Mattel to release Weird Barbie doll inspired by Kate McKinnon's breakout character

Virgin Radio

6 Aug 2023, 10:45

Credit: Mattel / Warner Bros. Pictures

A fan-favourite doll from mega-hit movie Barbie is set to hit toy shop shelves. 

Weird Barbie, played by comedian Kate McKinnon in the film, was based on the dolls many children had growing up that had “been played with too much”, set with sliced-up hair, pen marks all over her face and constantly found doing the splits. 

Now, Mattel have capitalised on the success of Weird Barbie, and are bringing out a £49 made-to-order doll by Mattel Creations. 

The doll comes with all the pen marks, choppy hair cut and bright pink dress that featured in the film. The official description reads: “If anyone knows anything about keeping it weird, it’s Weird Barbie, a breakout character from Barbie The Movie. 

“Our doll version wears an outfit inspired by one you’ll see in the feature film, a bright pink dress with colourful artwork and puffy sleeves, and green snakeskin boots. She also features short tousled hair and markings on her face to emulate a doll that’s been played with just a little too much.”

If you want to get your hands on the breakout Barbie star, you’ll be waiting a little while! Pre-orders begin on 8th August but you won’t receive the doll until May 2024. 

Director Greta Gerwig recently shared the inspiration behind Weird Barbie and why she wanted to create perhaps the most relatable doll out of the entire collection on-screen. 

She told Rolling Stone: “We grew up in a neighbourhood where there were a lot of girls older than me. So I had a lot of hand-me-down Barbies that had already gotten a haircut by the time I got them. It was like, 'Well, we have to do that.'

“It felt almost like a spiritual conduit to the world of play through that Barbie. Remember that book The Giver, by Lois Lowry, where the giver has all the colours and the feelings and stuff? That’s sort of what I thought about Kate’s character. She would be like the giver in a way like she had the knowledge that everyone else didn’t have.”

Barbie has been the runaway hit of the summer, with the colourful comedy-drama expected to reach $1 billion at the worldwide box office in the next week. 

Despite Barbie making £276 million worldwide during its opening weekend, Greta recently revealed that she has “zero" plans to make a sequel.

Speaking to the New York Times, the award-winning director explained: “At this moment, [the first film is] all I’ve got.

"I feel like that at the end of every movie, like I’ll never have another idea, and everything I've ever wanted to do, I did.”

She added: “I wouldn’t want to squash anybody else’s dream, but for me, at this moment, I’m at totally zero.”

Barbie is out in cinemas now.

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