Barbie has been through a lot over the years since her debut in 1959. Anything you can imagine, she’s likely gone through it. She’s had an illustrious resume with over 200 careers in her job history, she’s been the number one fashion doll of the world, and she’s drawn concerns and criticism of her unrealistic body proportions being a negative influence to young girls. It’s all encapsulated in the tagline for her upcoming first-ever live-action film, Barbie, directed by Greta Gerwig: “She’s everything.”
The film, starring Margot Robbie as the titular character, introduces us to many, many different versions of Barbie: from President Barbie, Doctor Barbie, Nobel-Prize Winning Barbie, and more, all cohabiting together in the beautiful Barbieland. All the Barbies live close to one another and spend their time together at giant parties, dancing to elaborately planned choreographies, and playing on the beach.
Ken, played by Ryan Gosling, and other variations of Ken, also get to join in. Although, apart from physical and fashion features, there is less distinction of what sets them apart. After all, Ken has no money, no job, no car, no house. He exists to be with Barbie.
With so many Barbies and Kens around, it can be nothing short of fun. But at the same time, it also makes it easy to overlook the dolls who aren’t Barbies or Kens. Let’s get to know some of Barbie’s most notable friends and family who help to make Barbie’s day the best day ever, forever.
Midge
As Mattel fleshed out the details of Barbie’s life to solidify the brand, in 1963, Midge was the first of Barbie’s friends introduced by Mattel and brought onto toy shelves. While she came with the same body proportions as Barbie (so they can share clothes, naturally) her face design was a more homely image with her rounder cheeks, red hair and freckles, some think as a counter to the parental criticism of Barbie’s status as a sex symbol.
From Midge’s fictional biography, Midge Hadley grew up with Barbie in Willows Wisconsin and they’ve known each other “since they were in matching cribs”. In 1991, Barbie was Midge’s maid-of-honor at her wedding to Alan, Ken’s best friend.
Not dissimilar to Barbie, Midge came with her own set of controversies. In 2002, as part of Mattel’s Happy Family Line, “Midge and Baby” dolls came onto toy shelves. Midge came with a detachable magnet baby bump with a removable baby inside. Mattel thought this to be “a wonderful prop for parents to use with their children to role-play family situations.” Instead, the wider public saw this messaging as Mattel promoting teen pregnancy, and the outcry led to its removal from the shelves of Walmart.
Midge makes a comeback a decade later in the Barbie: Life in the Dreamhouse animated series, this time without the confines of any domestic expectations. There is an episode dedicated to her return to Barbie’s life— Midge is a doll out of her time, without color and articulation of the new world. She decides to visit Barbie in Malibu, where she’s given a makeover to get her looking “from flashback to fabulous”, which leads to her decision to stay in Malibu. Throughout the series, she’s a cautious doll, gets easily distracted and motion sick, and enjoys macramé.
Emerald Fennell plays Midge in the live-action movie. And notably, she’s pregnant.
Allan (or Alan?)
Allan Sherwood was introduced in 1964, three years after Ken’s 1961 debut. Allan was advertised as “Ken’s buddy,” who could share all of Ken’s clothes. He was also promoted as Midge’s boyfriend, perhaps to stop Midge from third-wheeling all of Barbie and Ken’s dates? Now, the couple could go on double dates with Barbie and Ken.
His subsequent doll releases were paired with Midge, including in the “Wedding Day Midge” set in 1991. When Allan came back onto shelves, he was renamed “Alan”. It’s largely presumed that Allan is the same character because this wedding set was marketed with Midge marrying her lifelong love. Signs point that Alan is not Nega-Allan; there’s only one Allan, after all.
In 2002, an updated version of the “Midge and Baby” doll was released after the controversy, with a cardboard cutout of Alan and their toddler, Ryan, packaged with the Midge doll (Alan and Ryan were sold separately with cardboard cutouts of Midge and the baby – it was wacky!).
