Courtney Howard // Film Critic
BARBIE took the world by storm this year, breaking records at the box office and touching the hearts of audiences around the globe. As a throwback to the glory days of DVD special features, Warner Brothers recently released a director’s commentary track for those who purchased their digital copies of the picture through iTunes. Sadly, all physical media releases of BARBIE failed to include Greta Gerwig’s commentary.
Since it’s an absolute hoot and a holler, we wanted to spread the joy to those who can’t access this extra content and still want to learn what it took to bring this original feature to life. Here are some of the most interesting bullet points of discussion.
The opening sequence/ teaser trailer
They used the original background plates borrowed from the Kubrick Estate.
For their iteration of the monolith, they really built a giant sized version of Margot Robbie’s legs.
The little girls in this scene were sad to smash the dolls.
Gerwig first pitched the idea to her therapist, who thought it was hilarious.
The Lazy Susan spinning the actresses decked out as Barbie dolls in the establishing introduction acts as their homage to Busby Berkeley’s style.
The shot where Margot Robbie looks through the mirror is a “tip of the hat” to Jerry Lewis’ THE LADIES MAN.
Both Dua Lipa and Lizzo sang their songs to picture. Before those lyrics were in place, Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt’s instrumentals stood in as placemarkers for the final version. “I think in a way I was mimicking movies I had loved from the 90s where the soundtracks were so incredible and these incredible pop stars came and did that. It was a treat because I’m not a musician.
Gerwig says, “I always thought of it as, in certain old movies, the girls would all dance for the boys. I thought in Barbieland, the boys would dance for the girls. I wanted them to actually dance. The imperfections of it is what makes it charming to me.”
“Pink (Reprise)” sequence
“It’s almost as if Lizzo becomes another narrator in the movie at this point.” Gerwig continues, “Rodrigo and I decided that the camera would do the exact same thing every day – and [Barbie’s] late. It’s almost this joke with the camera, that the camera is annoyed at her.”
Weird Barbie
Gerwig says of the house, “We wanted there to be no right angles in Weird Barbie’s house. And we wanted it to be a mashup of what already exists. It’s all still the colors of Barbie, but it’s been recombined and reconfigured.”
To do all Weird Barbie’s splits, they had a gymnast and a fake leg and a rig so that she could put her real leg into one and then the fake leg goes up the wall.
Barbie’s trip to the Real World
“This is a built set of a road and the desert and we had beautiful painted backdrops. And also we built it all in miniature and at the very end, we put the car in. It was always using this combination of older film techniques with newer film techniques.” The miniature was utilized at the end of the scene. You can also see the water tower is the Warner Brothers water tower.
Ken’s Barbie tracksuit was totally Ryan Gosling’s idea. “This was a Ryan idea of a Ken costume. He decided he would be wearing a driving outfit that was just repping Barbie. He’s never not trying to match her.”
Transition to the Real World
“This was all done in camera. I wanted it to feel like a diorama. We had tulips on a treadmill going by. It was a really fun math problem to try to figure out how to do all of them. It went by so fast but it took time to do every shot.”
Barbie and Ken descend on Venice Beach sequence
Everybody playing in the movie was staring at them and everyone outside of that circle was also staring at them – and not just because they’re movie stars, but moreso “they look like they’re from another planet.” They were genuinely self-conscious, especially Margot Robbie. “I felt bad for her but i also recognized it was good for the movie,” says Gerwig.
“They’re in this vibrant color. But as soon as they’re in the Real World, we took down the LUT we were using. We were calling it ‘TechnoBarbie’ – it was a Technicolor LUT and we pushed it slightly differently with the color scientists that Rodrigo works with to make the pinks pop even more. But when they go to the Real World, we take off that ‘TechnoBarbie.’”
The part where Barbie punches the guy who slaps her on her butt: “We took that from a Clint Eastwood movie: EVERY WHICH WAY BUT LOOSE. He punches his way into the camera and I thought that was a good way to do it.”
Their “Shining” Moments
The sequences where Barbie is called to the Real World by a human, Gerwig said they called them “Shining Moments.” They shot these flashback sequences between mother and daughter twice from both the different vantages. “It’s like for every mother-daughter story, there’s two cameras.”
