She’s a Barbie girl, in a Barbie world…and now she’s in the first teaser for the upcoming film, starring Margot Robbie as the titular doll.
The teaser, revealed by Warner Bros., is a tongue-in-cheek play off of 2001: A Space Odyssey, showing a group of young girls playing with their dollies in a vast desert. Narration goes, “Since the beginning of time, since the first little girl ever existed, there have been dolls. But the dolls were always and forever baby dolls. Until…”
Then, viewers get their glimpse of Barbie (Margot Robbie), towering over the girls and changing the toy landscape forever. As one girl tosses her now-obsolete baby doll in the air, the teaser match cuts to the sparkly pink title: Barbie.
From there, it’s all about the pink wonderland that audiences are expecting, with quick shots of a comically chiseled Ryan Gosling as Ken, in addition to introducing Issa Rae and Simu Liu, both of whom appear as other versions of Barbie and Ken. The supporting cast also includes America Ferrera, Kate McKinnon, Michael Cera, Ron Perlman, and Will Ferrell.
The 2001: A Space Odyssey parody may not be recognizable to much of the target audience, but it’s a clever way to play off of just how revolutionary Barbie was. Introduced in 1959, the Barbie line remains one of the best-selling toys ever.
Plot details have been fairly slim on the movie, but based on the teaser, fans should expect plenty of eye candy no matter what sort of adventures Barbie, Ken and the rest of the Mattel gang get into. Production wrapped earlier this summer.
On playing the character, Margot Robbie previously stated, “[It] comes with a lot of baggage! And a lot of nostalgic connections…But with that come a lot of exciting ways to attack it…People generally hear ‘Barbie’ and think, ‘I know what that movie is going to be,’ and then they hear that Greta Gerwig is writing and directing it, and they’re like, ’Oh, well, maybe I don’t…’”
Directed by Greta Gerwig, Barbie pops to theaters on July 21st, 2023.
What do you think of the first Barbie teaser? Do you think it gives off the proper vibe? How do you think Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling will do? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!