~ by Michelle Demaras ~
Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past few months, you’ve probably heard of the smash-hit Barbie movie. All about Mattel’s plastic poster child, the movie has already grossed over $400 million dollars globally. It’s a hilarious and meta take on Barbie and her world, which also uses Barbie’s ‘you can do anything’ motto to display what a more female-dominant society would look like.
The movie’s big budget is quite evident, with vibrant and complex sets with thought packed into every inch of them. Every bit of the movie has been completely ‘Barbie-fied’ and that includes the cars. There are a few different vehicles you might spot in this movie, and you can find all of them in Barbie’s history.
The Pink Corvette
When you think of Barbie, you might think of her cruising along the coast of Malibu. In what type of car? A pink Corvette, of course! However, it’s not actually the first car the doll ever owned.
Barbie’s first car was a ‘62 Austin-Healey 3000 Mark II. It came in six different colour combinations but is most well known by its peach exterior and turquoise interior. However, we’re talking Barbie here, and Mattel wanted to give her an all-American sports car, rather than a European one.
So, in the 1970s, Barbie’s pink corvette was introduced to the world, and has been her signature car ever since. This, of course, is just as prevalent in the movie, with Barbie sporting her pink sports car in multiple scenes. What you may not have noticed, however, is that every Barbie has their own Corvette! In scenes filmed in Barbieland, you can see that in front of each dreamhouse is a pastel coloured Corvette for every Barbie.
Barbie has driven multiple cars since she got her Corvette, but none have had the same sort of impact. In fact, since the movie’s release, interest in pink Corvettes has since skyrocketed! People seem to share Barbie’s taste in cars.
The Journey to the Real World
In the Barbie movie, we follow Barbie and Ken on their journey out of Barbieland to the real world. It’s a long journey that requires a variety of vehicles; a car, a boat, a rocket ship, a tandem bike, and lastly, roller skates. A seemingly random set of vehicles, but each of them are featured in Barbie’s history.
Barbie has probably had as many cars as she’s had careers, but in the movie, she obviously takes her convertible pink Corvette to start her journey. I mean, can you really think of anything better?
Next up is the boat. Over the years, Barbie and her sisters have been featured with many different boats, from speedboats to yachts. One of the first ones was the ‘64 Irwin Speedboat for Barbie and Ken. It’s a wide and sleek speedboat, usually in a bright sea green colour. These days, Barbie’s most recent boat is another speedboat, coloured in pink, light blue, and white, and includes one of Barbie’s puppies. None of these look exactly like the boat in the movie, but Barbie’s had an interest in boats for the past 60 years.
Barbie has had countless careers in her life, including being an astronaut. Both Barbie rocket ships and rocket ships for her younger sister Chelsea have been part of the Barbie story through the years. These haven’t been around for purchase quite as long as Barbie-sized boats, but Barbie’s career as an astronaut has been well-documented.
You don’t see a tandem bike every day. However, Barbie tandem bikes have existed forever, allowing kids to have their various Barbie dolls ride together without needing multiple bikes. An early Barbie bike was the 1985 Barbie Family tandem bike, with three seats and one baby seat in the back. More recently, Barbie has had a three-seater tandem bike for her and her sisters.
Roller skates are a ‘50s and ‘60s staple, and it’s hard to watch a show or a movie from that era without seeing a teenager with a pair of roller skates. Barbie was just starting her doll life in those decades, so giving Barbie and Ken roller skates in the movie was simply a must. Two early roller-skating Barbies were the creatively named ‘Roller Skating Barbie’ and ‘Roller Skating Ken’. Years later, rollerblading Barbie was also introduced. Various sets of real roller skates for kids to wear, with Barbie logos adorning them, have also hit the market, and have become a staple in Barbie’s world.
Should You See the Barbie movie?
Whether you’re watching for the dolls, for the cars, Barbie is definitely the must-see movie this year. I highly recommend you put on your pink shirt, grab some friends and a couple tickets to the Barbie movie at a theatre near you. Bonus points if you watch it in California!
