If you’ve got Barbie on the brain lately, jump into the candy-colored dream car and buckle up: A brand-new Barbie documentary is coming to Netflix from Shondaland, and it tells a story you may not have heard before.
Directed by Lagueria Davis, Black Barbie explores the impact of three Black women at Mattel responsible for the Black Barbie debut in 1980: Beulah Mae Mitchell, Kitty Black Perkins, and Stacey McBride Irby. Through insider interviews and charismatic retellings of what went down at Mattel in the days leading up to Black Barbie’s debut, the documentary examines the importance of true representation — and how dolls aren’tjust dolls, but childhood symbols that can be crucial to identity formation and imagination.
Black Barbie isexecutive produced by Shonda Rhimes and Betsy Beers for Shondaland, Grace Lay and Sumalee Montano for LinLay Productions, Camilla Hall for Lady & Bird Films, as well as...
Directed by Lagueria Davis, Black Barbie explores the impact of three Black women at Mattel responsible for the Black Barbie debut in 1980: Beulah Mae Mitchell, Kitty Black Perkins, and Stacey McBride Irby. Through insider interviews and charismatic retellings of what went down at Mattel in the days leading up to Black Barbie’s debut, the documentary examines the importance of true representation — and how dolls aren’tjust dolls, but childhood symbols that can be crucial to identity formation and imagination.
Black Barbie isexecutive produced by Shonda Rhimes and Betsy Beers for Shondaland, Grace Lay and Sumalee Montano for LinLay Productions, Camilla Hall for Lady & Bird Films, as well as...
- 6/4/2024
- by Amanda Richards
- Tudum - Netflix
Margot Robbie’s Barbie made film history last year. But in the Eighties, three Black women revolutionized the doll brand when they helped push for a Black Barbie. On Tuesday, Netflix released the trailer for Black Barbie, a new Shondaland-produced documentary set to explore the impact of Mattel’s first Black Barbie, out June 19.
The film will feature interviews with numerous women, including Shonda Rhimes and the two women who helped design the first Black Barbie doll, Kitty Black Perkins and Stacey McBride Irby. The film will explore the...
The film will feature interviews with numerous women, including Shonda Rhimes and the two women who helped design the first Black Barbie doll, Kitty Black Perkins and Stacey McBride Irby. The film will explore the...
- 6/4/2024
- by Tomás Mier
- Rollingstone.com
The trailer for Shondaland’s Black Barbie details the creation of the influential dolls, featuring interviews with the women who brought them to Mattel and others.
“If you go through life, and you’ve never seen anything made in your own image, there is damage done,” executive producer Shonda Rhimes says as she opens the trailer, later adding, “I thought Black Barbie felt magical.”
According to Netflix, Black Barbie celebrates the Black women at Mattel who had a massive impact on the evolution of the Barbie brand as it is today.
“Through these charismatic insiders’ stories, the documentary tells the story of how the first Black Barbie came to be in 1980, examining the importance of representation and how dolls can be crucial to the formation of identity and imagination,” the logline reads.
Kitty Black Perkins, the designer of Black Barbie, says in the two-minute look at the upcoming documentary: “I...
“If you go through life, and you’ve never seen anything made in your own image, there is damage done,” executive producer Shonda Rhimes says as she opens the trailer, later adding, “I thought Black Barbie felt magical.”
According to Netflix, Black Barbie celebrates the Black women at Mattel who had a massive impact on the evolution of the Barbie brand as it is today.
“Through these charismatic insiders’ stories, the documentary tells the story of how the first Black Barbie came to be in 1980, examining the importance of representation and how dolls can be crucial to the formation of identity and imagination,” the logline reads.
Kitty Black Perkins, the designer of Black Barbie, says in the two-minute look at the upcoming documentary: “I...
- 6/4/2024
- by Christy Piña
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
In recent years, Netflix has made a lot of changes to its standard operating procedures, and one that is becoming increasingly part of its release plans is breaking up series into blocks. The world’s largest streaming service will release the second half of “Bridgerton” Season 3 in June looking to capitalize on the success of the first four episodes that were released last month. Also coming to the streaming giant this month will be the final season of fantasy drama series “Sweet Tooth,” the Glen Powell-led action comedy “The Hitman” and much more.
Netflix offers three different subscription options, on the low end is the Standard With Ads option for just $6.99 per month. However, if you prefer your streaming without commercial interruptions, you can opt for the Standard plan for $15.49 monthly or the Premium option for $22.99.
Sign Up $6.99+ / month netflix.com What are the 5 Best Shows, Movies, and Specials...
Netflix offers three different subscription options, on the low end is the Standard With Ads option for just $6.99 per month. However, if you prefer your streaming without commercial interruptions, you can opt for the Standard plan for $15.49 monthly or the Premium option for $22.99.
Sign Up $6.99+ / month netflix.com What are the 5 Best Shows, Movies, and Specials...
- 6/3/2024
- by Ashley Steves
- The Streamable
Netflix and Shondaland have acquired worldwide rights to “Black Barbie,” a documentary that dives into the history of the first Black Barbie doll — which debuted in 1980, 31 years after the original Barbie — and three Black women at Mattel who advocated for the toy.
Directed by Lagueria Davis, “Black Barbie” debuted at this year’s SXSW and the “work-in-progress” cut of the film was met with widespread acclaim. Now, Shonda Rhimes and Betsy Beers have signed on to the team of executive producers as part of Shondaland’s overall deal with Netflix.
“Telling Black Barbie’s story has been such a personal journey and it warms my heart to celebrate the legacy of my aunt Beulah Mae Mitchell, Kitty Black Perkins and Stacey McBride Irby in our film,” Davis said in a statement announcing the acquisition. “We couldn’t have asked for better collaborators than Shondaland and Netflix to bring this story to the world.
