Barbie (media franchise)

This article is about the overview of the multimedia franchise featuring Barbie. For the list of films featuring Barbie, see list of Barbie films. For the toy line/franchise, see List of Barbie's friends and family.

Barbie
The official logo from 1959 until 1975; re-used since 2009
Created by	Mattel, Inc.
Original work	Barbie by Ruth Handler
Owner	Mattel
Years	1959–present
Print publications
Book(s)	400+ (multiple publishers)
Comics	5 (Dell Comics) 119 (Marvel Comics)
Films and television
Film(s)	40+ (CGI/Computer-animated films) 1 (Live-action film)
Short film(s)	4
Web series	Barbie: Life in the Dreamhouse Barbie: Dreamtopia Barbie Vlogger Barbie's Dreamworld
Animated series	Barbie: Dreamhouse Adventures Barbie: It Takes Two
Television special(s)	2
Games
Video game(s)	List of Barbie video games
Miscellaneous
Toy(s)	List of Barbie's friends and family
Related	My Scene
Official website
Official website

Barbie has appeared in a media franchise produced by American toy and entertainment company Mattel since the late 1980s. 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. 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 and as TV specials on Nickelodeon. 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. The franchise has since expanded to include web series like Barbie: Life in the Dreamhouse, Barbie: Vlogger, Barbie: Dreamtopia and Barbie: Life in the City, 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 on 25 October 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.

Origins

Barbie's net popularity on the toy market began to decline in the 1980s, 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. 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". 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. However, Mattel's research showed that girls were spending more time online than playing with physical dolls. Therefore, targeted career Barbies were discarded in favor of looking for more interactive platforms through online or digital media.

History

In 1987, Mattel produced two television specials with DIC Animation City and Saban Productions; Barbie and the Rockers: Out of This World and its sequel Barbie and the Sensations: Rockin' Back to Earth, both featuring Barbie as the leader of a rock band. Between the 1980s and early 2000s, Barbie got featured in video games, many of which were distributed by Vivendi-Universal Games. The launch of Mattel Entertainment in 2001 coincided with the creation of the Barbie films with the direct-to-video release of Barbie in the Nutcracker. The films 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 video sales and merchandise related to props, costumes, and sets from the films.

Tim Kilpin, then-senior vice-president for girls marketing at Mattel, stated: "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." 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." Within the films, Mattel included performances by well-known companies and orchestras, such as the London Symphony Orchestra, the Czech Philharmonic and the New York City Ballet. 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.

In the midst of the films, Canadian animation studio, Arc Productions, Inc., which was just renamed from Starz Animation Toronto (originally Daniel Krech Productions (DKP) and DKP Studios) and had new-consortium ownership and structural revamp, produced the first non-Barbie-film production for Mattel in 2011, a web series called Barbie: Life in the Dreamhouse which debuted on the official Barbie website and YouTube on 11 January 2012 and concluded on 27 November 2015. The web series later spawned two television specials which were broadcast in the U.S. on Nickelodeon. Impressed, Mattel gave them four Barbie films to produce while enlisting them as the third production partner after Mainframe Studios (at the time known as "Rainmaker Entertainment") and Technicolor.

Israeli animation studio, Snowball Studios, with support from the Jerusalem Film and Television Fund, produced another web series and created by Julia Pistor for Mattel Playground Productions known as Barbie: Dreamtopia. This series of 2-minute to 4-minute shorts launched on 21 May 2016 by Mattel's then-latest division, Mattel Creations, on a YouTube affiliate platform known as YouTube Kids. The web shorts series later spawned an eponymous television film (distributed by Universal Pictures Home Entertainment and was broadcast on television in over five countries and regions/territories), one web-based special, and a 26-episode web series – therefore invoking the first web-exclusive Barbie media franchise. This would be the catalyst for scholars and enthusiasts alike to notice Mattel heavily invested and involved in releasing more related Barbie web series and miniseries bundles on YouTube and its variants; YouTube Kids and YouTube Shorts.

