Every Vehicle In Barbie Is Based On A Real Toy (Yes, Seriously)
It should come as no surprise to anyone at this point to hear that "Barbie" mastermind Greta Gerwig has a keen eye for detail. The movie's production design and costuming are already becoming the stuff of legend, immortalized by Architectural Digest videos and GQ rundowns of Ken's most prized possessions. But the depth of the production team's commitment to Barbie lore seems to know no bounds, and every day we notice yet another detail that makes Barbieland look like any toy-lover's dream come true.
Case in point: did you know that every vehicle (with one exception, we'll get to that) featured in the movie is based on an actual Mattel toy from the Barbie line? The montage of Barbie (Margot Robbie) and Ken (Ryan Gosling) journeying out of Barbieland and into the real world isn't just a practical filmmaking marvel, but also a chance to show off all sorts of Barbie toys you may or may not remember from growing up. It's nostalgia bait for longtime fans and brand promotion, sure, but isn't every Marvel Easter egg basically the same thing?
Rocketships and tandem bikes and Corvettes, oh my!
"Barbie" gets good use out of its intricate, brightly-colored travel montage sets, as several characters make the trek to and from the real world throughout the movie. The most prominent vehicle in the film's marketing campaign was the Barbie Convertible, which has been a staple in Barbie toy lines for decades. Barbie doesn't always drive the same car (I'm pretty sure the one I had as a kid was red, not pink), but the one on display in the movie is a classic: a late 1950s-style Chevy Corvette. This specific Corvette toy design is now available as a movie tie-in collectible, but Barbie's been repping Corvette since the '70s.
The rest of the travel montage features a boat, rocketship, tandem bicycle, camper, and snowmobile, all of which also come from real Barbie toy lines. The boat in the movie looks a bit like a speedboat, but these days Barbie boats tend to be Dream Houses of their own, complete with on-deck pools and waterslides. The rocket, meanwhile, has the old-fashioned missile look of early spacecrafts, a design that's shared by rocket ships that come in a few different rocket-themed playsets. In real-life toys, Chelsea dolls can fit inside the rockets, but it's funnier for the film to have Barbie perched on top and Ken flailing behind.
Barbie has sold cute tandem bicycles since at least the 1980s, though these days the set you'll most often find for sale once again features Chelsea (formerly known as Kelly), a character we didn't see in the movie, who is Barbie's little sister. Barbie has also been snowmobiling for decades, including as a part of the "I Can Be" series, which imagines her as a veterinarian in the Arctic. That set comes with a baby seal and polar bear, plus, naturally, a sparkly pink igloo.
The famous neon roller blades
Of all the travel montage set pieces, the Barbie camper probably comes closest to matching a modern, non-tie in toy design from Mattel. The current DreamCamper Playset has a hefty $100 price tag, but it's also huge and comes with more than 60 pieces, including camp chairs and snacks. It doesn't exactly match the VW van style of the film (though Mattel has sold plenty of those before, too), but still: if I were a kid, this would be my Barbie holy grail.
The trek to the real world ends with the most delightfully specific reference yet: to 1994's Hot Skatin' Barbie. Weirdly, this Barbie looks a lot more '80s than '90s, with a neon outfit complete with chunky, bright yellow skates. She also comes with a comically huge brush like the one we see in the movie, plus a pair of ice skates so she's ready for all-purpose weather. Now I'm wishing for a deleted "Barbie" scene of Ken ice skating, but I suppose I can settle for the knowledge that off-screen, Robbie is apparently an experienced rollerblader who even took the brakes off her own set of blades.
Kendom comes with a few changes
Speaking of Ken, once he takes over Barbieland to install a horse-themed patriarchy, the mode of transportation changes, but it's still on theme for Barbie. The toy line has definitely included horses before (horse girls need toys, too!), not to mention Western-influenced matching outfits like Horse Lovin' Barbie and Ken. Sadly, a movie tie-in version of Barbie featuring her pink cowgirl getup is currently sold out, but there are a whole bunch of Halloween costume versions for anyone who wants to keep the Barbenheimer spirit alive beyond the summer.
While the ambulance that appears in the movie calls to mind the Barbie Care Clinic Playset, there's one toy vehicle that doesn't look like a Barbie product: Ken's Jeep. Mattel has a hot pink beach cruiser, but Ken's car is more, well, stereotypically dude-ish. That's because it's a new addition he added to Barbieland when it became Kendom, one that plays into his newfound hyper-masculine sensibilities. In fact, Ken's vehicle looks a lot more like a Hot Wheels car — which makes sense, since that brand is owned by Mattel, too.