As 'Barbie' fever spirals, the story of how the film consumed the world's pink paint

The group explain that they set out "to capture what was so ridiculously fun" about Barbie's world, especially Barbie's Dreamhouse.

Ryan Gosling and Margo Robbie attend the red carpet promoting the upcoming film "Barbie" at the Warner Bros. Pictures Studio  (photo: Getty Images)
Ryan Gosling and Margo Robbie attend the red carpet promoting the upcoming film "Barbie" at the Warner Bros. Pictures Studio (photo: Getty Images)
user

IANS

With a few mystifying teasers and less than two months until the premiere of the live-action Barbie, audiences still don't know exactly how the film will unfold, according to Variety.

The production team, however, has started sharing details of the making of the film — including how they caused an international pink paint shortage.

In a recent Architectural Digest profile with production designer Sarah Greenwood, set decorator Katie Spencer and director Greta Gerwig, reports Variety, the group explain that they set out "to capture what was so ridiculously fun" about Barbie's world, especially Barbie's Dreamhouse.

"I wanted the pinks to be very bright, and everything to be almost too much," Gerwig said, according to Variety. She shared that "the 'kid-ness' was paramount" — evoking the feeling of never forgetting "what made (her) love Barbie" as a young girl.

"Why walk down stairs when you can slide into your pool? Why trudge up stairs when you take an elevator that matches your dress?" said Gerwig.

To achieve that whimsy, Barbie's world needed to become just that — Barbie's world. The only way, Variety notes, the production team believed they could achieve the task was to create a world of pink props, sets, clothes and anything that was placed within the film's frame.


That's when Greenwood knew she needed to obtain that signature shade from the paint company Rosco until there was nothing left. "The world ran out of pink," said the production designer.

Before running Rosco out of pink paint, Greenwood, Gerwig and the team built a set on the Warner Bros lot in London, pulling inspiration from the Palm Springs' Kaufmann House, San Francisco Queen Anne Victorian manse, Wayne Thiebaud's paintings, as well as film history's "Pee-wee's Big Adventure" and Gene Kelly's "An American in Paris".

Follow us on: Facebook, Twitter, Google News, Instagram 

Join our official telegram channel (@nationalherald) and stay updated with the latest headlines