Here Are 21 Wild Barbie Doll Facts That I Still Can't Quite Get My Head Around

Including where in the world she is banned.

With the release of the Barbie movie imminent, we thought it would be interesting to look back at the cultural icon that inspired the film!

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Here are 21 fascinating facts about Barbie, the world's most famous doll.

1. Barbie was inspired by an R-Rated German doll called Lilli.

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Bild Lilli was a doll based on a character from a German comic strip. A kind of Mae West figure, Lilli was known for dressing provocatively, gold-digging, and saying saucy things to men; in fact, the doll was first marketed to adult men as a sort of joke gift. Soon enough, Lilli became popular with younger consumers, and toy accessories were eventually produced to cash in on her popularity among children.

In 1956, having already pitched a similar kind of doll to Mattel's directors that failed to capture their imagination, Barbie creator Ruth Handler spotted a Lilli doll in Switzerland. She bought three and used them as inspiration to create Barbie. Handler had also been inspired by watching her daughter, Barbara, play with paper dolls, and wanted to move away from baby dolls that encouraged little girls to act like mothers. Instead, she wanted to give girls an adult woman doll to help them live out their fantasies.

Barbie launched on 9 March 1959, and after the toy became a success, Mattel acquired the rights for Bild Lilli and production on the doll came to end.

2. Barbie was one of the first toys to be advertised on TV.

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It might not sound that wild, but back in the '50s, TV adverts for a toy like Barbie were truly groundbreaking! Mattel was the first company to buy spots and advertise during The Mickey Mouse Show, which was revolutionary because it changed the consumer from parent to child. In commercials pitched to young girls, Barbie appeared as a real person, which engaged kids and had them begging their parents to buy her.

Essentially, Barbie/Mattel are responsible for advertising toys to kids, which is an incredibly effective strategy! (You'll know that if you've ever been on the receiving end of a child begging for the latest toy they only just saw on TV two minutes ago).

3. Andy Warhol once created a painting of Barbie... Sort of.

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The iconic pop artist had been desperate to do a portrait of his friend and muse, BillyBoy*. BillyBoy* had refused several times, but eventually and allowed Warhol to paint him, but as a Barbie doll since he was a big fan. The portrait – entitled "Barbie, Portrait of BillyBoy*" – ended up being Warhol's final work before his death. In 2014, it sold at auction for $1.1 million in today's money. A second version with an orange-red background was created for and acquired by Mattel.

4. The man who designed and patented the original Barbie doll used to design missiles for the Pentagon.

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Back in 1955, Jack Ryan was working at Raytheon – an aerospace and defence conglomerate – when Ruth Handler tempted him away with the position of Head of Research and Development at Mattel. During his time with Raytheon, Ryan had helped to design the Sparrow and Hawk-guided missile systems. He set his engineering skills to good use at Mattel, developing Barbie's signature twist and turn waist and "click click" knee joints.

Ryan stayed with the company for 20 years, but ended up suing Mattel in 1980 for nonpayment of royalties totalling in the millions. He ended his relationship with the company after they settled out of court.

5. In 1971, the first major change was made to Barbie's appearance when her eyes we changed to face forward.

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Originally, Barbie's eyes had been fixed in a demure sideways glance – a hangover from the sex doll that inspired her. In the early '70s, this was done away with, and it would be the last change Handler would make to Barbie before she was ousted from her own company for issuing false and misleading financial reports.

In 2000, Barbie also received a navel, which she hadn't had for the first 40 years of manufacturing.

6. If you scaled up a Barbie doll to human size and brought her to life, she wouldn't be able to stand up or menstruate.

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Many critics of Barbie have focussed on her body, proffering that her dimensions and shape are not realistic and that a real-life Barbie would simply fall over. A standard Barbie doll is 11.5 inches tall, which equates to 5' 9", making her above average height for an American woman.

Interestingly, academics from the University of South Australia deem that the likelihood of a woman having a body shape like Barbie's is one in 100,000. So while it's not impossible, it's incredibly rare and not something to strive for. By contrast, the likelihood of a man's body looking like Ken's is one in 50.

Furthermore, researchers at Finland's University Central Hospital found that if Barbie were life-size, she would lack the 17-22% body fat required for a woman to actually get her period.

7. Previous Barbie dolls have come with accessories like a bathroom scale permanently fixed at 110 pounds, and a book entitled How To Lose Weight with the single instruction – "Don't eat".

