Greta Gerwig wanted to live out her own pink-filled “Barbie” fantasy.
The writer-director behind the highly anticipated live-action film based on the Mattel dolls has detailed her vision behind the elaborate Barbie Dreamhouse in which the titular doll (Margot Robbie) lives. dolls to life has led to an international shortage of pink paint.
“Maintaining ‘boyhood’ was key,” Gerwig said Architectural digest. “I wanted the pinks to be very bright and everything to be almost too much.”
She added that the details were meant to capture what “made me love Barbie when I was a little girl.”
Production designer Sarah Greenwood revealed that the production led to a shortage of the fluorescent shade of Rosco paint. “The world has run out of pink,” Greenwood said. Greenwood previously told IndieWire that “pink became the thesis of the film” when designing the look of the ensemble film.
The inspiration for the Dreamhouse aesthetic ranged from “Pee-wee’s Big Adventure” to “An American in Paris”. The architecture of the house itself was rooted in the mid-century modernism found in Palm Springs. The set was built on the Warner Bros. Studios lot outside London and included a hand-painted background in lieu of CGI.
“We were literally creating the alternate universe of Barbie Land,” Gerwig told AD. “Everything had to be tactile, because toys are, above all, things you touch.”
The author of “Little Women” noted that “authentic artificiality” was key. “I wanted to capture what was so ridiculously funny about the Dreamhouses,” he said she. “Why go down the stairs when you can slide into your own pool? Why trudge up the stairs when you take an elevator that matches your dress? There are no walls or doors. Dream homes assume you never have anything you wish was private – there’s nowhere to hide.
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