Through the short video bundles on YouTube, Mattel also provided a platform for Barbie to give its audience a look into her fictional life while trying to educate them along the way. With a YouTube channel that has over ten million subscribers, Mattel reintroduced Barbie as a YouTuber through a web series called Barbie Vlogger (or Barbie Vlogs), uploading its first video on 19 June 2015. Julia Pistor, who was also the executive producer and writer of the series, stated: "Barbie is conscious of language and words; she talks about intention and she’s self-reflective. While we might use words that kids sometimes need to look up, we try to be true to Barbie being a 17-year-old influencer." By giving a self-reflective nature to Barbie’s character, this would allow her to discuss difficult topics (such as mental health and racism) in such a way that it inspires its audience to think about and discuss those topics as well.

With the success of its online platforms, Mattel would continue to produce web series and mini-series on YouTube and its variants. On the other hand, the media franchise as a whole has moved over to streaming services, primarily on Netflix but also including Amazon Prime Video, Google Play and Apple TV+, beginning with Barbie: Dolphin Magic in 2017. In addition, Mattel signed an agreement on 1 May 2020 with Arts Music, Inc., a then-newest record label of Warner Music Group, to make thousands of songs from their brand portfolio – including Barbie – available through online music streaming platforms. The agreement began taking effect a week later when the soundtrack albums tied to their related productions are made available through WMG's distribution label, ADA Worldwide. Mattel would extend its partnership with Netflix on 21 October 2022, 4 days before the American debut of the franchise's inaugural interactive "special", Barbie: Epic Road Trip, which would also see the pre-2017 film catalogue previously held by Universal made available through the service.

Films

Further information: List of Barbie films

Mattel partnered with Canadian company, Mainframe Entertainment, (currently Mainframe Studios) to produce its first computer-animated 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 the majority of the future films in the series. 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. 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, 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). The success of the first three films (Barbie in the Nutcracker, Barbie as Rapunzel, and Barbie of Swan Lake) 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 friends, family and careers. In 2017, the film series was put on hiatus after Barbie: Dolphin Magic, which served as the pilot to the streaming television series, Barbie: Dreamhouse Adventures, in Mattel's attempt to focus on expanding the franchise to other audiovisual media. Mattel later revamped the films in 2020 as animated "specials", beginning with the musical, Barbie: Princess Adventure, all of which fall under the "Dreamhouse Adventures" canon.

The following is the official list of the computer-animated films in the film franchise:

