A Barbie House Was Inspired By The Greatest Thriller Movie Ever
If you were one of the thousands of people who flocked to cinemas over the last two weeks to see Greta Gerwig’s Barbie, you were undoubtedly blown away by the vibrant and creative set designs and costumes. While many features of Ken’s Mojo Dojo Casa House have had audiences talking, a classic horror reference in Weird Barbie’s dream house has caught the eye of classic film buffs. During an interview with Variety, Barbie production designer Sarah Greenwood and decorator Katie Spencer reveal how they tied in aspects of Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho.
Set designers crafted Weird Barbie’s house with inspiration from Norman Bates’ home in Psycho.
While its style is overwhelmingly mid-century modern, there’s one specific piece of Weird Barbie’s (Kate McKinnon) pad that screams Psycho. That would be the set of colorful stairs leading up to the mansion which look as inviting as those leading up to the Bates residence in the 1960 feature.
Certainly not the same color palette that Norman and his mother would’ve picked for their Victorian home, the stairs in Barbie nevertheless draw the eye to the home’s front porch where Weird Barbie is ready to impart some useful wisdom to those seeking it out.
Although she wasn’t as twisted as Norman Bates, Weird Barbie certainly had her own eccentric vibes making the doll’s Psycho parallel a perfect one.
When the gang sets out to visit Kate McKinnon’s wacky and over-the-top character, the staircase climb gives a pang of uncertainty and inner unrest just as the steps sitting on the hill, leading to the dilapidated mansion in Psycho.
Separated from the other perfect dolls living in Barbie Land, when the gang sets out to visit Kate McKinnon’s wacky and over-the-top character, the staircase climb gives a pang of uncertainty and inner unrest just as the steps sitting on the hill, leading to the dilapidated mansion do in the iconic horror film.
There were also bits of Weird Barbie’s home (Psycho stairs aside) that didn’t make it into the movie but were nevertheless thought out by the creative team. On the way up to the soothsayer’s mansion, there was a swimming pool in front, to make it uniform with the other homes in Barbie Land.
The duo reveals that they painted a shark at the bottom of it to make it stand out and give McKinnon’s wacky character her own edge even if it never made its way onto the big screen.
Barbie’s Other Film References
As far as other references tossed into Barbie, the film nods didn’t end with Psycho as Greenwood and Spencer shared that other huge names in cinema including The Wizard of Oz also played a part in shaping the world of the Barbies. Beyond the set design, the pair revealed that they also paid attention to the little things which included changing book names to Barbie-centered titles like “Barbie Karenina,” “Moby Barbie,” “Why Men Rule the World,” and “Men Who Love Mink.”
Already taking on a life of its own and raking in impressive numbers at the box office, there’s a good chance that Greta Gerwig’s Barbie will land itself alongside other cinematic history greats like Psycho and The Wizard of Oz. With the unwavering attention to detail and costumes brimming with personalities of their own, there’s a good chance that some years down the line another creative team will be paying homage to the work done on Barbie.