Mattel Headquarters
The office cubicles is a nod to Jacques Tati’s work. The CEO penthouse office is an homage to Stanley Kubrick’s DR. STRANGELOVE, “except we made it a heart.” “It’s almost a bridge in ridiculousness to the Real World and Barbieland.” The painted backdrops of a surreal Los Angeles also add a neat element that, once again harkening back to their WIZARD OF OZ motifs. “I wanted it to look like the Emerald City and have that glow,” says Gerwig.
Davy Crockett Junior High
When they did the location scout of this junior high, they noticed all the kids dressed fairly monochromatically, not wanting to stand out. That was a factor in choosing Barbie’s clashing loud pink outfit.
It was also important to put criticisms of Barbie into the mouth of a character who knew what she was talking about. That task went to Ariana Greenblatt’s Sasha. Greta Gerwig’s stepson’s favorite scene is where she eviscerates Barbie at school. “I showed this movie to my stepson. He said, ‘I really like it when that girl makes Barbie cry. I like that a lot. That was hilarious.’”
Everyone told Gerwig to cut one of the best lines in the film, where Barbie is left crying, saying, “She thinks I’m a fascist? I don’t control the railways or the flow of commerce?!” “Everyone was like, ‘Cut that line. That is the most obscure line.’ I thought, ‘No, no. The people who will like it will really like it.”
It was Ryan Gosling’s idea to protect the junior high school mom from the Suburban – a.k.a. the “truck car” he’d like to have.
Ruth’s office/ kitchen
“I always thought of this as [of having] a David Lynch feel. Rodrigo had the idea it’s like a stage. And when we cut there [after Barbie enters] the wall magically appears. I had this idea of a stage in the middle of a black room and he had the idea of completing the room.” The kitchen is inspired by Gerwig’s own 1950’s style, butter yellow kitchen.
When Barbie first walks in, we hear an instrumental waltz-style version of Billie Eilish’s “What Was I Made For?” playing. It’s a person whistling on that track. “It felt like a musical from the 50s that had this buoyant sadness,” says Gerwig over the end credits.
The shot where Ruth Handler (Rhea Perlman) hands the cup of tea over to Barbie is their “Sistine Chapel shot,” “Like God to Adam and Ruth to Barbie, giving her life,” says Gerwig.
Car chase
Gerwig said that if she could do it all over again, she’d have Will Ferrell dive into his Suburban similar to Barbie dives into Gloria’s SUV, except he’d go all the way through the car and out the other side.
Gerwig says Prieto had shot car commercials before so he “knew what shots would make it exciting.” Gerwig joked, “Are they making more FAST AND THE FURIOUS movies? I’m available. I don’t think they’d want me.”
After Gloria and Sasha are traveling to Barbieland, we see America Ferrera’s real life husband learning Spanish via Duolingo. “When I sent America the script, she said, ‘Did you know my husband is always learning Spanish?’ I said, ‘No! Would he actually want to play your husband?’ I was thrilled that he did it.”
Barbie returns to Kendom
The volleyball sequence is shot like TOP GUN and the training montage in ROCKY II. Those are movies I really love. The Sam Smith song playing (“The Man I Am”) was written to picture.
The Kens remodel of the Barbie Dreamhouses were supposed to be kinda sloppy. “I kind of wanted it to be a poorly executed takeover. They just put their stuff on top of it. Plopped a black leather couch on the lawn and basketball hoop on the thing and a pull-up bar. It’s not like they redesigned it – they’ve just pasted it on. They did some of the cars. He brought the Hummer back. We don’t know how. But he’s done it.”
“Those are velvet horse paintings in the back. Also, we decided we wanted all these flat screen TVs to be playing slightly pornographic images of horses in slow motion.”
They did actually make Ken’s Mojo Dojo Casa Houses as toys, “which were pretty incredible. Maybe one day, Mattel will actually sell them. I told them they should put them into manufacturing. People are gonna want Ken’s Mojo Dojo Casa Houses.”
