tonight -- >> hi, barbie! >> hi, ken! >> hi, barbie! >> juju: it's barbie's world. the global icon coming to life on the big screen. >> we wanted to treat this like the giant summer blockbuster

than it is. that means having a budget that a giant summer blockbuster would have. >> juju: with blockbuster-worthy abs and eye candy to match. >> all the kens, we were "kenning" as hard as we could. >> juju: pink is the moment. how the new film addressing barbie's controversial past? >> no one wants to be tokenized in that world. stepping on that set, that was part of the beauty, there was so much representation, so much of everyone. ♪ the clothes and figure look so neat ♪ >> a look back at barbie over 60 years, from then to now. >> i'm a young, brown daughter of immigrants. and something had shifted enough where there's now space for somebody like me in that story. >> big, bold, and not shying away from social issues. and margot robbie making all the right fashion moves on the red carpet. recreating those classic barbie

doll looks on her world press tour, kicking barbie-mania into speed drive. this special edition of "nightline," "barbie: life in plastic" will be right back. no wonder it's the number one dry cat food in america. come home to cat chow. when you find your reason to go on, let it pull you past the doubt. past the pain, and past your limits. no matter what, we go on. biofreeze

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now with the film's opening today, most definitely a cultural moment. sparking a wave of hype for a movie not seen in years. deborah roberts goes behind the scenes with the all-star cast and director now introducing barbie to a whole new generation. >> i wasn't really a barbie girl. >> you didn't think you would be barbie in the beginning? >> no, not necessarily. ♪ >> hi, barbie! >> hi, ken! >> hi, barbie! >> hi, barbie! >> hi, barbie! >> reporter: margot robbie is barbie. most famous for her iconic role in "i, tonya," embodying the timeless doll in what might be the blockbuster of the summer. and stepping out of the box like never before. are you pleased you stepped into those kitten heels? >> i am. i had the best time making this movie. >> reporter: hollywood heartthrob ryan gosling of "la

la land" fame also going plastic fantastic as the hunky ken. was it a concerted effort to get in shape for the film? >> there was a -- yes, we were -- all the kens, we were "kenning" as hard as we could. >> reporter: the film even before its release generating true barbie mania, from barbie core fashion trends across the globe to this malibu barbie mansion on airbnb with die-hard fans trying to win a stay. #barbie gaining more than 52 billion views globally on tiktok. the youtube trailer watched more than 46 million times. fans already creating bedlam for barbie. you have now what is the most-anticipated film of the summer. >> thank you. >> nerve-racking? >> yes, yes. i'm so nervous. i'm extremely nervous. sweating all the time. >> reporter: with the more than

$145 million budget, no expense spared in bringing barbie's world to life. how tough was it to get this film made? >> we wanted to treat this like the giant summer blockbuster that it is. that means having a budget that a giant summer blockbuster would have. >> this was not just about making a movie. this was about creating a cultural event. but it's fair to say that the reaction, the anticipation, has been at the very high level. ♪ dance the night away ♪ >> reporter: a giant movie with a giant soundtrack to boot. dua lipa's "dance the night away" already trending on itunes. ♪ dance the night away ♪ >> reporter: with hopes of dancing their way into a mega-hit, barbie's cast of superstars took me inside their own special version of barbieland. so what i loved about the film is barbie could take a shower without getting too wet. >> without getting wet at all. no liquids, no dirt, no fire, no

liquids. >> they could cook, barbie could cook without causing a -- >> look at that. >> yeah, barbiedom. >> where else in the world can you do that? >> reporter: different types of barbies, plural, live in perfect harmony. >> how come you're so amazing? >> no comment. seriously, no comment. >> reporter: and the kens are desperate for their attention. ♪ watch me ♪ >> good, barbie. >> thank you, ken. ♪ >> reporter: the film's aesthetic, picture-perfect, drawing inspiration from palm springs and old-world hollywood musicals. >> i think what we ultimately kept coming back to is, what's going to be the most pleasurable version to look at? the hair and makeup. some things are more heightened, like the amount of hair. everyone's hair was incredibly voluminous, impossibly long, could change at a whim, the

magic of barbieland. >> reporter: when she leaves barbieland, things aren't as pink and perfect in the real world. >> wow, this is the real world. what's going on? why are these men looking at me? >> yeah, they're also staring at me. >> in the real world, she instantly is like, why? why would -- i didn't say you could touch me. you know? just right away, the reflex. >> as the movie starts off, barbieland is run by the barbies and the kens exist to support the barbies. >> accessorize barbie. >> yeah. and it's funny. >> and they love it. >> then they go to the real world and our barbies and kens have the realization everything's a little reversed. >> reporter: robby plays stereotypical barbie. issa rae, president barbie. kate mckinnon, weird barbie. >> hi, i'm weird barbie, i have a funky haircut, i smell like basement. >> oh my god, i had a weird barbie! >> we've all known those dolls where kids cut their hair, have