#	Film	U.S. original release date	Director(s)	Screenwriter(s)	Ref.
1	Barbie in the Nutcracker	October 2, 2001	Owen Hurley	Rob Hudnut, Linda Engelsiepen & Hilary Hinkle
2	Barbie as Rapunzel	October 1, 2002		Elana Lesser & Cliff Ruby
3	Barbie of Swan Lake	September 30, 2003
4	Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper	September 28, 2004	William Lau
5	Barbie: Fairytopia	March 8, 2005	Walter P. Martishius	Elise Allen & Diane Duane
6	Barbie and the Magic of Pegasus	September 20, 2005	Greg Richardson	Elana Lesser & Cliff Ruby
7	Barbie Fairytopia: Mermaidia	March 14, 2006	William Lau & Walter P. Martishius	Elise Allen & Diane Duane
8	The Barbie Diaries	May 9, 2006	Eric Fogel	Elise Allen & Laura McCreary
9	Barbie in the 12 Dancing Princesses	September 19, 2006	Greg Richardson	Elana Lesser & Cliff Ruby
10	Barbie Fairytopia: Magic of the Rainbow	March 13, 2007	William Lau	Elise Allen
11	Barbie as the Island Princess	September 18, 2007	Greg Richardson	Elana Lesser & Cliff Ruby
12	Barbie: Mariposa	February 26, 2008	Conrad Helten	Elise Allen
13	Barbie & the Diamond Castle	September 9, 2008	Gino Nichelle	Elana Lesser & Cliff Ruby
14	Barbie in A Christmas Carol	November 4, 2008	William Lau	Elise Allen
15	Barbie Presents: Thumbelina	March 17, 2009	Conrad Helten
16	Barbie and the Three Musketeers	September 15, 2009	William Lau	Amy Wolfram
17	Barbie in A Mermaid Tale	March 2, 2010	Adam L. Wood	Elise Allen
18	Barbie: A Fashion Fairytale	September 14, 2010	William Lau
19	Barbie: A Fairy Secret	March 15, 2011
20	Barbie: Princess Charm School	September 13, 2011	Ezekiel Norton
21	Barbie: A Perfect Christmas	November 8, 2011	Mark Baldo
22	Barbie in A Mermaid Tale 2	February 27, 2012	William Lau
23	Barbie: The Princess & the Popstar	September 11, 2012	Ezekiel Norton	Steve Granat & Cydne Clark
24	Barbie in the Pink Shoes	February 26, 2013	Owen Hurley	Alison Taylor
25	Barbie: Mariposa & the Fairy Princess	August 27, 2013	William Lau	Elise Allen
26	Barbie & Her Sisters in A Pony Tale	October 22, 2013	Kyran Kelly	Cydne Clark & Steve Granat
27	Barbie: The Pearl Princess	February 15, 2014	Ezekiel Norton
28	Barbie and the Secret Door	August 7, 2014	Karen J. Lloyd	Brian Hohlfeld
29	Barbie in Princess Power	February 26, 2015	Ezekiel Norton	Marsha Griffin
30	Barbie in Rock 'N Royals	August 13, 2015	Karen J. Lloyd
31	Barbie & Her Sisters in the Great Puppy Adventure	October 8, 2015	Andrew Tan	Amy Wolfram
32	Barbie: Spy Squad	January 15, 2016	Conrad Helten	Marsha Griffin & Kacey Arnold
33	Barbie: Star Light Adventure	August 29, 2016	Andrew Tan	Kacey Arnold
34	Barbie & Her Sisters in A Puppy Chase	October 18, 2016	Conrad Helten	Amy Wolfram & Kacey Arnold
35	Barbie: Video Game Hero	January 31, 2017	Conrad Helten & Ezekiel Norton	Nina Bargiel
36	Barbie: Dolphin Magic	September 18, 2017	Conrad Helten	Jennifer Skelly
37	Barbie: Princess Adventure	September 1, 2020		Ann Austen
38	Barbie & Chelsea: The Lost Birthday	April 16, 2021	Cassandra Mackay (credited as Cassi Simonds)	Ann Austen & Nathaniel "Nate" Federman
39	Barbie: Big City, Big Dreams	September 1, 2021	Scott Pleydell-Pearce	Christopher Keenan & Catherine "Kate" Splaine
40	Barbie: Mermaid Power	September 1, 2022	Ron Myrick	Ann Austen
41	Barbie: Epic Road Trip	October 25, 2022	Conrad Helten	Aury Wallington
42	Barbie: Skipper and the Big Babysitting Adventure	2023	TBA	TBA

Live-action film

Main article: Barbie (film)

A live-action adaptation of the toyline from Mattel Films in association with LuckyChap Entertainment and Heyday Films is currently awaiting its American theatrical debut on 21 July 2023 by Warner Bros. having wrapped on 15 July 2022. The film was directed by Greta Gerwig who co-wrote the screenplay with Noah Baumbach and stars an ensemble cast led by Margot Robbie as Barbie and Ryan Gosling as Ken.

Television specials

Mattel released two animated TV specials in 1987 as follows:

• Barbie and the Rockers: Out of This World, a 1987 animated TV special created by DIC Animation City with Saban Productions and featuring Barbie as the leader of a rock band. It is supposedly the pilot to a daily Barbie cartoon series that was cancelled in 1988.
• Barbie and the Sensations: Rockin' Back to Earth, a sequel to Barbie and the Rockers: Out of This World, released the same year.

