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☆ Mattel accused by health expert of 'stealth marketing' to children by placing free Barbie dolls in schools
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-21 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Some health experts are angry over a project the firm funded in schools, per The BMJ. One criticized the decision to give dolls to UK schools as "stealth marketing." But some experts in the health sector are concerned about how far Barbie maker Mattel's marketing really goes. Several experts told the British Medical Journal they took issue with the company's decision to supply 700 UK schools with Barbie dolls as part of Mattel's "Barbie School of Friendship" program. But critics are questioning whether potential negative effects, such as gender stereotyping in Barbie dolls and Mattel's heavy use of branding, were considered.

Persons: Barbie movie's, Barbie, Ken, van Schalkwyk, Philippa Perry Organizations: Mattel, Service, British Medical, Cardiff University, BMJ, Cardiff Locations: Wall, Silicon

☆ Barbie is the star of the summer's hottest blockbuster. The much-hyped movie is the pinnacle of a 60-year history filled with rejections, lawsuits, and controversies for the world's most iconic doll.
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-21 | by ( Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Ruth Handler wanted to make an adult fashion doll but Mattel's team shot her downChesnot/Getty ImagesBarbie is back in vogue. The current hype around the brand is in sharp contrast to the rejections Barbie inventor Ruth Handler faced when she first tried to create the doll in the 1950s. But Handler, who had co-created Mattel in 1945, struggled to convince people of the market for an adult fashion doll. Mattel's team told her it wouldn't be possible to make such dolls at a low price in the US, she wrote. "As the years went by, I brought up my idea a few more times, but everybody would kind of turn me off," Handler wrote.

Persons: Ruth Handler, Barbie, Zs, Margot Robbie, Ryan Reynolds, Barbara, Handler Organizations: Mattel

☆ The ‘Barbie’ Movie Explains Why We Still Care About Barbie - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-21 | by ( Andi Zeisler | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

She was more distant in my adulthood, as Barbie had become a subject of feminist concern. I followed many authors, artists, musicians and assorted culture jammers who were publicly working out their own Barbie issues in fascinating ways. However we feel about Barbie at a given moment says a lot more about us than it does about Barbie. Mattel’s litigious responses to things like the 1998 intersectional feminist body-image essay collection “Adios, Barbie” and Aqua’s gratingly ubiquitous earworm “Barbie Girl” didn’t help its P.R. It’s a fitting approach, since the most interesting thing about Barbie has always been our reactions to her.

Persons: Barbie, jammers, she’s, Rather, Ophelia, Anita Hill, Barbie —, Mattel’s, Barbie ”, “, Greta Gerwig Organizations: Committee, Latina, Miss America, Playboy, Mattel, American Association of University Women Locations: Hollywood

☆ Morning Bid: Barbie hits the box office
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] A fan takes a photo of a Barbie doll at the world premiere of the film "Barbie" in Los Angeles, California, U.S., July 9, 2023. American Airlines (AAL.O) and Philip Morris (PM.N) are reporting. Market sources told Reuters that China's state banks were out in the Asia morning selling dollars offshore. Mattel says the Barbie movie is expected to boost global sales of Barbie dolls, which declined last year from record growth during the pandemic. Reuters GraphicsKey developments that could influence markets on Thursday:Data: U.S. jobless claims, housing startsEarnings: Philip Morris, American AirlinesReporting by Tom Westbrook; Editing by Edmund KlamannOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Mike Blake, Tom Westbrook Barbie's, Elon Musk, Ansell, Philip Morris, Barbie, Tom Westbrook, Edmund Klamann Organizations: REUTERS, American Airlines, Communist Party, Traders, Reuters, Aussie, Mattel, Thomson Locations: Los Angeles , California, U.S, Asia, China, Xinhua, Hong Kong, Greenland

☆ Canadians and Brits spend the most time working from home, even though Americans want to most, survey shows
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-19 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

It found that Canadians and Brits spend the most time working from home. US workers are in third place, despite both staff and employers wanting to spend the most time. It found Americans were in third place for the number of days spent working from home, at an average of 1.4 per week. That's only narrowly behind the UK's 1.5, and Canada, whose workers spend an average of 1.7 days working from home each week. Globally, workers spend an average of 0.9 days working from home, despite employers planning for 1.1 days, and staff wanting two days.