drawn on their faces. somehow they're in the corner with their clothes off. >> yes, yes. getting to wear a kooky outfit and kooky wigs and kooky stuff on my face, that's where i feel most at home and like myself. so it was just perfect. oh my god, i just loved every second of it. >> was it significant to you that this film was sort of one that was all about inclusivity and it's not just the stereotype of barbie? >> of course. i mean, i think the only hesitation was just like, where do i fit in this particular barbie world? what will the barbie world look like? no one wants to be tokenized in that world. but stepping onto that set, that was part of the beauty was that it was just so much representation, there was so much of everyone. >> i guess you're not ken because there are many kens. you're alan. so alan is? >> alan is just hoping not to be left behind. he wants to jump on with barbie's evolution.

the movie hopefully lets people reclaim what barbie means a little bit. and let it move forward. >> what i love about my character is, she's the stand-in for all of us. for us human women trying to figure out what it means to be a woman, real or imagined. >> reporter: america ferrera of "ugly betty" fame plays a human, a mattel employee, and mom of a jaded teen helping the doll navigate the real world. >> now, get in now! >> your character, gloria, is a classic mom of a teenage daughter who's trying to figure out that complex relationship. i've been there. suddenly your daughter doesn't want you near her, can't stand you. tell me a little bit about gloria. >> gloria is this grown woman who has managed to hold on to the value of play. and as women, that's not something we get to hold on to. so did getting to hold on to our professionalism, our seriousness, our depth, to me is

like a reclaiming of our wholeness. >> reporter: will ferrell taking on mattel's ceo. >> i'm a big fan of will ferrell, hilarious. he can get away with a lot more than i can. i can learn a lot from him on the comedy side. it was all part of the fun. and we embraced it. >> reporter: written and directed by academy award nominee greta gerwig, the film doesn't shy away from the barbie doll's sometimes controversial history. when you heard that there was a movie, that they wanted you to make a movie about barbie, who is really revered and reviled. what did you make of that? >> i honestly felt that all the things that made me terrified about it was also the stuff we had to run at. like, you know, barbie is a complicated icon. she's been around since 1959. and there's ways in which she's incredible and amazing and ahead of hare time, and then also, she's a completely unrealistic

body type that nobody could ever reach. >> you have this amazing scene where barbie goes to the real world and has this encounter with a young teen girl who just like rips her to shreds. we know as an audience that barbie has no idea that anyone in the real world felt differently -- >> doesn't love her. >> yeah. such a great scene. but it was such an important scene to have. you want to have the character who's voicing those things people have found problematic over the years. >> did you think about the whole thing differently because you have two girls? >> i did. because i knew that they were a part of their life. when i watch my kids play with barbies, they're not brushing their hair and dressing them up. they have names that aren't barbie, they have very complicated backstories. you know. lives, relationships. it's very involved. >> reporter: barbie's full life and backstory, a reflection of the very women who helped create it. what are you hoping that people will walk away from this film with?

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"nightline": barbie, life in plas plastic." here again, deborah roberts. >> reporter: in 1997, you couldn't escape aqua's "barbie girl." ♪ i'm a barbie girl in the barbie world ♪ ♪ i've been plastic fantastic ♪ >> reporter: now the bop is charting again alongside a new track with a twist. featuring nicki minaj and ice spice. ♪ i'm the barbie i'm a doll but i still want to party ♪ >> reporter: reminding us it's a barbie world and we're just living in it. ♪ i'm a barbie girl in the barbie world ♪ >> reporter: the doll that's been a household name since the '50s getting a hollywood makeover. >> part of the reason we wanted to make a barbie movie to begin with was, "a," she's so well known. it's such a globally recognized name. it's like, that and coca-cola have infiltrated every part of the world. >> reporter: from store shelves to her big-screen debut,

barbie's come a long way, starting as that iconic blond, thin-waisted doll who evolved with the times. the diverse group of barbies today didn't exist years ago. ♪ barbie small and so petite ♪ ♪ the clothes and figure look so neat ♪ >> reporter: debuting in 1959, barbie was created by ruth handler, the cofounder and first president of toy manufacturer mattel. she created barbie after seeing her own daughter, barbara, play with paper dolls. >> what is it about barbie that makes her so much fun? >> reporter: barbie became one of the best-selling toys of all-time. early on she fit a narrow mold of stereotypical caucasian beauty. literally white, blond, thin, and plastic, like malibu barbie. >> the new suntanned barbie! ♪ barbie's got a golden tan ♪