Television/web series

Mattel has released several animated television shows, web series and miniseries since 2012 which as follows:

• Barbie: Life in the Dreamhouse, a YouTube-exclusive web series aired between 10 January 2012 and 27 November 2015 with 75 episodes (including two TV specials which aired in the United States on Nickelodeon).
• Barbie Vlogger or Barbie Vlogs, a YouTube-exclusive CGI-animated sequences that began on 19 June 2015 and featuring Barbie as a vlogger either by herself or along with one or more of her family and friends.
• Barbie: Motion Comics, a web-based animated motion comic series that began on 5 February 2015 and is composed of miniseries, namely: Be Super (inspired by Barbie in Princess Power), Raise Your Voice (inspired by Barbie in Rock 'N Royals), and Puppy Adventures (inspired by Barbie & Her Sisters in The Great Puppy Adventure).
• Barbie: Dreamtopia, a web-exclusive franchise that began in January 2016 with a release of 2-minute to 4-minute shorts on YouTube. It then spawned one 44-minute TV special (which aired on television in 5 countries/regions/territories), one web-based special and an initially-exclusive YouTube Kids series with 26 episodes. The latter was made available later on YouTube from 5 November 2017 to 1 April 2018 and aired as an actual TV series in over 6 countries.
• Barbie: Dreamhouse Adventures, the first TV series in the franchise released between 3 May 2018 and 12 April 2020 on Netflix in the U.S. It consisted of 52 episodes over 5 "season" episode bundles and aired as an actual TV series in over 8 countries.
• Barbie's Dreamworld, a YouTube-exclusive web series franchise created by Ireland-based Relish Studios that began on 25 January 2021 and is composed of several different miniseries, including Barbie: Return to Dreamtopia and Barbie and the Nutcracker among others.
• Barbie: It Takes Two, a 2022 streaming TV serial follow-up to the film, Barbie: Big City, Big Dreams that aired on television in 5 countries/regions/territories services in between its launch in the U.S. on April 8 on Netflix. The series launched with 26 episodes, with the first half of them having its debut in the spring and the other half released on 1 October.
• Barbie: Life in the City, a YouTube-exclusive web series which debuted on 15 September 2022, primarily focusing on Barbie "Brooklyn" Roberts and expanding her character to emphasize her role and prominence within the brand.

Short films

Mattel produced a number of animated short films featuring Barbie as tie-ins with other titles within the franchise which include as follows:

• Barbie as Sleeping Beauty, a 1999 short film based on the fairy tale released as a TV commercial to supplement a doll line and a video game of the same name. A full-length version supposedly adapting Tchaikovsky's ballet was cancelled in 2009.
• Barbie: A Camping We Will Go, a 2011 short film produced by Technicolor that revolved around Barbie and her sisters to accompany the film, Barbie: A Perfect Christmas.
• Barbie in the Pink Shoes: Land of Sweets, a 2013 short film and Christmas special for Barbie in the Pink Shoes that was first released in German, then was later dubbed in English.
• Barbie and the Nutcracker, a 2021 short film released on YouTube as an episode for Barbie's Dreamworld and, along with a doll line, was part of celebrating the 20th anniversary of the first film, Barbie in the Nutcracker.

Related animations

Mattel also featured and/or licensed for Barbie to appear in other related animations which include as follows:

• Dance! Workout with Barbie, a 1992 30-minute direct-to-video workout tape, featuring Barbie in stop-motion animation by Will Vinton Productions and teaching dance aerobics to real girls.
• Toy Story, a Disney-Pixar film franchise that started in 1995 and featuring Barbie (and later Ken) as supporting characters from Toy Story 2 onwards and its 2011 short film Hawaiian Vacation.
• My Scene, a discontinued franchise launched by Mattel in 2002 and featuring Barbie in its web series and in all of its films, namely: Jammin' in Jamaica and Masquerade Madness in 2004 and My Scene Goes Hollywood in 2005.
• Kelly Dream Club, a 2002 direct-to-video animated series and featuring Barbie as a supporting character to her younger sister, Kelly (renamed Chelsea in 2011).