Persons: That's, Mathias Dolls Organizations: Brits, Service, IFO, Macroeconomics, McKinsey Locations: Wall, Silicon, German, Canada, Koreans

☆ A Minute With: Greta Gerwig on making 'Barbie' a surprising movie
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-19 | by ( Rollo Ross | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

LOS ANGELES, July 19 (Reuters) - Director, writer and actor Greta Gerwig has plunged into the world of the iconic Barbie doll to make a movie that promises to be one of the cinematic hits of the summer. Q: I wasn't expecting to wake up this morning thinking about gender politics and the history of Barbie. I’m so glad you woke up thinking thoughts you didn’t know you’d have. Q: Even though the film is set in Barbie World, how much would you say it makes people reflect on reality? Gerwig: "There were so many interesting things about Barbie to me as a cultural icon and a totem.

Persons: Greta Gerwig, Barbie, Gerwig, Noah Baumbach, Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, There’s, it's, I've, Rollo Ross, Mary Milliken, Leslie Adler Organizations: Reuters, Thomson Locations: ANGELES, margarita

☆ How to watch the ‘Oppenheimer’ and ‘Barbie’ double feature
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-19 | by ( Scottie Andrew | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

It’s the “Barbenheimer” double feature, and it started its life, as most phenomena do, as a meme. He says he’s seeing “Oppenheimer” first, on its opening Friday, and then “Barbie” “right after” so he gets to experience both with packed houses. Neither “Barbie” nor “Oppenheimer” seem like they’ll be boring, so ahead of both films, use the restroom. Use it again between “Oppenheimer” and “Barbie.” Gerwig’s film is also the more ICEE-friendly film, so re-up on snacks and such in between. 10:50 a.m.: Arrive 10 minutes early for “Oppenheimer,” get an extra-large popcorn and prepare for cinematic annihilation.

Persons: Greta Gerwig’s, Barbie ”, Christopher Nolan’s “, Oppenheimer, ”, Margot Robbie’s Barbie, It’s, “ Barbie ”, ‘, “ Oppenheimer, “ Barbie, Ken, Nicole Kidman’s, Nolan, you’ll, ‘ Oppenheimer, Cillian Murphy, ” can’t, Tom Cruise, Emma Mackey, Simu Liu, Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, —, it’s, you’ve, you’re, celebs, Christopher Nolan, Wes Anderson’s, Florence Pugh, Barbie Organizations: CNN, Warner Bros, Discovery, AMC, Pictures, Universal Locations: cliffhangers, ”, New Mexico

☆ ‘Barbie’ Reviews Are In: Slickly Subversive or Inescapably Corporate?
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-19 | by ( Julia Jacobs | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

As reviews for “Barbie” rolled out ahead of its weekend opening, a critical divide emerged. Some thought that Greta Gerwig, the acclaimed director of “Lady Bird” and “Little Women,” had met the expectations for a more subversive take on the 11.5-inch Mattel phenomenon. Others felt that the director did not go far enough in dinging her corporate sponsors, keeping the critiques of consumerism and female beauty standards at surface level. Read on for some highlights. ‘Barbie’ May Be the Most Subversive Blockbuster of the 21st Century [Rolling Stone]The movie does more than avoid delivering a two-hour commercial for Mattel, David Fear writes, suggesting that the movie could be “the most subversive blockbuster of the 21st century to date.”

Persons: “ Barbie ”, Greta Gerwig, Bird, ”, Noah Baumbach, Barbie, Margot Robbie’s, Ryan, Ken, Read, ‘ Barbie ’, David Fear Organizations: Blockbuster, Mattel

☆ ‘Barbie’ Review: Out of the Box and On the Road
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-18 | by ( Manohla Dargis | More About Manohla Dargis | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

That’s a question that swirls through Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie,” a live-action, you-go-girl fantasia about the world’s most famous doll. The movie opens with a prelude that parodies the “dawn of man” sequence in “2001: A Space Odyssey” (with girls, not ape-men), and then shifts to Barbie Land, a kaleidoscopic wonderland. There, Gerwig sets the scene and tone with Barbie (Margot Robbie) — who calls herself stereotypical Barbie — soon floating out of her Dreamhouse, as if she were being lifted by a giant invisible hand. Written by Gerwig and her partner, Noah Baumbach, the movie introduces Barbie on yet another perfect day in Barbie Land, in which dolls played by humans exist in what resembles a toyland gated community. There, framed by a painted mountain range, Barbie and a diverse group of other Barbies rule, living in homes with few exterior walls.

