Greta Gerwig’s Barbie caused a worldwide shortage of pink paint.
“Maintaining the ‘kid-ness’ was paramount. I wanted the pinks to be very bright, and everything to be almost too much,” Gerwig told Architectural Digest. According to production designer Sarah Greenwood, this caused a shortage of the pink shade of Rosco paint: “The world ran out of pink.”
Greenwood, along with set decorator Katie Spencer, took inspiration from Palm Springs midcentury modernism in order to create Barbie’s life-size three-story Dreamhouse. The gorgeous sky and mountain view surrounding the Dreamhouse is actually a hand-painted backdrop – not CGI.
“I wanted to capture what was so ridiculously fun about the Dreamhouses,” Gerwig continued. “Why walk down stairs when you can slide into your pool? Why trudge up stairs when you take an elevator that matches your dress?”
Given that the movie sees Barbie (Margot Robbie) leave her Dreamhouse in search of something more (and with Ryan Gosling’s broke, down-on-his-luck Ken in tow), how much time we spend in pink paradise remains to be seen.
The cast of dolls includes Issa Rae as President Barbie, Hari Nef as Doctor Barbie, Emma Mackey as Physicist Barbie, Dua Lipa as Mermaid Barbie, Sharon Rooney as Lawyer Barbie, Ana Cruz Kayne as Judge Barbie, Alexandra Shipp as Writer Barbie, Kate McKinnon as ‘Weird’ Barbie, Nicola Coughlan as Diplomat Barbie, Ritu Arya as Journalist Barbie – and Emerald Fennell as Midge, a pregnant Barbie that was discontinued in real-life after much controversy.
Barbie is set to hit theaters on July 21, 2023. You can watch the trailer through the link. For more, check out our list of the most exciting upcoming movies in 2023 and beyond, or, skip straight to the good stuff with our list of movie release dates.