If you haven't had enough Barbie movies, there's one more film you might enjoy. The documentary Tiny Shoulders: Rethinking Barbie tells the behind-the-scenes story of Mattel's efforts to make Barbie more relevant after 50 years on toy shelves. It's interesting to hear personal stories of adult women (many now on staff at Mattel) who grew up with the "teenage fashion model" doll and its body image baggage. You'll appreciate the challenge Mattel designers had in reimagining the doll for modern sensibilities and also for the hard-to-please focus group girls.
The film has a bit of a "happy ending." Not included are reactions that snipe at Mattel's efforts as "OK but not enough."
Since the 2016 launch of the four new petite, curvy, tall, and regular body types for Barbie, Mattel has gone on to create more versions of Barbie with inclusive feature such as 35 skin tones, sculpted features, Down syndrome, wheelchairs, artificial limbs, vitiligo and more. Here's a reviewer's take with plenty of photos.