Persons: Greta Gerwig’s “ Barbie, ”, fantasia, Barbie, George Bernard Shaw’s, Lerner, Loewe, “ Barbie, Gerwig, Margot Robbie, —, Barbie —, Noah Baumbach, Eero Saarinen Organizations: Mattel Locations: Barbie

☆ Mattel hated the 1997 song 'Barbie Girl' so much that it sued. Now, the song is making a return thanks to Greta Gerwig.
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-18 | by ( Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Aqua's chart-topping 1997 hit "Barbie Girl" called the doll a "blond bimbo" and was full of innuendos. "Barbie Girl" is now being revived in Greta Gerwig's film with a performance by Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice. But no one really thought that the tongue-in-cheek song could have been written by Mattel, Lobel wrote. Years later, Mattel even bought the rights to the song from Aqua, Lobel wrote. The song is now making a comeback, in a way, thanks to Greta Gerwig's "Barbie" film, which is hitting cinemas this Friday.

Persons: bimbo, Greta Gerwig's, Nicki Minaj, Elton John, Barbie —, Lobel, Aqua, Barbie, Ken, Barbie's Dreamhouse, Lene Nystrøm, René Dif, hanky, Mattel, Alex Kozinski, Vinnie Zuffante, Michael Ochs, Nystrøm, Stone, Pamela Anderson, Kozinski Organizations: Mattel, MCA Records, Service, Universal Music, Michael Ochs Archives, Aqua, YouTube, Spotify Locations: Wall, Silicon, Norwegian, Australia, Barbie's

☆ The 'Barbie' movie could boost Mattel's stock prices and increase the price of old dolls in your closet, but avid Barbie collectors couldn't care less
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-15 | by ( Colette Fountain | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Insider spoke to three Barbie collectors who seem unfazed by the potential rise in the dolls' worth. As a collector doing it for love, he told Insider those looking to make money should invest in other things. Antique expert Dr. Lori told Insider she estimates a 25% rise in the doll's value in the build-up to the film's release and immediately afterward. "There are too many elements to the concept of value, and it's rarely just about finance," Yang told Insider. Even if these Barbie collectors were looking to make a quick buck in Gerwig's box office weekend, selling Barbies isn't easy.

Persons: Greta Gerwig's, Jian Yang, Yang doesn't, Yang, Barbie, Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, MarketBeat, Lori, Hankwitz, Mattel, Tommy Hilfiger, Gigi Hadid, Calvin Klein, Juno, Teresa, Arjen, Queen Elizabeth, Tina Turner, It's, I've Organizations: Service, Google, Mattel, Warner, Air, Nike, billings, eBay Locations: Wall, Silicon, Singapore, Philadelphia, Netherlands, Poland

☆ Barbie: A Visual Dictionary
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-15 | by ( Louis Lucero Ii | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Maybe you’ve heard there’s a Barbie movie coming out? It is, however, about the 11½ inches of intellectual property that inspired all the madness: the doll itself. Just as remarkable as the ways the doll has changed since then are the ways it hasn’t. Like the characters on “Sesame Street” or “South Park,” Barbie exists alongside us without quite aging with us — reflecting our times, but not our wrinkles. That adaptive consistency may play a role in maintaining her cultural ubiquity (alongside her literal ubiquity), for while the things that make Barbie Barbie may get a face lift every few years, the DNA remains unchanged.

Persons: you’ve, Barbie, Barbie Barbie Organizations: Mattel

☆ How Barbie made a surprising comeback
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-14 | by ( Vanessa Yurkevich | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

And now she is getting new life in “Barbie” the movie, distributed by CNN’s parent company Warner Bros. And at HomBom Toys in New York City, ‘movie Barbie’ is sold out. I thought of every child who played with a Barbie doll as my child. She’s thrilled to see Barbie break out of Barbie Land and out of her heels, a sign Barbie may be keeping up with the times. And that introduced a lot of fun and introduced I think people into the world of Barbie that hadn’t been there before,” she said.

Persons: Barbara Millicent Roberts ”, — Barbie —, Barbie, “ Barbie, Margot Robbie, ’ ”, Ricard Dickson, Mattel, There’s, ”, Katie Mancini, Landor, Landor & Fitch, Ken, they’ve, Oppenheimer, ’, Ilene Gayer, “, Patty Steffen, Fort, She’s, Barbie Carol Sanger, she’s, Sanger, Barbies, hadn’t Organizations: CNN, Mattel, Warner Bros ., Landor &, AMC, Barbies Locations: New York City, Fort Wayne , Indiana, Los Angeles

