Barbie enthusiasts have flocked to theaters nationwide, donning vibrant attire to commemorate the release of Margot Robbie’s new film, directed by Greta Gerwig. The feminist romp, projected to earn $100 million at the box office, debuts today in the UK and US, attracting a multitude of eager fans and receiving rave reviews from critics. Despite its lighthearted nature, this summer’s funniest film is a stark contrast to the doll’s origins, which were plagued by tragedy and darkness.
Before Margot Robbie became the embodiment of Barbie, the iconic doll captivated the imaginations of millions of children worldwide. Created in a Los Angeles garage almost seventy years ago, the brand has sold over a billion dolls, with Barbie representing the Western ideal of beauty: a blonde bombshell with an impossibly narrow waist and a bust that, if found on a real woman, would defy gravity. Businesswoman Ruth Handler invented the doll in 1964 and named it after her daughter, Barbara, who was commonly referred to as Barbie. She enlisted the help of local toymaker Jack Ryan, who would later marry Zsa Zsa Gabor.
Of course, Barbie has garnered immense wealth for its creator, the American corporation Mattel. However, behind Barbie’s wholesome image lie a series of scandalous details about Mattel, which surfaced in Jerry Oppenheimer’s 2009 book, “Toy Monster: The Big, Bad World of Mattel.” Ruth and Elliott Handler, the couple who introduced the Barbie doll in 1959, are pictured holding Barbie and Ken dolls that were named after their children, Barbara and Kenneth. Ryan, who was married five times, including to Zsa Zsa Gabor, led a life filled with parties, prostitutes, and cocaine, eventually succumbing to suicide. Kenneth Handler, the inspiration for Ken, contracted HIV from a homosexual relationship and passed away at 50 in 1994. Ruth Handler, frequently at odds with her co-creator, was ultimately fired from Mattel due to accusations of falsifying invoices, bills, and customer signatures. In 1978, she pled no contest to charges of fraud and false reporting to the Securities and Exchange Commission, resulting in a sentence of 2,500 hours of community service and a $57,000 fine.
However, long before these troubles, Barbie’s story began during Ruth’s European vacation. In 1945, the ambitious 39-year-old daughter of Polish immigrants, Ruth Handler, founded a toy company in California with her husband, Elliot, and family friend Harold “Matt” Matson. They named their company Mattel by combining the names of the two men. Ruth Handler was ultimately fired from Mattel due to accusations of falsifying invoices, bills, and customer signatures. However, the peaceful Matson did not last long alongside the driven Handler, and by 1955, he was replaced by Ryan, a former weapons designer standing barely 5ft 8in tall with fiery red hair and a prominent nose. The Handlers, always cautious with their finances, opted not to offer Ryan a salary but instead granted him 1.5% of Mattel’s gross sales. This decision would eventually prove regrettable, as within three years, Ryan was making over £750,000 annually due to the company’s success and the introduction of Barbie.
The credit for Barbie’s conception is a subject of dispute between Handler and Ryan. Handler claims that Barbie was her idea, inspired by watching her daughter play with paper dolls dressed in various outfits. Ryan, however, maintains that he contributed the concept of creating a doll that did not possess an unrealistic figure but instead reflected reality. Whatever the truth may be, Handler encountered the Bild-Lilli doll during her European trip and saw it as a prototype for Barbie. She brought it back for Ryan to develop. Ryan, responsible for the doll’s flexible movements, determined her size, and patented these inventions himself as an “independent consultant.”
As anticipation builds for the new Barbie movie, a global epidemic of Barbie fever has emerged. This iconic doll has experienced a rich history leading up to her anticipated 2023 revamp. Ann, who shared her father Jack’s original patent for the famous doll, filed in 1959, sent an email to Mattel’s CEO, attaching a photo of her father’s detailed Barbie drawings in hopes of gaining their attention. In 1959, Mattel was poised to launch Barbie, although Handler and Ryan were quarreling over who deserved credit for naming the doll. Handler claimed it was named after her daughter, Barbara, while Ryan asserted it was named after his first wife, also named Barbara. According to former Mattel marketing executive Marvin Barab, both Handler and Ryan possessed enormous egos, but Handler’s was more manageable. He recounts their obnoxiousness but acknowledges their significant accomplishments.
Despite the internal conflicts at Mattel, to the public, the company was a tremendous success, especially following the debut of Barbie. By spring 1960, Mattel struggled to keep up with overwhelming demand, leading shopkeepers to impose limitations on sales. The Japanese factory produced 100,000 dolls per week but could not satisfy orders. Barbie fan clubs were established, and one Hollywood columnist reported the doll receiving more fan mail than Elizabeth Taylor and Audrey Hepburn combined. As Ryan’s bank account filled with hefty royalty checks, his insatiable appetite for sexual indulgence, including orgies, consumed him. In 1965, he purchased a faux Tudor mansion in Bel Air, known as “The Castle.” Decked out with four acres of land, a moat with a wooden bridge, mock battlements, grand fireplaces, and imposing arches guarded by suits of armor, it became a Hollywood notable. Ryan, who tragically ended his life in 1991 at the age of 65, married five times and engaged in unconventional swinging activities, hosting orgies at his castle home.
Fearful of disconnecting from his business, Ryan installed 144 telephones throughout the house and its grounds, even placing some in trees programmed to mimic birds chirping instead of ringing. The Castle became Barbie’s residence, and Ryan filled it with life-size Barbie equivalents. Every Thursday, dozens of guests dined at the castle while Ryan presided over the event from a throne once owned by the Prince of Parma in Italy. Each week, a different woman accompanied him, despite his marital status. His wife and two daughters were confined to the “Personal Quarters” in the castle and never participated in the bacchanalian orgies he increasingly hosted. During the early 1970s, he hosted 182 parties in a single year, hiring publicists to promote them. These events featured jugglers, fortune-tellers, acrobats, and dancers, but their primary purpose was a sexual free-for-all that strained his marriage and led to his wife demanding a divorce.
Unsurprisingly, Handler herself was not without faults. As Ryan relentlessly partied, Handler drastically reduced his royalties, prompting him to sue Mattel for millions. The Barbie wars persisted, taking a toll on Handler. In 1970, she was diagnosed with breast cancer… [remaining content not provided]
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