Best Easter eggs in the Barbie movie
Warner Bros.Barbie is a movie about a real life product, so obviously there are a ton of Easter egg references. Here are some of the best that we spotted.
Wrapped in plastic, she’s fantastic, and her movie always seemed like it was going to be fantastic as well. Barbie, the upcoming film by Greta Gerwig, is looking to be one of the most highly anticipated movies of the year.
Starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, the film follows the titular doll as she embarks on a journey to the real world, exploring the Mattel company and the concept of girlhood along the way. And Ken is also there.
With a product-heavy feature film like this one, obviously there are a ton of Easter eggs throughout the movie. So here are some of the best references that we spotted, but first: SPOILER WARNING FOR BARBIE AHEAD!
The many Barbies
Many of the major Barbie Easter eggs are of course, the Barbies themselves. Not only does every Barbie character actually exist as a doll, the movie – and the credits – features a ton of Barbies that were discontinued for multiple reasons. This includes Growing Up Skipper (the Barbie whose chest grows), Midge (the pregnant Barbie), and Barbie Video Girl (the Barbie with a camera and TV installed in her).
Furthermore, a ton of outfits that Barbie wears in the film are actual clothes that you can buy for your Barbie dolls, including the incredible gold jumpsuit that she wears for the disco scene.
The many Kens
Like Barbie, the sheer amount of Kens themselves are an Easter egg. While some expected Ken to be a take on Magic Earring Ken after the first image of him was released, turns out there’s an actual Magic Earring Ken in the movie, which has become infamous because of his necklace (if you know, you know).
There’s also Sugar Daddy Ken, which is a Ken that is the owner of a dog named Sugar, though obviously the name was taken another way. Plus there’s Allan of course, who while not a Ken, is “Ken’s Buddy,” and he too was discontinued.
Like Barbie, the Ken doll’s iconic clothing pieces, such as one of his fur coats, is also referenced clearly in the movie.
The 2001: A Space Odyssey reference
This Easter egg came to prominence during the first teaser trailer for Barbie, but it’s also the first scene of the movie. We see a bunch of little girls playing with baby dolls, until a giant Barbie appears, similar to the monolith. It’s obvious that this is what the movie is referencing, what with the setting and music.
The Matrix blue and red Easter egg
Another movie reference that Barbie makes is for The Matrix. Before Barbie goes on her journey to the real world, Weird Barbie (yes, that’s her name) offers her two options: One is the high heel, which will allow Barbie to continue as if everything is normal, and the other is the Birkenstock, which will show her “The Truth.” This is obviously a reference to the blue pill and red pill scene from the sci-fi franchise.
Gloria created Weird Barbie
You may think that when Gloria mentions “I had a Weird Barbie” to her daughter, she’s referring to another Weird Barbie, but nope, it’s the one played by Kate McKinnon. This makes sense, as she lives in the same land as Margot Robbie’s Barbie, who was also played with by Gloria.
There is actually a flashback to the creation of Weird Barbie, which happens when the dolls are played with “too hard.” We see a young girl kick the doll, draw on it, burn its hair, just to name a few of the tortures this Barbie is put through. And you can see scrabble letters in the corner of this girl’s room, spelling out Gloria. Hence, this little girl is Gloria, and her Weird Barbie is the character we know and love.
The potential Bratz Easter egg
We’ve already discussed this in a previous article, but one scene in the movie has Barbie interact with four teenage girls, who upset Barbie by dismissively saying, “We haven’t played with Barbie since we were like five years old.”
Some believe the girls look just like the Bratz, that being Sasha, Yasmin, Cloe, and Jade. They don’t just look similar; the comment on not playing with Barbie after being five does make sense, as Bratz were often seen as the “cooler, more grown-up dolls” that girls would play with until they began hitting puberty. One of the girls is even named Sasha, and she ends up actually being a main character.
Will Ferrell’s casting
Will Ferrell plays the CEO of Mattel in the Barbie movie, and he does a great comedic job in the role. However, there could be more to his casting.
You may remember his role as Buddy in hit Christmas film Elf, in which he travels from a perfect magical land to a major city, and despite not fitting into either world particularly well, through courage and heart he goes up against self-doubt and corporate stooges. Sound familiar? In this case, his casting could be a meta call-back to Elf.
Barbie’s in the Bible
It’s been discussed in length by Greta Gerwig how Barbie is somewhat of a biblical story. Rather, it’s an inversion of the creation myth, since Barbie was created first, then Ken as an extension of her. She’s made as the “perfect woman,” given her own paradise, literally floats through the air and walks across the water of her pool, and she must ultimately go on a journey to reclaim her lost faith. Even the Birkenstocks that Barbie must wear to discover “The Truth” are similar to a sandal that Jesus would wear. Talk about a literal Easter egg.
Gerwig has also pointed out that a moment in the film where Barbie creator Ruth Handler touches Barbie’s hand, it’s very similar to Michelangelo’s The Creation of Adam: “It’s on the same trajectory and angle as the Sistine Chapel,” the director stated to Time. “Nobody is going to notice that so I have to say it.”
In this moment, Handler even states, “Humans only have one ending. Ideas live forever.” This could be a reference to religion, or commodification – or quite possibly both.
The footage of Girlhood
In the climax of the movie, once Barbie has almost completed her journey of self-discovery, she is given visions of multiple girls and women in a beautiful home-footage montage, that manages to encompass the entire heart of the film’s themes.
Well, turns out that this isn’t random stock footage, but actual recordings of the cast and crew’s friends and family. Greta Gerwig admitted to Time that she even included images that star Margot Robbie had filmed herself on a Super 8 over the years: “It’s like sneaking in humanity to something that everybody thinks is a hunk of plastic.”
The Barbie movie is in cinemas worldwide now. Check out our other coverage below:
- Barbie Movie review: She’s everything, and so is Ken
- Barbie ending explained: Does Barbie become human?
- Barbie 2: Everything we know so far
- Does Barbie have a post-credits scene?
- Barbie reviews: First reactions praise “cinematic triumph”
- Is the new Barbie movie for kids?
- Barbie has a Snyder Cut joke and fans are already angry
- Barbie movie soundtrack: All songs, artists, & more
- Barbie banned in Vietnam over infamous “nine dash line”
- The 33 movies that inspired Barbie
- Barbie movie cast: All actors and characters