‘Barbie’ Trailer Encourages Kids to Touch a Toyetic Monolith
Margot Robbie channels the original Barbie. | Source: Warner Bros.

It’s finally here — the first teaser trailer for a major motion picture from Mattel Films has arrived.

Warner Bros. surprised audiences last night by attaching the teaser trailer for the Barbie movie from filmmaker Greta Gerwig to prints of Avatar: The Way of Water. The short clip instantly set Twitter ablaze in a flurry of activity commenting on the Barbie-fied version of Los Angeles (check out the pink LAX control tower) and its decade-hopping visuals. Watch it below.

Cinephiles will note that this trailer plays heavily on a scene from Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) in which apes are encouraged to “touch the monolith” to signal evolution. In this case, the “monolith” is Margot Robbie as Barbie and a crew of little girls smashes their traditional baby dolls in favor of Barbie’s promise that “you can be anything.”

Related: Stay on the Pulse of Play with ‘The BIG Toy Book’ in 2023

Shout out to Ryan Gosling and Simu Liu for representing versions of Ken in the trailer.

Barbie will inspire a new line of toys and will hit theaters on July 21, 2023.

About the author

James Zahn

James Zahn

James Zahn, AKA The Rock Father, is Editor-in-Chief of The Toy Book, a Senior Editor at The Toy Insider and The Pop Insider, and Editor of The Toy Report, The Toy Book‘s weekly industry newsletter. As a pop culture and toy industry expert, Zahn has appeared as a panelist and guest at events including Comic-Con International: San Diego (SDCC) Wizard World Chicago, and the ASTRA Marketplace & Academy. Zahn has more than 30 years of experience in the entertainment, retail, and publishing industries, and is frequently called upon to offer expert commentary for publications such as Forbes, Marketwatch, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, USA Today, Reuters, the Washington Post, and more. James has appeared on History Channel’s Modern Marvels, was interviewed by Larry King and Anderson Cooper, and has been seen on Yahoo! Finance, CNN, CNBC, FOX Business, NBC, ABC, CBS, WGN, The CW, and more. Zahn joined the Adventure Media & Events family in 2016, initially serving as a member of the Parent Advisory Board after penning articles for the Netflix Stream Team, Fandango Family, PBS KIDS, Sprout Parents (now Universal Kids), PopSugar, and Chicago Parent. He eventually joined the company full time as a Senior Editor and moved up the ranks to Deputy Editor and Editor-in-Chief.

archivearrow-chevron-downarrow-chevron-left-greyarrow-chevron-leftarrow-chevron-rightarrow-fatarrow-left-blackarrow-left-whitearrow-right-blackarrow-rightarrow-roundedbookscalendarcaret-downclose-whiteclosedocumenteditorial-archiveeyefacebook-squarefacebookfilesgifthamburgerheadinghearthomeinstagram-squareinstagramlatestlinkedin-squarelinkedinmailmedia-inquiresmessagenewsopen-boxpagination-leftpagination-rightpauseplayprintproduct-archiverecent-productssearchsharesort-filterspotifysunteamtiktoktime_purpletimetrendingtvtwitter-squaretwitteryoutube