Barbie

Barbie is a fashion doll franchise created by American businesswoman Ruth Handler, manufactured by the toy and entertainment company Mattel. Introduced on March 9, 1959, the doll was inspired by the German Bild Lilli doll, which Handler had encountered during a trip to Europe. Barbie was conceived as an adult-bodied doll at a time when most dolls on the market were representations of infants, allowing children to imagine grown-up roles and aspirations.

The Barbie brand quickly expanded beyond the original doll to include a wide range of friends, family members, accessories, playsets, and merchandise. Over the decades, Barbie has taken on hundreds of careers, from astronaut to president, reflecting and sometimes shaping cultural conversations about women's roles in society. The doll has been both celebrated as a symbol of female independence and critiqued for promoting unrealistic body standards.

Since the 1980s, Barbie has grown into a full multimedia franchise encompassing video games, television series, web content, and a long-running series of direct-to-video animated films. These films often place Barbie in fantastical narratives, portraying her as a princess, fairy, mermaid, or other heroic character. The franchise reached a new cultural milestone with the release of a major live-action theatrical film in 2023, cementing Barbie's status as one of the most iconic and enduring toy brands in the world.