Barbie has been making headlines recently in the wake of their re-brand. Now, Barbie has over four body types, seven skin tones, 22 eye colors, and 24 diverse hairstyles. The options are endless with her, and it’s about damn time. Now, this is a great step forward for all of doll-kind, but there’s another doll that was recently re-branded that no one’s talking about.
The Disney Dolls.
Since the Walt Disney Company lumped Sleeping Beauty, Ariel and it’s other glitter covered royalties together in the Disney Princess brand in 2000, all things pink and poofy have skyrocketed. Princess merchandise is now a $5.5 billion industry, not including Frozen’s own enterprise. The Disney Company licenses its products out to a plethora of companies including Mattel, the leader in all things doll. Mattel has been working with Disney since 1955 and has been the company’s go-to dollmaker since 1996.
As of January 2016, Disney is packing up their glass slippers and taking them to Hasbro instead. With this transition comes a redesign of the classic Barbie-esque dolls.
That’s right, Cinderella has gone under the knife.
While everyone has been praising Mattel for finally re-imagining Barbie, I think it’s time for Hasbro to step into the spotlight for awhile. Their redesign of the princess we all know and love is something that should have happened a long time ago. Often, people criticize the Disney princesses for their lack of diversity, and it’s plain to see when you peer down the aisle of the Disney Barbies. They all look the same: same body size, same height, same eyes, same face shape. If you took the paint of these dolls, you’d be left with the same cookie cutter Barbie. It gets tiresome. Each princess is unique and they should look that way as well. Snow White, with her sweet and caring nature, should look unique compared to Jasmine’s fiery personality.
While everyone is discussing the latest Barbie update, I’ll be checking out the latest take on my favorite princesses.