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Alongside accusations of promoting an unhealthy body image, early Barbie dolls have been cited as encouraging disordered eating. In 1963, the outfit "Barbie Baby-Sits" came with several accessories including the infamous How To Lose Weight book. The same book was included in the outfit "Slumber Party", which also featured a pink bathroom scale that read 110 pounds. At 5' 9", that would put Barbie in the underweight category for adults of her height.

In 2016, following decades of backlash and declining sales, Mattel finally released some different body shapes in three new Barbie models: petite, tall, and curvy.

8. There was once a pregnant version of Barbie's BFF Midge, but it had to be changed after consumers complained the doll promoted teenage pregnancy.

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Midge was introduced way back in 1963 as a best friend to Barbie. According to Barbie lore, she later married Allan and had a son called Ryan. Then, in 2002, Mattel brought to market a version of Midge who was pregnant with a second child, Nikki. The "Happy Family" doll sported a wedding ring and had a removable stomach that popped out a baby when opened.

Reaction to the doll was mixed. While Mattel said that the doll was intended to "satisfy the desire for nurturing play", and could be used as a "wonderful prop for parents to... role-play family situations", many shoppers felt the doll endorsed teen pregnancy. Despite Midge being a married adult, complaints led to the product being pulled from Wal-Mart shelves and redesigned without the pregnant belly.

As you may have already seen, in live-action Barbie film, Emerald Fennell will portray the controversial pregnant version of Midge.

9. Over the years, several versions of Barbie have been recalled or discontinued, including Happy Family Midge, Teen Talk Barbie, and Barbie Oreo School Time Fun.

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We've already discussed pregnant Midge, so let's do Teen Talk Barbie. In 1992, Mattel released a Barbie doll with a voice box that could speak up to four random phrases from a list of 270. One of these was "math class is tough", which groups such as the American Association of University Women found offensive. After the doll was described as detrimental to the effort to encourage girls to study STEM subjects, Mattel apologised and removed the phrase from future Teen Talk Barbies.

Later, in 1997, Mattel launched a cross-promotion Barbie doll with Oreo Cookies. The first doll was released as white, but then in 2001, Mattel manufactured white and Black versions of the doll. What Mattel failed to consider is that "oreo" can be used as a derogatory term to refer to a Black person "who acts like, sympathises with, or dates/marries [white people]", AKA someone who is "[Black] on the outside, white on the inside". Consequently, the doll was unsuccessful and later recalled.

10. An African-American doll and friend to Barbie, Christie, was released by Mattel in 1968. This was a mere four years after the landmark passing of The Civil Rights Act in the US.

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According to Barbie expert and author of Barbie: 60 Years of Inspiration, Susan Shapiro, Ruth Handler was keen for Barbie to be an inclusive brand from early on. Hating the prejudice she experienced as a Jewish woman, Handler pushed Mattel to create African-American dolls like Christie, Francie, and Julia (released in 1969 and modelled after TV icon Diahann Carroll).

The '60s was a very turbulent time for civil rights in America, and numerous pieces of landmark legislation were passed during the decade to help protect Black Americans. Christie represented an evolving USA, but she wasn't perfect. Even though her face sculpt was made to emphasise African-American features, Christie was criticised for only representing one skin tone, and for upholding white standards of beauty in her hair, body, and face. Christie would go on to be superseded by Nikki in 2005.

In 1980, a Black version of Barbie finally made her debut, designed by Kitty Black Perkins – a principal designer for Mattel who grew up in segregated South Carolina. Since then, the So In Style range has been introduced, which now offers African-American Barbies in over 22 skin tones, 94 hair colours, 13 eye colours, and five body types.

11. Barbie once had a younger sibling who mysteriously disappeared.

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Barbie has had been numerous siblings, cousins, and friends, and quite a few have dropped off the face of the Earth throughout the years, leaving fans to wonder what happened, and to clamber after these rare collectibles. One such example is Tutti. Tutti first appeared in a set with her twin brother Todd in 1966; the pair were sold as the younger siblings of Barbie and Skipper and had bendy bodies.

Todd would go on to reappear in 1991 without Tutti. Instead, sisters Kelly and Stacie were introduced as part of the wedding party for Barbie's best friend Midge. Todd dolls would continue to appear as part of the Barbie line over the next few years, sometimes alongside Stacie, leading fans to assume that Tutti had been mysteriously replaced by Stacie.

12. Barbie once dumped Ken for a hunky Australian surfer named Blaine.

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Just two years after Barbie's debut, the equally iconic Ken Carson was brought to market as her sort of on-again-off-again boyfriend. Though the two were linked for several decades, they publicly called it quits in 2004, and Barbie began spending time with a doll called Blaine (why am I writing like these are real people??).