☆ Margot Robbie 'shocked' by fan fervour before 'Barbie' film release
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-10 | by ( Rollo Ross | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/5] Margot Robbie poses on the pink carpet for the world premiere of the film "Barbie" in Los Angeles, California, U.S., July 9, 2023. REUTERS/Mike BlakeLOS ANGELES, July 10 (Reuters) - "Barbie" actress Margot Robbie said she was bewildered by the love fans are showing for the movie before its worldwide release in cinemas next week. The movie shows Barbie living her idyllic life in Barbie World alongside her beau Ken, played by Ryan Gosling, until one day, she starts having dark thoughts and flat feet. "There's so many things that have been placed upon Barbie and I hope after this, people use Barbie to examine themselves and their place in the world." Director Greta Gerwig said she wanted each Barbie to stand out.

Persons: Margot Robbie, Mike Blake, Barbie, Mattel, I'm, Robbie, Ken, Ryan Gosling, Barbie's, she's, Issa Rae, Gosling, Greta Gerwig, Rollo Ross, Devika Organizations: REUTERS, Reuters, Sunday, Thomson Locations: Los Angeles , California, U.S, ANGELES, Los Angeles

☆ Meet the Mattel CEO who convinced Margot Robbie to become Barbie – and is being played by Will Ferrell in the movie
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-09 | by ( Ryan Hogg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

He earmarked Margot Robbie to play Barbie, and has driven the group's push to exploit its brands. Ryan Gosling as Ken and Margot Robbie as Barbie in "Barbie." Warner Bros.Self-deprecationAccording to Bloomberg, Mattel gave Warner Bros. and Gerwig huge creative license on the movie – including how Mattel and its bigwigs would be portrayed. Kreiz, with his chiseled jaw, pearly white teeth and broader good looks, might look more like Ken, played by Ryan Gosling, than the ghoulish CEO played by funnyman Will Ferrell. Ferrell is listed only as "Mattel CEO" in the film's credits, adding an element of ambiguity.

Persons: Barbie, Margot Robbie, Will Ferrell, Ryan Gosling rollerblading, Ken, Kreiz, Barbie's, He's, Greta Gerwig's, Robbie, Mattel, Greta Gerwig, Ryan Gosling, funnyman Will Ferrell, Ferrell, Oscar, Daniel Kaluuya, Barney, Lena Dunham, helming, Lily Collins, It's, Polly Pocket, David Zalubowski, Kreiz – Organizations: Mattel, Bloomberg, Service, Maker Studios, Disney, Endemol Group, Brother, Fox Kids Europe, London's, Warner Bros, MGM, Arch, Hasbro Locations: Wall, Silicon

☆ 100 million Squishmallows sold in a year — How the toy sensation joined Warren Buffett's conglomerate
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-02 | by ( Yun Li | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Shrewd business legend Warren Buffett has a whimsical side, buying companies whose products he personally enjoys like Dairy Queen and See's Candies. Berkshire inherited Squishmallows parent Jazwares through its acquisition of Alleghany in the fourth quarter of 2022. Jazwares founder and president, Judd and Laura Zebersky, now report to and are in regular communication with Greg Abel, Berkshire's vice chairman for non-insurance operations and Buffett's successor. We're thrilled to be part of it," Laura Zebersky said in an interview. Often Buffett admires the business' management and expects it to continue to grow and remain profitable.

Persons: Warren Buffett, Squishmallows, Charlie Munger, Judd, Laura Zebersky, Greg Abel, Berkshire's, Buffett, Abel's, he's, Abel Organizations: Berkshire Hathaway, Berkshire Locations: Omaha , Nebraska, Omaha, Charlie Munger . Berkshire, Alleghany, South Florida

☆ Lonely adults are driving a boom in stuffed animal sales
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-02 | by ( Grace Mayer | Gloria Dawson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Adults are clamoring for stuffed animals, a craze that is part of a larger toy trend among adults. For some people, stuffed animals help alleviate anxiety and loneliness. She said she created Hugimals, a line of weighted stuffed animals designed to relieve stress and promote sleep, in part for herself. The stuffed animal craze is tied to a larger toy trend among adults, or, as the toy industry has labeled this group, "kidults." Weighing 4.5 pounds, these stuffed animals are designed to replicate a "calming, hugging you back" effect, she told Insider.