The Happy Family Line also came with a talking smart house: a dollhouse built in with speakers when toy appliances were used, and the dollhouse speaks to track where family members are placed at any time. And yes, it is funny that Alan has a house, while Ken doesn’t.
Michael Cera plays Allan in the live-action movie. When we got our first look at Cera as Allan in the first Barbie trailer, the Allan page on Fandom’s Barbie Wiki immediately became the most-viewed page. Everyone is curious to learn more about this lesser-known character from Barbie lore.
Skipper
Barbie’s younger sister, Skipper Roberts, was the first of Barbie’s family members to be introduced to us by Mattel. Skipper was created, again, as a method to assuage the concerns that Barbie was too sexy and independent. It was thought that Barbie taking on an older sister role would be the best of both worlds, keeping her grounded but, at the same time, keeping her youthful because it didn’t feel right for her to have kids.
Skipper’s appearances throughout the years have been more consistent than Midge and Allan/Alan, though Skipper came with her own sets of controversies (this seems to be a common thread for dolls in Barbieland). 1975 saw the Growing Up Skipper version of Skipper, who can grow almost an inch taller and grow a larger chest when you swivelled her left arm around, which raised some eyebrows.
Nowadays, Skipper is everything you would expect of a teenage girl living in Barbieland: she loves to DJ, is highly tech-savvy, and spends time with her sisters. Unlike Barbie, she has brown hair with a colourful streak, usually purple.
From the Architectural Digest tour of Barbie’s Dreamhouse, we learned that Skipper does appear in the film. Initially, the casting of Emma Mackey in Barbie led to speculation that she would be playing the role of Skipper, given how closely Mackey resembles Robbie, but this has since been debunked as she was referred to by Robbie as “Barbie-Emma” in the Architectural Digest video. In Barbieland, Skipper lives in a treehouse across from Barbie’s. (It’s also given a heritage plaque by the Barbie Department of Interior!)
Stacie and Chelsea
The Barbie movie doesn’t seem to have any mention or appearance from Stacie and Chelsea. They would likely be upset to be left out, given they are Barbie’s other sisters. Amusingly, both dolls were initially named Kelly in their respective original introductions, only to be renamed later. Stacie was introduced as Kelly in 1990 and renamed in 1992, and Chelsea debuted as Kelly in 1995 and was renamed in 2011. Mattel keeps Kelly as Chelsea’s middle name, though.
Stacie is Barbie’s pre-teen sister. She is adventure-loving, sporty, and very competitive. Chelsea is Barbie’s youngest sister. Chelsea is curious, fun-loving, and can pick up skills quickly. They often bicker and fight with one another, but like all sisters, they love each other deep down.
The sisters also share a close relationship with Ken. In Barbie: Life in the Dreamhouse, they help Barbie pick out a gift for him for Barbie and Ken’s anniversary and distract Ken to keep him surprised. Ken also has great affection for Barbie’s sisters, as he is always happy to lend a hand whenever they get into trouble.
Teresa and Nikki
Given Midge tended to come and go, there were roles to fill as Barbie’s best friend. Enter Teresa Rivera, introduced in 1988, and Nikki O’Neill, introduced in 2005, two close friends of Barbie’s who are especially prominent across the animated incarnations of the franchise. The two often hang out with Barbie at the Dreamhouse and once fought for the top spot as Barbie’s BFF (In the end, they both won).
Teresa was the the first of Barbie’s friends to be in one of Barbie’s animated movies, Barbie & the Diamond Castle. In Barbie: Life in the Dreamhouse, Teresa loves gossip magazines and conspiracies. She can be a bit aloof, but you can always count on her to be there for you, though maybe not on time.
Barbie’s friend Nikki has been candid about her experiences being Black and Barbie invited Nikki to her vlog amid the Black Lives Matter movement, where Nikki explained white privilege and called for audiences to stand with protestors against racism, as seen above. In Barbie: Life in the Dreamhouse, Nikki is bold, always keeps up with trends, and can sing opera.
Unfortunately, these two pals of Barbie aren’t in the movie either, but hey, there’s always a sequel!