Netflix has released the trailer for their upcoming “Black Barbie” documentary, centering on the creation of the first Black Mattel doll.
The Shonda Rhimes-produced film centers on three Black women who revolutionized the doll brand in 1980, creating the first-ever Black Barbie.
The film is also produced, written and directed by Lagueria Davis, the great-niece of Beulah Mae Mitchell, the Black employee who sparked Mitchell’s diversity mission. In the 1960s, Mitchell’s great aunt, who worked for Mattel, asked the company’s co-founder Ruth Handler, “Why don’t we make a Barbie that looks like me?”
The question would change the landscape forever and Mattel eventually got to work and quickly manifested the groundbreaking creation.
Initially Mattel’s Black doll was introduced as a “friend” of Barbie instead of a variation of the iconic toy. In 1980 Black Barbie was allowed to stand on her own. The documentary underscores the importance of representation in the toy industry and the extreme lack of diversity in the mainstream.
“More than just a doll. Black Barbie celebrates the momentous impact three Black women at Mattel had on the evolution of the Barbie brand as we know it,” the Netflix synopsis attached to the trailer reads. “Through these charismatic insiders’ stories, the documentary tells the story of how the first Black Barbie came to be in 1980, examining the importance of representation and how dolls can be crucial to the formation of identity and imagination,” the description continued.
“I think there’s something really powerful about it. I played with those dolls when I was a kid,” Rhimes told Variety. “We also had just a very interesting opportunity to add to that documentary, and to provide a lot more content and context. We have added interviews; we’ve been inside Mattel.”
Black Barbie is scheduled to debut on Netflix on June 19.