Blaine was billed as an Australian surfer type, and Barbie "dated" him for two years before getting back together with Ken following his makeover. Blaine dolls were available in between 2004-2006, but were discontinued after that. Now, I don't know, but based on this information, Simu Liu was giving major Blaine vibes in the trailer. However, according to our own Nora Dominick, Simu actually appears in the trailer as a dancing version of Ken. Shame, I would've liked to see that rivalry played out.

13. Mattel has made hundreds of "Role Model Barbies" based on real life figures over the years.

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Beginning with Twiggy in 1967, there have been numerous editions of Barbie inspired by real-life figures including the likes of MC Hammer, Marilyn Monroe, Shonda Rhimes, Cher, Jane Goodall, Katniss Everdeen, and Laverne Cox. For International Women's Day 2018, Mattel also unveiled its Celebrates Role Models or "Sheroes" campaign, which aimed to "showcase examples of extraordinary women". These included Frida Kahlo, Ava Duvernay, and Ibtihaj Muhammad.

14. A plethora of well-known haute couturiers have designed outfits for Barbie.

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Over the years, a great many designers have contributed to Barbie's wardrobe. The long and illustrious list includes the likes of Gucci, Versace, Bob Mackie, Oscar de la Renta, Dolce & Gabbana, and Christian Louboutin. To celebrate her 50th birthday, Barbie even had a runway at New York fashion week showcasing Barbie-influenced designs from a host of huge industry players!

15. In 2003, Barbie was banned in Saudi Arabia for being "shameful" and "decadent".

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Barbie has been banned around the world in several places, including Russia and Saudi Arabia (temporarily) and Iran (permanently). Saudi Arabia's Committee for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice outlawed the sale of Barbies in 2003, declaring that "their revealing clothes and shameful postures, accessories and tools are a symbol of decadence to the perverted West."

Barbie actually entered the Saudi market in the mid-1990s, although many consumers would buy the dolls abroad and take them home before that. During the ban, numerous doll alternatives popped up across the Middle East including Fulla, Razanne, Saghira, and Iran's Sara and Dara dolls. These dolls wore more traditional Muslim garb including abayas, headscarves, and hijabs.

After the ban was lifted, Mattel considered critics who felt Barbie encouraged "un-Islamic dress codes", and began releasing international editions of the doll in traditional costumes for different countries. Mattel also began licensing Fulla dolls for sale in certain markets.

16. Since 1959, over a billion Barbie dolls have been sold worldwide in more than 150 countries.

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Mattel also estimates that three Barbies are sold every second.

17. The highest price fetched at auction for a Barbie is $302,500.

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The doll was sold in an auction at Christie's in New York in 2010. It was a custom-made Barbie wearing a black strapless gown and a one-carat pink diamond necklace surrounded by three carats of white diamonds. The doll's attire was designed by world-famous Australian jeweller Stefano Canturi, and the proceeds were donated to breast cancer research.

18. The biggest collection of Barbies in the world surpasses 15,000 dolls.

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The biggest known collector of Barbies in the world is German fan Bettina Dorfmann. She owns over 15,000 Barbie dolls and also operates a doll hospital out of her home. "It drives my husband mad when I bring a new doll home," she told Metro in 2015.

19. Mattel tried to sue MCA Records over the hit song "Barbie Girl" by Aqua.

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The corporation tried to sue on the basis that the iconic song was a copyright infringement of Barbie, and that it sullied Barbie's image (she is referred to as "blonde bimbo" in the song). A US Judge ruled that the label and the group were protected by the right to free speech in the US constitution, and said that parody and social commentary are to be expected when something becomes a "cultural icon".

20. When Barbie creator Ruth Handler died in 2002, Barbie had a 98% recognition rate (meaning that only 2% of the world didn't recognise her).

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That's higher than the US President at the time (George W. Bush) AND Queen Elizabeth II!

21. And finally, this summer, the FIRST EVER live-action movie about Barbie will release in cinemas!

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Barbie – which has been in the works in some way, shape, or form since 2009 – is directed by Greta Gerwig and stars Margot Robbie in the title role. It boasts an astonishing and truly unprecedented ensemble cast, and will hit cinemas on 21 July 2023.

Did any of these facts surprise you? Perhaps we missed out something interesting about Barbie. Let us know in the comments below!

Signing off, Barbie fan from wayyy back xoxo.

Instagram: @samcleal