Greta Gerwig's Barbie movie is taking the world by storm. We've seen the memes, we've heard the soundtrack, and first reactions are wildly positive... but it took a while to get here.
Though the doll first debuted in 1959, it took 50 years before Mattel decided it was time to put her on the big screen. “The brand wasn’t ready for a movie,” senior VP Richard Dickson said in 2009. In the last 10 years, Dickson continued, Barbie had evolved from a toy into an intellectual property. He cited home entertainment (i.e. several successful animated movies), stage shows, and live symphonies as proof.