Kingsley Ben-Adair put the belt over his track pants. He also wanted to carry as many things around as possible.
Gerwig likened Gosling yelling “You failed me!” to Marlon Brando in ON THE WATERFRONT. Barbie’s subsequent breakdown, Gerwig compared Robbie’s work there to Carole Lombard. “I showed them John Barrymore and Carole Lombard in TWENTIETH CENTURY because i think they’re just so funny when they fight. They’re both powerhouses when they fight, it’s that kind of energy between them. It’s seriously funny and funny from how serious it is.”
When Ken takes to his synthesizer keyboard, originally Gosling sang a version of “Girls, They Want To Have Fun,” as “Boys, They Want To Have Fun” and Kingsley Ben-Adair danced to it for a solid 3 minutes. “I kept it in for so long, but it stopped the movie completely. It was genius.”
The gingham dress Margot Robbie wears changes from perfectly put together to losing its poof, the once shiny fabric becomes dulled (in Weird Barbie’s home) as Barbie has her existential crisis. “It’s imperceptible,” says Gerwig.
America Ferrera’s Rousing Deprogramming Monologue
“This speech is hers as much as mine – as anyone’s. She brought a lot of her writing and experience and details to it. I think it’s why it feels so resonant. It’s because she brought so much of herself into it.” The first time I ever showed it to a group of people, there was a spontaneous applause after it was over. That’s how I felt on the day. As we were shooting it, we got about 5 takes into it and I started crying. I looked around and all the women on set were crying. And all the men were emotional too. It’s a universal thing of nobody feels as if they’re doing it right. It’s an invitation to the audience to get off the tightrope.”
Gerwig said Zack Snyder was very kind about the reference to JUSTICE LEAGUE: THE SNYDER CUT.
Deprogramming the Barbies
Gerwig called a pal to figure out the most confusing thing about Photoshop to get that line of dialogue.
It was Michael Cera’s idea to not be able to scale the pink fence.
Stephen Malkmus is a fan of the film. He originally didn’t know of his name drop until his daughter told him.
“I’m Just Ken” Music Video
Gerwig wanted the shot where they roll up in paddle boats to the Malibu Beach to look like THE WARRIORS.
The slow-motion was the actors moving in slow-motion. Gerwig wasn’t sure if she made the right call on filming that way, but it felt and looked kid-like.
In the 360 shot, Gerwig is hiding behind one of the umbrellas on the beach.
The dream ballet was inspired by SINGING IN THE RAIN. If you notice, Ryan Gosling’s belt is buckled to the side. This is a tribute to John Travolta’s belt on the side in GREASE.
The Barbies’ Take-Back of Barbieland
The Kens’ riding invisible horses back to the Dream Houses is a tribute to MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL.
Ryan Gosling added the “Don’t look at me!” line when Ken realizes his defeat, which surprised Gerwig.
The scene between Barbie and Ken was originally supposed to take place in front of everyone. Robbie and Gosling suggested it be just between them.
When Ken throws his Fauxjo Mojo Mink from the bedroom and it freezes with the logo, that was a note from Gerwig’s stepson when originally it hadn’t done that.
The slow wave everyone does when Barbie and Ruth leave Barbieland is from WIZARD OF OZ.
Gerwig came up with the “I am Kenough” slogan hoodie.
The Barbie infinite void
They had LED lighting behind a screen so the light was constantly changing. They took their color direction from J.M Turner paintings as Prieto had seen a Turner showing in London. Gerwig wanted it to look like Barbie and Ruth were standing on wet sand, similar to STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN (a.k.a. A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH) where the pilot wakes up on a beach. This in-between land was also inspired by art instillations with light and the heaven sequences from HEAVEN CAN WAIT.
All the footage in the montage is from people who made this movie. “I wanted it to be a reminder than this movie is made by people.”
Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell had only seen 35 min of the film before writing “What Was I Made For?” Gerwig called it “Barbie’s heart song.”
Barbie’s final line
“It’s the happiest anyone has ever said that line,” says Gerwig.
Barbie is now available for rent and purchase.
