Media franchise




Barbie products include not only the range of dolls with their clothes and accessories, but also a large range of Barbie branded goods such as books, apparel, cosmetics, and video games. Barbie has had a media franchise starting with Barbie in the Nutcracker in 2001, when she began appearing in a series of animated films.

Barbie's direct-to-DVD animated films have sold over 110 million units worldwide, as of 2013. In addition, the brand has had two television specials in 1987, Barbie and the Rockers: Out of This World and Barbie and the Sensations: Rockin' Back to Earth, as well as a hit song, "Barbie Girl" (1997) by Aqua. She is also a supporting character in the My Scene films as well as in the Pixar films Toy Story 2 and Toy Story 3.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Controversies

Image
Body image From the start, some have complained that "the blonde, plastic doll conveyed an unrealistic body image to girls." Criticisms of Barbie are often centered around concerns that children consider Barbie a role model and will attempt to emulate her. One of the most common criticisms of Barbie is that she promotes an unrealistic idea of body image for a young woman, leading to a risk that girls who attempt to emulate her will become anorexic. A standard Barbie doll is 11.5 inches tall, giving a height of 5 feet 9 inches at 1/6 scale. Barbie's vital statistics have been estimated at 36 inches (chest), 18 inches (waist) and 33 inches (hips). According to research by the University Central Hospital in Helsinki, Finland, she would lack the 17 to 22 percent body fat required for a woman to menstruate. In 1963, the outfit "Barbie Baby-Sits" came with a book entitled How to Lose Weight which advised: "Don't eat!". The same book was included in
Read more

Parodies and lawsuits

Barbie has frequently been the target of parody: Mattel sued artist Tom Forsythe over a series of photographs called Food Chain Barbie in which Barbie winds up in a blender. Mattel lost the lawsuit and was forced to pay Forsythe's legal costs. In 2011, Greenpeace parodied Barbie, calling on Mattel to adopt a policy for its paper purchases that would protect the rainforest. According to Phil Radford, Greenpeace Executive Director, the organization's “forensic testing and global research show how Mattel products are using mixed tropical hardwood from Asia Pulp and Paper, a company that is ripping down the paradise forests of Indonesia… Sumatran tigers, elephants and orangutans are being pushed to the brink of extinction because Mattel simply isn’t interested in the origins of Barbie’s pink box.” Four months later, Mattel adopted a paper sustainability policy. Mattel filed a lawsuit in 2004 in the U.S. against Barbara Anderson-Walley, a Canadian business owner whose nickname
Read more