List of Barbie's friends and family

Last updated
Barbie
Barbie Logo.svg
Barbie official logo
Type
Company Mattel
Country United States
Availability1959–present
Slogan"You Can Be Anything"
Official website

This article shows the complete fictional and non-fictional friends and family of Barbie, a fashion doll manufactured by American toy and entertainment company Mattel and launched on 9 March 1959. [1]

Contents

Main characters

Family members

Barbie's sisters

Barbie has three young sisters: Skipper, Stacie and Chelsea, who made their collective debuts in the 2011 Christmas film, Barbie: A Perfect Christmas . Chelsea, previously known as Kelly, had a lead role in the 2002 syndicated television series, Kelly Dream Club, in which Barbie appeared in a supporting role. Since then, they appeared as main characters in media adaptations of the franchise, including Barbie: Life in the Dreamhouse and the Barbie & Her Sisters in... film entries in the film series. Since Barbie Dreamhouse Adventures in 2018, they have become permanent main characters in the overall Barbie franchise makeup.

Barbie's parents

Discontinued characters

Extended family members

Barbie's friends

Female best friends

Other friends

Left: Walk Lively Steffie, from 1972. Right: Free Moving PJ, from 1974. The Steffie face sculpt was used for decades, for several different Barbie-related Mattel dolls. Her eye color, hairstyle and hair color changed as well. Steffie face sculpt.jpg
Left: Walk Lively Steffie, from 1972. Right: Free Moving PJ, from 1974. The Steffie face sculpt was used for decades, for several different Barbie-related Mattel dolls. Her eye color, hairstyle and hair color changed as well.

The Rockers and the Sensations

Generation Girls

Miscellaneous

Friends of family

Skipper's friends

Stacie's friends

Kelly's/Chelsea's friends

Tutti's and Todd's friends

Francie's friends

Jazzie's friends

Friends of friends

Ken's family and friends

Midge and Allan's family

From Happy Family Playline Series:

The Heart Family (Barbie's neighbors)

Cousins

  • Honey (1988) sold with a high chair.
  • Janet (1988) sold with a potty chair.
  • Kenny (1988) sold with a tricycle.
  • Kevin (1988) sold with a high chair.
  • Melody (1988) sold with a walker.
  • Nellie (1988) sold with a rocking horse.

Friends

  • Daria (1989) sold with a desk.
  • Darrin (1989) sold with a desk.
  • Gillian (1989) sold with a giraffe.
  • Nikita (1993) sold only in India.
  • Pleasance (1989) sold with a pony (rocking horse).
  • Sunny (1993) sold only in India.
  • Susan (1993) sold only in India.
  • Tawny (1989) sold with a tricycle.
  • Windy (1989) sold with a wagon.

Real-world celebrity/film character doll friends

Others

Model of the Moment

A collector series of dolls designed by veteran Mattel designer Robert Best. The series featured three new characters including Daria, Marisa, and Nichelle. The dolls were notable for featuring a new body sculpt known as Model Muse, which is a body designed to stay in one static pose as a display figurine. The series was discontinued after only 5 dolls, but the dolls live on as their face and body sculpts are used for other Barbie dolls ever since. The Model Muse body in particular has become the new standard body for collector dolls in the Barbie line.

Shani and friends

When first introduced, the Shani line of dolls existed outside of the Barbie character continuity. After a couple of years, the Shani character was introduced into the Barbie line.

Asha - African American Collection

A short-lived Afrocentric doll line introduced in 1994, retroactively considered Barbie friend dolls. Although the dolls are unrelated to Shani's friend Asha, the dolls still used the Shani face mold and were meant to be a successor to the Shani line.

Harlem Theatre Collection

Three character dolls from Carlyle Nuera's Harlem Theatre Collection.

Byron Lars - Passport Collection

Three dolls released in the Passport Collection by American fashion designer Byron Lars. Each doll is a multicultural and biracial character from a different part of the world.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barbie</span> Fashion doll brand by Mattel

Barbie is a fashion doll created by American businesswoman Ruth Handler, manufactured by American toy and entertainment company Mattel and introduced on March 9, 1959. The toy was based on the German Bild Lilli doll which Handler had purchased while in Europe. The figurehead of an eponymous brand that includes a range of fashion dolls and accessories, Barbie has been an important part of the toy fashion doll market for over six decades. Mattel has sold over a billion Barbie dolls, making it the company's largest and most profitable line. The brand has expanded into a multimedia franchise since 1984, including video games, animated films, television/web series, and a live-action film.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ken (doll)</span> Male counterpart to the Barbie doll

Kenneth Sean "Ken" Carson Jr. is a fashion doll introduced by American toy company Mattel in 1961 as the counterpart of Barbie, who had been introduced two years earlier.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Midge (Barbie)</span> Doll in the Barbie line

Margaret "Midge" Hadley Sherwood is a doll character in the Barbie line of toys by Mattel that was first released in 1963. She was marketed as Barbie's best friend.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Skipper (Barbie)</span> Doll manufactured by Mattel

Skipper Roberts is a doll created by Mattel in 1964 to be Barbie's young sister. Since 2009, she has a purple streak in her hair and is shown to have a tech-savvy personality. According to her fictional biography, Skipper calls herself a gadget girl who likes computers and trying out the latest technology. In the Barbie films, she likes to work on her photo blog. She had a starring role in the 2023 television film, Barbie: Skipper and the Big Babysitting Adventure.

