after the enormous success of the Barbie film.”

She adds, “65 years is quite an achievement, and we’re just getting started.”