Directed by Lagueria Davis, “Black Barbie” debuted at this year’s SXSW and the “work-in-progress” cut of the film was met with widespread acclaim. Now, Shonda Rhimes and Betsy Beers have signed on to the team of executive producers as part of Shondaland’s overall deal with Netflix.
“Telling Black Barbie’s story has been such a personal journey and it warms my heart to celebrate the legacy of my aunt Beulah Mae Mitchell, Kitty Black Perkins and Stacey McBride Irby in our film,” Davis said in a statement announcing the acquisition. “We couldn’t have asked for better collaborators than Shondaland and Netflix to bring this story to the world.
- 10/10/2023
- by Angelique Jackson
- Variety Film + TV
In yet another high-profile acquisition from Netflix, the streaming giant and Shondaland have nabbed global rights to “Black Barbie: A Documentary.” The film comes courtesy of director Lagueria Davis with Shonda Rhimes and Betsy Beers as executive producers.
The feature celebrates the momentous impact of three Black women at Mattel had on the evolution of the Barbie brand. The documentary tells the story of how the first Black Barbie came to be in 1980. It further examines the importance of representation and how dolls can be crucial to the formation of identity and imagination.
As critic Glenn Dunks wrote in The Film Experience, the film “isn’t just about black Barbie dolls. It’s about representation, and about the biases at play in an industry that for so long never ever conceived of the idea of black children wanting a doll like Barbie.”
Critic Clint Worthington noted in The Spool that...
The feature celebrates the momentous impact of three Black women at Mattel had on the evolution of the Barbie brand. The documentary tells the story of how the first Black Barbie came to be in 1980. It further examines the importance of representation and how dolls can be crucial to the formation of identity and imagination.
As critic Glenn Dunks wrote in The Film Experience, the film “isn’t just about black Barbie dolls. It’s about representation, and about the biases at play in an industry that for so long never ever conceived of the idea of black children wanting a doll like Barbie.”
Critic Clint Worthington noted in The Spool that...
- 10/10/2023
- by Scott Mendelson
- The Wrap
‘Black Barbie: A Documentary’ Acquired By Netflix & Shondaland Following Work-In-Progress SXSW Debut
Netflix and Shondaland have snapped up worldwide rights to Black Barbie: A Documentary, a new film from Lagueria Davis that screened a previous cut, to critical acclaim, at this year’s SXSW Film Festival.
Pic is exec produced by Shonda Rhimes and Betsy Beers as part of their overall deal with Netflix, which was extended in 2021, following the Bridgerton duo’s initial signing with the streamer in 2017. It arrives at a time when the doll made world famous by Mattel has taken on a new level of cultural cachet, thanks to Greta Gerwig’s fantasy comedy Barbie, which has grossed over $1.43B worldwide since its July 21st release by Warner Bros, coming in as the highest-grossing film of 2023, as well as the top grosser in the history of the studio, and for a solo female director.
While resonating with the themes of that film written by Gerwig and Noah Baumbach,...
Pic is exec produced by Shonda Rhimes and Betsy Beers as part of their overall deal with Netflix, which was extended in 2021, following the Bridgerton duo’s initial signing with the streamer in 2017. It arrives at a time when the doll made world famous by Mattel has taken on a new level of cultural cachet, thanks to Greta Gerwig’s fantasy comedy Barbie, which has grossed over $1.43B worldwide since its July 21st release by Warner Bros, coming in as the highest-grossing film of 2023, as well as the top grosser in the history of the studio, and for a solo female director.
While resonating with the themes of that film written by Gerwig and Noah Baumbach,...
- 10/10/2023
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
“I hate dolls,” writer-director Lagueria Davis states early in her debut documentary “Black Barbie.” By turns a celebration and an interrogation (sometime both simultaneously), the film delves into the history of the titular Black doll Mattel released in 1980. That was 31 years after the first Barbie began her rise to becoming the most iconic, uncomfortably influential, doll in American history. Davis makes a jam-packed argument that the road to Barbie diversity and inclusion has been long and marked by detours, intersections and, maybe a dead end or two. Davis’ first-person, inflected journey — often witty, often weighty — will lead her to a reconsideration of her antipathy (which she attributed to being a tomboy). Her reason for this rethink is personal — and adorable.
In 1953, Legueria’s aunt Beulah Mae Mitchell made her way from Forth Worth, Texas, to Los Angeles. She landed a job at Mattel in 1955. She left in 1999. Archival photos of...
In 1953, Legueria’s aunt Beulah Mae Mitchell made her way from Forth Worth, Texas, to Los Angeles. She landed a job at Mattel in 1955. She left in 1999. Archival photos of...
- 5/1/2023
- by Lisa Kennedy
- Variety Film + TV
It is part of American lore on race and progress: In the 1940s, Kenneth and Mamie Clark set out to study the psychological effects of segregation on Black children. The psychologists conducted a series of experiments famously called the “doll test,” in which they asked hundreds of children, between the ages of 3 and 7, about dolls of different colors. The most well-known and damning revelations from the test — which played a major role in the Supreme Court ruling on Brown v. Board of Education — came from the responses to the question of preference. After identifying the Black dolls as bad and the white ones as good, most of the Black children said they preferred the white dolls to the Black ones.
Director Lagueria Davis repeatedly references the doll test and its results in her energetic and informative, if uneven, documentary Black Barbie: A Documentary. The experiment anchors her film, which explores...
Director Lagueria Davis repeatedly references the doll test and its results in her energetic and informative, if uneven, documentary Black Barbie: A Documentary. The experiment anchors her film, which explores...
- 3/16/2023
- by Lovia Gyarkye
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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