Persons: —, it's, Marina Khidekel, Khidekel, Marcella Johnson, she's Organizations: Service, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal Locations: Canada, Legos, London

☆ Barbie, Her House and the American Dream
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-23 | by ( Anna Kodé | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +17 min

Barbie, Her House and the American Dream Take a stop-motion journey with the young, single homeowner of the Dreamhouse. Today according to Mattel, the toymaker behind the iconic doll, a new Barbie Dreamhouse is sold every two minutes. A vintage Barbie doll puts a record on, dances and sits down. He came to Barbie’s house.”Now, Ms. Dalsing lives in Saint Joseph, Mo., in what she called her own dream house. “In the early 2000s, single women were the fastest growing group of home buyers in the United States,” she said.

Persons: Ken isn’t, Barbara Millicent Roberts, Roberts —, Barbie, ” Ruth Handler, Ken, Handler’s, —, Barbie’s Dreamhouse, ”, Deborah Dinner, wasn’t, weren’t, Barbie’s, Felix Burrichter, “ Barbie Dreamhouse, ” Barbie’s, Sue Dalsing, Dalsing, “ Ken didn’t, “, ” It’s, Elliot Handler, Handler, Lisa McKnight, Mattel’s Barbie, Hugh Hefner’s, Helen Gurley Brown’s, ’, Brown’s, Brown, Young, Tiffany, Barbie —, Houseplants, Burrichter, might’ve, Maddie Bone, Bone, Homer, …, Ms, Amy Castro, ” Ms, Castro, Isabelle Roy, ‘, Roy, He’s, Barbie couldn’t, Christie, Kim Culmone, Catherine E, McKinley, Sarah Greenwood, Katie Spencer, Greenwood, Spencer, It’s Organizations: Mattel, New York Times, “, Cornell University, Survey, Wisconsin ., Furniture, The Times, Spice, University of Pennsylvania’s School of Social Locations: crave, Britain, Saint Joseph, Mo, Barbie’s, Wisconsin, Levittown, Waldoboro, United States, Canadian, Alberta, Palm Springs

☆ Barbie and Ken, one of the hottest couples of the summer, were actually named after a brother and sister
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-13 | by ( Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Ruth Handler's children resented the dolls named after them and didn't buy any for their own children. The plastic dolls were actually named after a sister and brother – the children of Mattel cofounder and Barbie creator Ruth Handler. Almost immediately after Barbie hit toy shop shelves in 1959, Mattel started receiving "hundreds of letters from little girls begging us to make a boyfriend for Barbie," Handler wrote. "If people did find out, she'd tell them in no uncertain terms that she was not the Barbie doll." Barbara, meanwhile, said: "I'm tired of being Barbie doll."

Persons: Barbie, Ken, Ruth Handler's, —, Greta Gerwig's, –, Ruth Handler, Frederic Neema, Handler, Babs, Barbara, Barbara Millicent Roberts, Ruth, Jens, Ulrich Koch, Stache, Cyrus McCrimmon, Lobel, Blaine, Mel Melcon, Mattel Barbara, Barbie Ken, Iris Schneider, Elliott Handler, Bettmann, Barbara Handler, Handler's, Barbies . Bork, bimbo, Timm Schamberger, hadn't Organizations: Service, Mattel, Getty, Los Angeles Times, Hulton, Valentine's, Express, DDP, Getty Images, Denver, Fair Locations: Europe, AFP, Nuremberg, Germany

☆ Your vintage Barbie doll could fetch as much as $27,000 on the resale market, new research shows
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-12 | by ( Sawdah Bhaimiya | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Your vintage Barbie dolls sitting at home could make you a quick buck, according to new research. BonusFinder made a list of the most valuable Barbies of all time and their maximum resale price. The first Barbie – released in 1959 for just $3 – has a maximum resale value of $27,450. The second most valuable Barbie doll is Dahlia Barbie, created by Robert Best in 2006, and has a resale value of up to $2,423. The maximum resale value for other Barbies on Bonus Finder's list ranged from $886 to $1,451.

Persons: BonusFinder, Barbie –, —, there's, Ruth Handler, Barbie, Dahlia Barbie, Robert Best, Greta Gerwig's, Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling Organizations: Service, Mattel

☆ Strange, life-like doll destined for the dumpster turned out to be rare antique that sold for $66,000 at auction
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-10 | by ( Isobel Van Hagen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

A doll on the verge of being thrown away was sold for more than $60,000 at auction earlier this week. The German antique "Kammer & Reinhardt" doll is from around 1910. The doll of a small boy is from Germany from about 1910 and is called the "Kammer & Reinhardt Walter 102 bisque antique character." Antique Kammer & Reinhardt doll. According to the BBC, the seller told the auction house: "The doll belonged to my grandmother, who passed away 30 years ago.

