‘Barbie’ trailers are full of Easter eggs, from ‘Wizard of Oz’ nods to a tribute to Barbie’s inventor
Image source: YouTube user Warner Bros.
“Barbie” is shaping up to be the sexiest movie of the summer. The full trailer was released on May 25 and has already given the internet a number of instantly iconic moments to admire, from Barbie’s (Margot Robbie) “Matrix” choice between a high heel and a Birkenstock to Ken (Ryan Gosling) ‘s exuberant mug shot. It all adds hype to the already highly anticipated film.
But the new trailer also features some less visible Easter eggs, which show just how much attention the film’s creative team – which includes acclaimed filmmaking duo Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach – paid to the details.
“Barbie” Easter Egg: Ruth and Barbara Handler
Near the end of the film’s premiere, Barbie meets an old woman who tells her, “Humans come to an end. Ideas live forever.” As TikToker Kirbie Johnson explained in a May 25 post, the old woman is Barbara Handler, who actually inspired the first Barbie when she was just a young girl. Barbara’s mother, Ruth Handler, invented the original Barbie doll in 1959, according to The New York Times, and named her creation after her daughter. Today, Barbara is 82, but her feature in the “Barbie” trailer is a moving tribute to the doll’s origins.
“Barbie” Easter egg: “The Wizard of Oz”
The second teaser for “Barbie,” released on April 10, also features other pop culture references and symbols. Many fans were quick to notice that the clip was full of “Wizard of Oz” references: movie posters of characters from the 1939 film appear frequently in the background, and the film even plays in the background of an image. . At one point, Robbie also wears a plaid dress reminiscent of Dorothy’s classic blue dress.
Viewers also deduced that the plot of “Barbie” might take notes from “The Wizard of Oz.” We already know that the story involves Barbie (and Ken) leaving Barbie Land for the real world. If “Barbie” finds its protagonist finally meeting the creator of Barbie Land – or perhaps the company’s CEO – then it’s easy to see how her disillusionment with that character could mirror Dorothy’s same disappointment when she learned who the wizard really was.
“Barbie” Easter Egg: “2001: A Space Odyssey”
The first teaser for “Barbie,” released on December 16, 2022, also directly references another classic film. This teaser parodies the opening of Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 film “2001: A Space Odyssey”, except that instead of featuring monkeys in front of a black monolith like the first images of “2001” do, the trailer for “Barbie” sees Barbie stepping out onto an arid landscape as young girls look on.
“2001: A Space Odyssey” is famous for its existence and allegory, but it essentially tells a very impressionistic story about the origins of mankind and the extraterrestrial forces that, in the film, appear to have driven humans towards consciousness. While Kubrick always resisted definitive analyzes of his science fiction epic, in 1972 he told Rolling Stone that “at the deepest psychological level, the film’s plot symbolizes the search for God, and it ultimately posits which is little less than a scientific definition of God”. .”
While it doesn’t immediately align with what we know of “Barbie,” who has been celebrated for the fashion trend she’s inspired so far, Gerwig recently introduced religious themes into a May conversation with vogue. “Ken was invented after Barbie, to elevate Barbie’s position in our eyes and in the world,” Gerwig said. “This kind of creation myth is the opposite of the creation myth in Genesis.”
Could “Barbie” be an attempt to reflect or rewrite Kubrick’s thoughts on the origins of mankind, perhaps through a feminist lens? Or maybe a combination of “2001: A Space Odyssey” and “The Matrix”, proposing that we all run on pre-programmed ideas of how to live until we become aware of them and we leave them behind. Or maybe it’ll parody all those movies with Barbie finding herself back where she started, just happier to be one of many Barbies. Anything is possible at this stage!
Of course, we won’t really know what the much-loved “Barbie” storyline has in store for us until the film premieres on July 21. Until then, though, fans are definitely free to overscan the trailers, dress in Barbiecore fashion, go bespoke. Post selfies and smash all the artists from the “Barbie” soundtrack as they please.
