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2023 Barbie Movie Production Design Secrets


Woman going down slide
Source: Jaap Buitendjik/Warner Bros

We’re highlighting our top production design secrets from the Barbie movie! Directed by Greta Gerwig, we follow Barbie as she leaves Barbie Land and sets off for the real world to discover herself and true happiness. Check out our top 5 production design secrets to reveal inspiration from Barbie’s dreamhouse & the icon herself.




Secret No. 1:

Barbie’s closet was inspired by Barbie’s box with transparent cellophane to see every aspect of the outfit and each accessory.

Pink closet
Source: Jaap Buitendjik/Warner Bros

Secret No. 2:

Production Designer Sarah Greenwood & Set Decorator Katie Spencer never owned a Barbie! The pair ordered a Dreamhouse from Amazon to study and ultimately designed Barbie’s dreamhouse with inspiration from “Palm Springs mid-century modernism.”

Pink house and slide
Source: Jaap Buitendjik/Warner Bros

Secret No. 3

The rooms in Barbie Land were made 23% smaller with lower ceilings. Gerwig explains, “The ceiling is actually quite close to one’s head, and it only takes a few paces to cross the room. It has the odd effect of making the actors seem big in the space but small overall.”

Pink living room
Source: Jaap Buitendjik/Warner Bros

Secret No. 4

The set required so much pink that it led to a global shortage. Roscoe, a paint company, confirmed that the large amounts required for set (amongst a couple other complications), led to a national pink shortage.

3 pink houses
Source: Jaap Buitendjik/Warner Bros

Secret No. 5

Barbie Land was designed in miniature and then replicated to the scale referenced in secret no. 3. The backdrop on the Barbie Land soundstage was hand-painted rather than using CGI!

Pink bedroom
Source: Jaap Buitendjik/Warner Bros



The Barbie movie premieres on July 21st. Keep an eye out to see what other design secrets you see! In the meantime, keep obsessively watching the trailer like us!






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