Secret reference hidden in Barbie movie

It appears there may be nothing Barbie followers love extra in regards to the hottest film of the yr – except for the pink, the forged, the vibes, and the pink – than recognizing its hidden references and delicate Easter eggs sprinkled all through.

Fans have been poring over each pink element of the highly-anticipated Greta Gerwig flick because the first trailer dropped, going right into a sizzling pink frenzy with each “genius” tid bit uncovered.

But because the movie’s record-breaking launch weekend, as soon as Barbies and Kens had an opportunity to absorb Barbieland’s full pastel glory, theories are swirling in regards to the extra delicate popular culture nods.

One specific concept speculates that the filmfeatures a delicate cameo by Barbie’s greatest rival: the Bratz dolls.

Fans have taken to social media to unpack their concept, honing in on the scene the place Barbie (Margot Robbie) travels to the true world and goes to a highschool whereas looking for the woman she believes is answerable for her existential disaster.

At the varsity, she comes throughout a teen named Sasha (Ariana Greenblatt) and her three associates who give the cowgirl-dressed Barbie a brutal actuality test about her problematic historical past in the true world.

“We haven’t played with Barbie since we were, like, five years old,” Sasha tells Barbie.

“You’ve been making women feel bad about themselves since you were invented.”

One TikTok consumer, Ivan Mars, posted a video saying it took him three journeys to the cinema to understand the group of teenagers bear an eerie resemblance to the unique 4 Bratz dolls named Yasmin, Sasha, Cloe, and Jade.

And although the three associates – performed by McKenna Roberts, Sasha Milstein, and Brylee Hsu – being unnamed “Junior High Friend” characters, their obvious ringleader Sasha shares not solely a reputation, however a nickname with certainly one of Barbie’s greatest rivals.

In the Barbie film, Sasha’s mom Gloria (performed by America Ferrera) calls the teenager “Bunny Boo”, which in keeping with TikTok customers and the Bratz fandom web page, is similar nickname because the Sasha Bratz doll.

TikTok customers had been overwhelmingly satisfied by the idea, with some saying they “knew it” all alongside, and others “can’t believe” others picked it up earlier than them.

“Both Bratz and Barbie were everything to me as a kid. It’s so cool seeing this little reference,” one consumer wrote.

“Bro I would have never in a million years thought of that,” one other consumer commented.

Someone else added to the idea, writing that the Sasha character’s clothes give away the Bratz reference.

“Sasha also didn’t get traditional Barbie clothes when they got to Barbieland it was more trendy like the Bratz dolls outfits,” they wrote.

Some urged that the quartet weren’t a reference to the Bratz however one other Mattel product: the My Scene women Madison, Chelsea, Delancey, and Nolee – which had been made to compete with Bratz.

But it hardly is sensible for a characterisation of certainly one of Mattel’s personal dolls – one which was made (however in the end failed) to compete with the massively widespread Bratz dolls – to name the unique Mattel doll a “fascist”.

It maybe makes extra sense that the dolls that overtook Barbie’s recognition simply years after launching and contributed to a long-running authorized feud between Mattel and MGA Enteratinment have a cameo because the too-cool teenagers that make Barbie cry.

Bratz had been created by ex-Mattel worker Carter Bryant and launched in 2001 as a cartoonish – all puffy lips, bug eyes, spidery limbs, and chunky toes – various to the greater than 40-years-old Barbie.

He offered the concept for the “Girls with a Passion for Fashion” to Mattel competitor MGA Entertainment two weeks earlier than he stop the Barbie guardian firm. It took three years for Bratz to overhaul Barbie in gross sales.

Then got here tit-for-tat authorized battles between the businesses. MGA reportedly struck first, suing Mattel in 2005 claiming their My Scene dolls had been copies of the Bratz picture.

In 2006, Mattel filed their very own go well with towards Bratz creator, Carter Bryant, alleging he was employed by Mattel when he developed the idea – which a federal jury dominated was true in 2008.

Then in 2010, the US Court of Appeals overturned Mattel’s copyright win – it claimed the Bratz was modelled after Barbie – saying dolls had been “unprotectable ideas”.

Barbie filmmakers haven’t commented on whether or not there’s a reference to Bratz dolls on the film however, actually, in a film stuffed with references to the lifetime of Barbie it solely is sensible for some cheeky reference to the dolls that gave Barbie a impolite awakening and dethroned her.

And, I imply, Sasha and the women being Bratz dolls does go some option to explaining the, dare we are saying, “bratty” teen perspective that she meets Barbie with.