>> reporter: and '80s crystal barbie. >> crystal barbie, you're so beautiful. you'll shine at the dance. >> reporter: it took a decade for mattel to release its first black barbie, christie, appearing on shelves in 1969. >> i certainly remember when christie hit the scene. a black gal in barbie's universe. what did you know about barbie in the sense of diversity and the fact that this film, of course, addresses that? >> i wanted to pay homage. christie walked so i could run for president. there's that legacy of, there wouldn't be a black barbie without christie. >> reporter: the film's many new faces of barbie pushing the brand further into an era of inclusivity. >> everyone was barbie. that was an important evolution for the brand. i don't know how we would have made a movie if that evolution hadn't happened. >> i think that barbie has changed because we've changed. that's why the brand evolved. and i don't think that this

movie happens in this way until the cultural narrative has shifted. i'm a young, brown daughter of immigrants, short, grew up overweight and poor. i had no access to this narrative. and something had shifted enough where there's now space for somebody like me in that story. >> reporter: mattel now making space for everyone in barbie's story. partnering with brand ambassadors like model and actress laverne cox, who got to see her barbie come to life at mattel headquarters. >> now kids get to dream with a laverne cox barbie, the first transgender barbie. that is a beautiful space of dreaming and possibility. >> the brand has evolved over the years. and today represents the world through the eyes of children. different careers, different --

of course different body shapes, different hairstyles and skin tone and eye shade and everything that really is about representation. >> reporter: as for ken, the film takes a close look at what it means to be a man in today's world. >> but it's barbie and ken. there is no "just ken." ♪ i'm just ken ♪ ♪ where i see love she sees a friend ♪ >> reporter: gender roles questioned through the story of barbie's leading man. ♪ i'm always number two ♪ ♪ no one knows how hard i try ♪ >> reporter: ken wanting to break free from his role as second fiddle, but how? >> really leaning into the joke of ken was created as a further accessory in barbie's world, the way she has a dream house, she has this, she has all these material items, she also has a ken. barbie is going on a journey, ken is also going on a journey. they kind of reach an understanding at the end. i think barbie learnt that she

wasn't giving ken enough respect, and he needs to be his own -- >> ken accepts himself. >> reporter: fans now flocking to barbie, mattel raiding the toy box for the next big movie subject. was it tough working with mattel and taking such a cherished character and you going with it? >> well, you know, they have exhibited just amazing bravery. and i can't believe they let us do this. they were like, okay, we're going to have to get really comfortable being uncomfortable. and i was like, yes. i think this is the only way to do it. i think you kind of have to be willing to, you know, put it all out there and swing for the fences. because she does cause a lot of conversation. >> reporter: that big swing, a big risk they're hoping will pay off big-time at the box office. >> there is something about this world that is inviting

permission to joy, to expression, to fun. and to, like, letting the inside out and just celebrating more of ourselves. i really hope that the audiences take that away from it, the feeling of, like, it's okay to celebrate any and all of the things that we are. next on "nightline," the iconic barbie doll looks brought to life by one of hollywood's brightest stars. this: living with hiv, i learned i can stay undetectable with fewer medicines. that's why i switched to dovato. dovato is a complete hiv treatment for some adults. no other complete hiv pill uses fewer medicines to help keep you undetectable than dovato. detect this: most hiv pills contain 3 or 4 medicines. dovato is as effective with just 2. if you have hepatitis b, don't stop dovato without talking to your doctor. don't take dovato if you're allergic to its ingredients or taking dofetilide.

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let it pull you past the doubt. past the pain, and past your limits. no matter what, we go on. biofreeze

♪ "nightline," "barbie: live in plastic" continues.

>> reporter: while barbie is, of course, just a toy, she's also unquestionably a fashion icon. margot robbie channeling barbie's indisputable style leading up to the film's release. in mexico city, a nod to totally hair 25th anniversary barbie. enchanted evening barbie at the european premiere. in south korea, sparkling pink barbie. even in our interview -- >> pink looks good on everyone. >> reporter: paying homage to pink and fabulous barbie right down to the perfect yellow pu purse. >> byron: our thanks to deborah. that's "nightline." see you right back here same time monday. thanks for the company, america. have a good and safe weekend.