Timeline of media appearances

The earliest appearance of Barbie as a media character is her role in the 1987 TV specials where she was voiced by Sharon Lewis. She was voiced by Jodi Benson during her appearances in the Toy Story film franchise. In the Barbie lead-role films, she was voiced by Kelly Sheridan in 27 films altogether. Sheridan was initially succeeded by Diana Kaarina beginning with Barbie: A Fashion Fairytale in 2010, but returned to the role 2 years later with Barbie in A Mermaid Tale 2 and stayed put until Mattel announced Erica Lindbeck as her successor from 2016. The film series was put on a hiatus in 2017 for the shift in focus to the TV series, Barbie: Dreamhouse Adventures, where America Young would replace Lindbeck as the vocal provider for Barbie ahead of the film series resumption in 2020. She was portrayed by Australian actress, Margot Robbie, in the live-action adaptation of the toyline which is set to be released on 21 July 2023.

Barbie's appearances in films and other audiovisual media officially licensed by Mattel

Year	Title	Barbie's roles	Portrayed by		Notes
1987	Barbie and the Rockers: Out of This World	Barbie	Sharon Lewis (voice)		TV special
	Barbie and the Sensations: Rockin' Back to Earth
1992	Dance! Workout with Barbie		Jodi Benson (voice)		Direct-to-video/featurette
1999	Toy Story 2	Tour Guide Barbie (cameo appeareance)			feature film
	Barbie as Sleeping Beauty	Princess Rose	silent appearance		TV commercial/short film
2001	Barbie in the Nutcracker	Barbie / Clara / Sugar Plum Princess	Kelly Sheridan (voice)		Direct-to-video
2002	Barbie as Rapunzel	Barbie / Rapunzel
	Kelly Dream Club	Barbie (supporting character)
2002–2007	My Scene	Barbie			web series (43 episodes with Barbie)
2003	Barbie of Swan Lake	Barbie / Odette			Direct-to-video
2004	My Scene: Jammin' in Jamaica	Barbie
	My Scene: Masquerade Madness
	Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper	Princess Anneliese / Erika		Melissa Lyons (singing voice for Anneliese) Julie Stevens (singing voice for Erika)
2005	Barbie: Fairytopia	Elina
	My Scene Goes Hollywood: The Movie	Barbie
	Barbie and the Magic of Pegasus	Princess Annika
2006	Barbie Fairytopia: Mermaidia	Elina
	The Barbie Diaries	Barbie		Skye Sweetnam (singing voice for Barbie)
	Barbie in the 12 Dancing Princesses	Princess Genevieve		Melissa Lyons (singing voice for Genevieve)
2007	Barbie Fairytopia: Magic of the Rainbow	Elina
	Barbie as the Island Princess	Ro / Princess Rosella		Melissa Lyons (singing voice for Rosella)
2008	Barbie: Mariposa	Elina / Mariposa		Chiara Zanni (voice for Mariposa)
	Barbie & the Diamond Castle	Barbie / Liana		Melissa Lyons (singing voice for Liana)
	Barbie in A Christmas Carol	Barbie / Eden Starling		Morwenna Banks (voice for Eden Starling) Melissa Lyons (singing voice for Eden)
2009	Barbie Presents: Thumbelina	Barbie
	Barbie and the Three Musketeers	Corinne