Polly Pocket is a toy line of dolls and accessories first founded and designed by Chris Wiggs in 1983 and licensed by Bluebird Toys from 1989 until both entities/properties were acquired by Mattel in 1998.

Totally Hair Barbie is a fashion doll, in the Barbie line by Mattel, that was released in 1992. The doll's extra-long hair reached all the way to her toes and at the time, she had the longest hair ever for a Barbie doll at 11.5 inches in length. She is notable for being the highest selling Barbie doll in history, having racked up $100 million worldwide in 1992.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">What's Her Face (doll)</span> Line of fashion dolls by Mattel

What's Her Face! was a line of customizable dolls that straddled the line between traditional fashion dolls and creative activity toys. Made by Mattel, the line ran from 2001–2003, and enjoyed only a modest success in a market dominated by Mattel's iconic Barbie and MGA Entertainment's Bratz dolls. Following the discontinuation of the What's Her Face! line, their body molds were used for the Wee 3 Friends line of Barbie-related dolls. Several fashion, wig, and activity packs were also released for the What's Her Face line.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">My Scene</span> Fashion doll series

My Scene was an American series of fashion dolls that Mattel released in 2002. They were discontinued in the US in 2008, and worldwide in 2011. Mattel's Barbie character was one of the dolls in the toy line. The My Scene dolls' bodies were slim, similar to earlier Barbie dolls, but their heads were larger. The New York Times described their features as "exaggerated lips and bulging, makeup-caked eyes." My Scene were designed to appeal to the tween market and compete with the Bratz dolls from MGA Entertainment.

<i>Maxies World</i> American childrens television series

Maxie's World is an American animated children's television program produced by DIC Animation City. Distributed by Claster Television and Saban International and originally aired in first-run syndication in the United States from September 18, 1989 through October 30, 1989. It consists of one season, comprising a total of 32 episodes, each 15 minutes long. In the series' original run, Maxie's World alternated on weekdays with Beverly Hills Teens and It's Punky Brewster. The series was briefly rerun on USA Network in 1994.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Francie (Barbie)</span> Barbie doll model

Francie Fairchild is a fashion doll issued by Mattel from 1966 to 1976 and re-introduced in 2011. Marketed as "Barbie's MODern cousin" from England, the doll had an extensive line of "mod"-style clothing, often employing bright colors and geometric patterns similar to fashions associated with Carnaby Street in the late 1960s to early 1970s. At 11¼ inches tall, the Francie doll was shorter than Barbie, but taller than Skipper, making the character presumably between the two in age.

Princess of Power is a toyline created by Mattel. Among others, it features the characters of She-Ra and Catra on planet Etheria. With its launch in 1984, the toyline spawned a variety of products, including three lines of fashion action figures. The Princess of Power logo and characters are currently used by Mattel as part of the Masters of the Universe Classics toyline.

Teresa is a Mattel fashion doll who is marketed as one of Barbie's fictional friends. Teresa debuted in the "California Dream Teresa" doll in 1988 and since then, she has been Barbie's most frequently featured female companion in the toy line. As of 2006, Teresa has been one of Barbie's core friends in the Barbie brand along with Summer, Nikki and Raquelle.

The Barbie Basics is a line of collector's edition Barbie dolls. They were created by Mattel designer Bill Greening and were introduced in late 2009 to be officially released in the spring of 2010.

Nicole "Nikki" Watkins is a Mattel fashion doll, marketed as one of Barbie's best friends in 2006. debuted in 1996 as part of the "Teen Skipper" line. Nikki was originally released as Skipper's first African American friend in 1996 as part of the "Teen Skipper" line and as the younger sister of Christie, one of Barbie's best friends. Since 2006, Nikki Watkins has replaced Christie as one of Barbie's friends. Nikki Watkins debuted as one of Barbie's best friends in the Glam Beach Line and later in Fashion Fever Line. Since then, Nikki has been featured in several Barbie doll series.

<i>Barbie: Life in the Dreamhouse</i> Computer-animated shorts series

Barbie: Life in the Dreamhouse is a web series of CGI-animated shorts produced by Arc Productions and Mattel. The series was released on YouTube and the official Barbie website from January 20, 2012 to November 27, 2015.

<i>Barbie Dolphin Magic</i> 2017 Barbie television film

Barbie Dolphin Magic or Barbie: Dolphin Magic is a 2017 animated adventure television film directed by Conrad Helten and written by Jennifer Skelly.

<i>Barbie Dreamhouse Adventures</i> Barbie television series (2018–2020)

Barbie Dreamhouse Adventures, Barbie: Dreamhouse Adventures or just Dreamhouse Adventures, is a CGI-animated adventure comedy children's television series released between 3 May 2018 and 12 April 2020 on Netflix in the United States, while it premiered on YTV in Canada on 22 June 2018.

The Marvelous World of Shani, also known as Shani & Friends or simply Shani, was a fashion doll line manufactured by the American toy company Mattel, Inc. and launched in 1991. The principal designer of the dolls was longtime Mattel toy designer Kitty Black Perkins, also responsible for designing 1980's First Black Barbie doll, and many other African American dolls in the Barbie line.

<i>Barbie: Mermaid Power</i> 2022 Animated television film

Barbie: Mermaid Power or Barbie Mermaid Power is a 2022 animated musical adventure fantasy children's film directed by Emory Ronald "Ron" Myrick and written by Ann Austen.

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