Persons: Reinhardt, —, Reinhardt Walter Organizations: Service, US, Vectis Auctions, ITV News, Vectis Auctions Ltd, BBC Locations: Germany, Vectis

☆ 'Barbie' movie's pink paint splurge led to global shortage
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( Lianne Kolirin | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Creating the perfect backdrop for the upcoming “Barbie” movie required so much pink paint that it led to a global shortage, according to its production designer. “The world ran out of pink,” said Sarah Greenwood in a recent interview with Architectural Digest. Warner Bros. PicturesGreenwood, who has been nominated for six Academy Awards, including for the art direction of “Pride & Prejudice” and “Atonement,” said constructing the set involved huge amounts of Rosco’s fluorescent pink paint. Warner Bros.’ live-action movie, which hits theaters on July 21, stars Margot Robbie in the titular role and a blond Ryan Gosling as her plastic boyfriend, Ken. (Warner Bros., like CNN, is a unit of Warner Bros.

Persons: Barbie, ”, Sarah Greenwood, Margot Robbie, Pictures Greenwood, ’, Ryan Gosling, Ken, CNN Greta Gerwig, Noah Baumbach, “, Gerwig, Greenwood, Katie Spencer, Lauren Proud Organizations: CNN, Architectural, Warner Bros, Pictures, Warner Bros . Locations: London, Palm

☆ Barbie owes her existence to a 1950s German comic strip
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-03 | by ( Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Barbie likely wouldn't exist if Mattel's founder hadn't stumbled across Bild Lilli, a plastic doll based on a comic strip. The first Barbie doll, from 1959, had Lilli's red lips, high blonde ponytail, and winged eyeliner. But these dolls had flat chests, big bellies, and squatty legs – they were built like overweight six- or eight-year-olds," Handler wrote. The newspaper began making Lilli dolls in 1955 because of the comic's popularity and to market the newspaper. "Here were the breasts, the small waist, the long, tapered legs I had enthusiastically described for the designers all those years ago," Handler wrote.

Persons: Barbie, hadn't, Ruth Handler, —, Ruth Handler —, Mattel —, Barbara, Handler, Lilli, SSPL, Axel Springer publication's, Reinhard Beuthein, Robin Gerber, Ruth, Gerber, Elliot, Frederic Neema, Mattel, Lobel, Greiner, Louis Marx, Marx, Fiona Hanson, Hausser Organizations: Bild Lilli, Service, Mattel, Getty Images, Hausser, Getty, Greiner, Hausser's Locations: Europe, Lucerne, Swiss, Los Angeles, Lilli, New York

☆ Ryan Gosling has hilarious reply to those saying he's 'too old' to play Ken in 'Barbie' movie
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( Alli Rosenbloom | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Ryan Gosling channeled his “Ken-ergy” to defend himself against those who think he’s “too old” to play doll Ken in the new “Barbie” movie. The origin of this silliness began back in April when the first “Barbie” movie trailer was released and a debate on social media ensued, with some users voicing their opinion that the 42-year-old actor appeared too “grown up” to play Ken. “If people don’t want to play with my Ken, there are many other Kens to play with,” Gosling said in a new GQ interview published on Wednesday in response to those skeptics. You never cared,” he said, adding that “if you ever really cared about Ken, you would know that nobody cared about Ken. So your hypocrisy is exposed.”(From left) Ryan Gosling and Margot Robbie in 'Barbie.'

Persons: CNN — Ryan Gosling, Ken, ergy, Barbie, “, ” Gosling, we’ve, ’, ”, Ryan Gosling, Margot Robbie, Gosling, Ken’s, Greta Gerwig, Issa Rae, Kate McKinnon, Hari Nef, Eva Mendes, Barbie ” Organizations: CNN, Warner Bros, Mattel, Ferrera

☆ Poet Maggie Smith shares her story in ‘You Could Make This Place Beautiful’
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-27 | by ( Jessica Dulong | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Poem: “Bride” by Maggie Smith Source: Simon & SchusterSince then, a huge response to her poetry and prose, including two recent bestsellers, “Keep Moving” and “Goldenrod,” has elevated her to celebrity poet status. CNN: You have said that writing about your divorce has turned you into “a divorce whisperer.” How so? Smith's recent memoir, "You Could Make This Place Beautiful" tackles divorce as well as common family terrain. If someone is going through a breakup, I tell them to remember that they predated, and have outlasted, the relationship. There’s no place I can go here where there isn’t a reminder of something that came before.

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