2010	Barbie in A Mermaid Tale	Merliah Summers		Melissa Lyons (singing voice for Merliah)
	Toy Story 3	Barbie (support character)	Jodi Benson (voice)		feature film
	Barbie: A Fashion Fairytale	Barbie	Diana Kaarina (voice)		Direct-to-video
2011	Barbie: A Fairy Secret
	Barbie: Princess Charm School	Blair Willows / Princess Sophia
	Barbie: A Perfect Christmas	Barbie		Jennifer Waris (singing voice for Barbie)
	Barbie: A Camping We Will Go				short film
	Toy Story Toons: Hawaiian Vacation		Jodi Benson (voice)
2012–2015	Barbie: Life in the Dreamhouse		Kate Higgins (voice)		web series (75 episodes, including 2 TV specials)
2012	Barbie in A Mermaid Tale 2	Merliah Summers	Kelly Sheridan (voice)		Direct-to-video
	Barbie: The Princess & the Popstar	Princess Tori / Keira		Jennifer Waris (singing voice for Tori) Ashleigh Ball (Keira, speaking) Tiffany Giardina (Keira, singing)
2013	Barbie in the Pink Shoes	Kristyn Farraday / Giselle / Odette
	Barbie: Mariposa & the Fairy Princess	Mariposa
	Barbie & Her Sisters in A Pony Tale	Barbie
	Barbie in the Pink Shoes: Land of Sweets	Kristyn Farraday			short film
2014	Barbie: The Pearl Princess	Princess Lumina			Direct-to-video
	Barbie and the Secret Door	Princess Alexa		Brittany McDonald (singing voice for Alexa)
2015	Barbie in Princess Power	Princess Kara / Super Sparkle
	Barbie in Rock 'N Royals	Princess Courtney		Jordyn Kane (singing voice for Courtney)
	Barbie & Her Sisters in The Great Puppy Adventure	Barbie
2015–present	Barbie Vlogger		America Young (voice)		web series (including the short, Barbie: Happy Birthday to You!)
2016	Barbie: Spy Squad		Erica Lindbeck (voice)		Direct-to-video
	Barbie: Star Light Adventure	Barbie / Princess Starlight
	Barbie & Her Sisters in A Puppy Chase	Barbie
2016–2018	Barbie: Dreamtopia				TV series (26 episodes + 2 TV specials + 8 shorts)
2017	Barbie: Video Game Hero				Direct-to-video
	Barbie: Dolphin Magic				TV film
2019	Toy Story 4		silent cameo		feature film
2018–2020	Barbie: Dreamhouse Adventures		America Young (voice)		TV series (52 episodes, 5 seasons)
2020	Barbie: Princess Adventure	Barbie / Princess Amelia		Elli Moore (Barbie, singing) Erica Lindbeck (Princess Amelia, speaking) Jordyn Kane (Princess Amelia, singing)	TV film
2021–present	Barbie's Dreamworld	Barbie			web miniseries (including Barbie: Return to Dreamtopia and Barbie and the Nutcracker)
2021	Barbie & Chelsea: The Lost Birthday				TV film
	Barbie: Big City, Big Dreams	Barbie (Malibu)
2022	Barbie: It Takes Two				TV series (26 episodes)
	Barbie: Mermaid Power				TV film
	Barbie: Epic Road Trip
2023	Barbie	Barbie	Margot Robbie		Live-action film

Reception

Commercial performance

The first 10 films in the franchise sold 40 million DVD and VHS units worldwide by 2007, grossing over $700 million in sales. As of 2013, the films in the franchise has sold over 110 million DVD units worldwide.

