Here is the first teaser for the new movie Barbie, from director starring Greta Gerwig and starring Margot Robbie in the title role.
The visuals are a massive callout to the the opening sequence in the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey, and from this we can conclude that the film’s promotional team knows precisely who the target audience is. It’s likely not kids, though everyone who either is a little girl, has been one, or knows one will want to go see this movie.
Margot Robbie makes her first appearance in the same zebra-striped one-piece swim suit in which the original Barbie toy made her debut in March of 1959. The character has been the centerpiece of a number of animated, direct to video releases, but this is the first time she’s ever starred in her own theatrical film.
Information on the plot is a bit on the thin side. The IMDB page just says, hilariously, “Barbie lives in Barbie Land and then a story happens.” It’s definitely a pink plastic super-clean, super-shiny Barbie world, but apart from that, the trailer doesn’t give us even a sniff of context.
It’s an all-star parade, too, with Margot Robbie in the lead, but with Ryan Gosling as Ken. Other cast members include Will Ferrell, Emma Mackey, Connor Swindells, Rhea Perlman, Kate McKinnon, Michael Cera, Ariana Greenblatt (she’s also starring opposite Adam Driver in ’65’), Simu Liu, America Ferrera, and surprisingly, the new Doctor Who actor Ncuti Gatwa.
Barbie stars Margot Robbie, Will Farrel, Ryan Gosling, and Emma Mackey, and is set to make it’s big shiny theatrical debut on July 21, 2023.
For anyone else who was looking for a side-by-side comparison of the Barbie trailer with 2001: A Space Odyssey, here ya go!
Originally tweeted by Matthew Gaydos (@MatthewGaydos) on December 16, 2022.
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President of Krypton Media Group, Inc., radio personality and station manager of SCIFI.radio. Part writer, part animator, part musician, part illustrator, part programmer, part entrepreneur – all geek.
References to *2001: A Space Odyssey*, definitely. But I think there’s a bit of Soundgarden’s video for “Black Hole Sun” in there as well.
Barbie’s sunglasses in this trailer are similar to those worn by the implied Barbie in the music video. They both move their sunglasses to show their eyes. While one moves the glasses up and the other moves them down, their expressions when they do so are quite similar. And they both wear a swimsuit (although of different color) and their hairstyles are similar.
Some members of the J.R. “Bob” Dobbs-following Church of the SubGenius claim Barbie’s actual last name isn’t Roberts but Dobbs. Both are actually forms of the same name. (My name links to a different article here that touches on this).
On a personal note, I had a baby doll as a toddler. I liked dolls as an older boy, but was afraid to admit it. So I’d buy one for a girl’s birthday present as early as I could so I could have a doll as long as possible.