“It Wasn’t Beautiful”: Original Barbies & Kens Design Was Uncomfortably Close To The Real Toys-TGN

Summary

• The original designs for the Barbie movie had to be scrapped for being too much like the original toys.

• Scrapping the plastic-style look was a wise move to maintain the overall message of the film.

• Barbie can embrace her plastic nature without sacrificing creativity or realism, as shown by the character’s viral arched feet moment.

The original designs for the Barbie movie had to be scrapped for being too much like the original toys. Based on the toy franchise, Barbie tells the story of Barbie (Margot Robbie) and Ken (Ryan Gosling) as they discover the real world and the struggle of life outside Barbieland. With Barbie slated to cross $1 billion at the box office over the weekend, the film has been dominating theaters since it first premiered alongside Oppenheimer.

While Barbie embraces its status as a movie about toys, it did need to branch out slightly to avoid an uncanny valley effect. A hair and makeup artist for Barbie told E! News that the original designs featured a more plastic-style look. Check out her quote below:

After reviewing the designs, they had to scrap the look and divert to the current designs, which fit the story of Barbie much more closely. Plastic seams, skin, and hair just did not suit Robbie or the world that director Greta Gerwig was attempting to cultivate.

Changing Barbie’s Design Was Wise

It can be difficult to scrap fully fleshed-out designs, but avoiding the original look was the right move for Barbie. Seeing characters made entirely of plastic can work in animation or stop-motion films, but a live-action Barbie would have looked completely absurd had every character been less life-like. It would distract from the overall message and leave Barbie and Ken as jarring figures once they entered the real world.

Even if leaning into the plastic nature of Barbie is necessary, the film can do so without sacrificing its aesthetic. After all, Barbie‘s viral arched feet moment revolved around Robbie displaying that her feet could appear to be made entirely of plastic just by virtue of their movements alone. There are no plastic seams or skin, yet the character still seems to be entirely made of plastic through those movements, rather than makeup.

The goal of any adaptation of toys is often to adapt imagination, rather than reality. Transformers movies never need to adapt the idea of a Transformers toy getting jammed or looking like it is little more than plastic with hinges. Instead, they adapt what children can imagine the toys are doing while playing: Becoming actual fighting gigantic robots that turn into actual cars. Barbie does the same. By scrapping its original designs, Barbie ensures that it never sacrifices its creativity for realism.

Source: E! News