#	Film	U.S. original release date	Video sales	Sales revenue
1	Barbie in the Nutcracker	October 2, 2001	110,000,000	$700,000,000
2	Barbie as Rapunzel	October 1, 2002
3	Barbie of Swan Lake	September 30, 2003
4	Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper	September 28, 2004
5	Barbie: Fairytopia	March 8, 2005
6	Barbie and the Magic of Pegasus	September 20, 2005
7	Barbie Fairytopia: Mermaidia	March 14, 2006
8	The Barbie Diaries	May 9, 2006
9	Barbie in the 12 Dancing Princesses	September 19, 2006
10	Barbie Fairytopia: Magic of the Rainbow	March 13, 2007
11	Barbie as the Island Princess	September 18, 2007		$28,205,093
12	Barbie: Mariposa	February 26, 2008		$14,082,768
13	Barbie & the Diamond Castle	September 9, 2008		$11,643,793
14	Barbie in A Christmas Carol	November 4, 2008		$6,626,008
15	Barbie Presents: Thumbelina	March 17, 2009		$11,088,380
16	Barbie and the Three Musketeers	September 15, 2009		$19,813,585
17	Barbie in A Mermaid Tale	March 2, 2010		$18,295,349
18	Barbie: A Fashion Fairytale	September 14, 2010		$19,473,444
19	Barbie: A Fairy Secret	March 15, 2011		$14,483,518
20	Barbie: Princess Charm School	September 13, 2011		$10,254,239
21	Barbie: A Perfect Christmas	November 8, 2011		$13,019,893
22	Barbie in A Mermaid Tale 2	February 27, 2012		$14,840,303
23	Barbie: The Princess & the Popstar	September 11, 2012		$18,959,311
24	Barbie in the Pink Shoes	February 26, 2013	581,187	$10,843,872
25	Barbie: Mariposa & the Fairy Princess	August 27, 2013	271,194	$5,878,488
26	Barbie & Her Sisters in A Pony Tale	October 22, 2013	458,026	$9,454,173
27	Barbie: The Pearl Princess	February 15, 2014	368,500	$7,580,205
28	Barbie and the Secret Door	August 7, 2014	329,836	$8,488,067
29	Barbie in Princess Power	February 26, 2015	212,385	$4,655,070
30	Barbie in Rock 'N Royals	August 13, 2015	131,836	$5,006,613
31	Barbie & Her Sisters in The Great Puppy Adventure	October 8, 2015	69,950	$4,171,779
32	Barbie: Spy Squad	January 15, 2016	190,146	$2,961,549
33	Barbie: Star Light Adventure	August 29, 2016	21,154	$2,088,235
34	Barbie & Her Sisters in A Puppy Chase	October 18, 2016	22,492	$2,095,317
	Total		112,656,706	$964,009,052
Note: This list will be updated once the information is disclosed.

In other media

Video games

Mattel has produced dozens of Barbie video games since the 1980s. These games often are tie-ins with other titles within the franchise.

Books

Mattel has produced more than 400 books published by multiple authors and publishers based on Barbie since the early 1990s. Every film in the franchise has an eponymous book adaptation.

Comic books

Mattel has produced a series of comic books about Barbie published by Dell Comics between 1962 and 1963 and Marvel Comics between 1991 and 1996. Since 2016, Papercutz is currently the publisher of graphic novels based on Barbie which are usually tie-ins with other titles within the franchise.

• Barbie and Ken, a 5-issue comic series published by Dell Comics from May 1962 to November 1963.
• Barbie, a 63-issue comic series published by Marvel Comics from January 1991 to March 1996.
• Barbie: Fashion, a 53-issue comic series published by Marvel Comics from January 1991 to May 1995.
• Barbie: Halloween Special, a 2-issue comic series published by Marvel Comics in October 1993.
• Barbie and Baby Sister Kelly, a special one-shot published by Marvel Comics in October 1995.

Albums

Mattel has released dozens of soundtrack albums and compilation albums based on Barbie since the early 1990s. Most of the films, especially those under the musical genre, are accompanied by their eponymous soundtracks.

• Barbie Sings! The Princess Movie Collection, a soundtrack album released on 5 October 2004 that features music from the first four Barbie films: Barbie in the Nutcracker, Barbie as Rapunzel, Barbie of Swan Lake, and Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper.
• Sing Along with Barbie, a direct-to-video released on 9 November 2009 and a compilation of twelve songs from different Barbie films released at that time that its viewers can sing-along to.

In popular media

On 14 February 2021, film and media podcast, Cult Popture, released an 18-hour episode of Film Franchise Fortnights covering all of the 37 Barbie films released at the time. During the production of the episode, a 38th film was announced.

External links

• Official website
• Official Kids' website