People Are Loving The Scene In "Barbie" With The Discontinued Barbies And Kens – Here Are All Of The Dolls That Get A Mention

I cried when I saw Tanner on the big screen, don't judge me.

Greta Gerwig's Barbie is officially in cinemas! The movie is, unsurprisingly, jam-packed with Easter eggs, including references to some iconic discontinued Barbie dolls and toys from over the years.

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In an interview with IndieWire, Greta stated that she and Noah Baumbach "winnowed to the ones that we thought were the funniest", when referring to why they picked those particular dolls. "There's like a million of them", she continued, "I think I got most of them in there."

If, like me, you grew up *loving* Barbie, then you'll have also loved seeing all these discontinued toys getting their moment! Here are some fun facts about the dolls mentioned in the movie...

1. Tanner the Dog

TANNER THE POOP EATING RECALLED BARBIE DOG IS IN THE MOVIE 😭😭😭 #BarbieTheMovie pic.twitter.com/62u8ChRQyc

— moop (@kushbarbie_x) June 22, 2023

Twitter: @kushbarbie_x

In the movie, Tanner appears alongside Kate McKinnon's character, Weird Barbie. The dog accessory was released in 2006 as a beloved pup companion to Barbie; kids could feed him and pick up his poo. Yup, this toy pooped out whatever you fed it! The toy was recalled in 2007 due to the loose magnet in the pooper scooper being classed as a choking hazard. As someone who owned Tanner when I was younger, I was thrilled to see his cameo on the big screen!

2. Earring Magic Ken

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This version of Ken was designed to appeal to younger audiences and make Ken feel "cool", but it wasn't intentionally queer-coded. To match with magic earring Barbie, Ken wore an earring in his left ear. Unbeknownst to Mattel at the time, this was a code for gay men to be able to identify each other. Rocking a lavender mesh shirt and purple pleather vest, as well as a necklace that was viewed as a sex toy, this revamped Ken was not embraced by Mattel's regular customers.

Mattel took this version of Ken off the shelves after less than a year. Reportedly, he ended up being the best-selling version of Ken (which is pretty iconic if you ask me). In the movie he's played by Tom Stourton, and can be seen hanging out with Sugar Daddy Ken at Weird Barbie's house. He sports the all-important earring, but his necklace design is changed from the original. Personally, I'm all for his return!

3. Video Girl Barbie

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Launched in 2010, this Barbie was potentially one of the most controversial toys ever released by Mattel. It had a necklace with a camera lens in, and a video screen on the doll's back that could record up to 30 minutes of footage. The FBI ended up addressing concerns that the doll's hidden camera "could be used to record child pornography". Thus, the doll was discontinued in 2012, but did make an appearance in the new movie as played by Mette Narrative.

4. Teen Talk Barbie

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In the '90s, Barbie was finally given a voice box! Each Teen Talk Barbie had the ability to speak four sentences; unfortunately, much of the dialogue was labelled as sexist. Barbie would speak phrases such as "math class is tough", "will we ever have enough clothes?", and "let's plan our dream wedding".

Educators criticised the doll for insinuating that girls were unable to be good at maths, going against the Barbie philosophy of "girls can do anything." Mattel didn't discontinue the doll, but they did remove the phrase from its dialogue. In the movie, this doll makes a small cameo and is played by Marisa Abela, but she definitely doesn't talk about maths!

5. Growing Up Skipper

Mattel

Created in 1975, this doll was marketed as Barbie's younger sister. Designed to help kids understand puberty, this doll had an arm that turned making it grow taller and develop a bigger chest... Yup, pretty weird for a children's toy! It was discontinued in 1977 after extreme criticism from customers, but in the new Barbie movie, Skipper's unique feature is demonstrated by Weird Barbie.

Who was your favourite Barbie doll that made its return in the movie? Was there a doll you *wish* had made an appearance? Let us know in the comments!