Movie Smarts

Barbie Quiz: How Much Stuck Beyond the Style?

Fifteen chances to prove that all those movie nights paid off.

Published 2026-10-24 Updated 2026-10-24 15 questions

Barbie: The Perfect Day Has Developed a Few Problems

Life is bright, busy, and reassuringly predictable until one resident begins having thoughts that do not fit the routine. Looking for answers means leaving familiar comforts and discovering a world with very different rules. The trip changes more than she expected, including the home she thought she understood. There are big laughs, awkward realizations, and an impressive number of outfits for an identity crisis.

Bring your best movie memory. Matching accessories are optional.

1. Who directed Barbie?
- Sofia Coppola
- Olivia Wilde
- Emerald Fennell
- Greta Gerwig
Gerwig came to it from Lady Bird and Little Women, and Mattel let her and Noah Baumbach poke fun at the company itself. The film became the biggest release of 2023 and made Gerwig the first woman to direct a billion-dollar film on her own.
2. Who plays the central Barbie?
- Margot Robbie
- Emma Stone
- Saoirse Ronan
- Jennifer Lawrence
Robbie's company LuckyChap developed the film before Gerwig came aboard, so she is a producer as well as the star; the Best Picture nomination was hers, the Best Actress one famously was not. Her character is credited as Stereotypical Barbie.
3. Who plays the main Ken?
- Chris Pine
- Ryan Reynolds
- Ryan Gosling
- Channing Tatum
Gosling was in his forties playing a doll whose whole existence depends on Barbie noticing him, and got a Best Supporting Actor nomination for it. He performed the big musical number live at the Oscars, in a pink suit backed by a crowd of Kens.
4. Who co-wrote the screenplay with Greta Gerwig?
- Richard Linklater
- Wes Anderson
- Noah Baumbach
- Diablo Cody
Baumbach is Gerwig's partner, and the two had written Frances Ha and Mistress America together before this. Their script was nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay, adapted, the Academy decided, from a doll. Diablo Cody wrote an earlier version for Sony.
5. What toy company is central to the film's story?
- Mattel
- Hasbro
- Playmobil
- LEGO
Mattel co-produced the film and still let itself be played as a boardroom of men who have never met a woman, with Will Ferrell as its clueless CEO. The real company sits in El Segundo, near Los Angeles, and sales of the doll jumped after the release.
6. Which classic film does the opening sequence parody?
- The Wizard of Oz
- 2001: A Space Odyssey
- Metropolis
- Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Helen Mirren narrates the prologue, in which little girls smashing their baby dolls to the Richard Strauss fanfare stand in for the apes and the bone, with a giant Barbie as the monolith. Gerwig even keeps the slow-motion toss of a doll into the air.
7. What everyday body change alarms Barbie early in the film?
- Her ears change shape
- Her hands grow larger
- Her hair turns gray
- Her feet become flat
Barbie's feet are molded for heels, so when they drop flat one morning it is the first sign that something from the real world is leaking into Barbieland. Robbie did the shot of stepping out of her shoes for real, on tiptoe, with no visual effects.
8. Which of Barbie's friends does the narrator note was discontinued for being pregnant?
- Christie
- Midge
- Teresa
- Nikki
Midge was launched in the 1960s as Barbie's freckled best friend, and a pregnant version with a removable belly came and went in the 2000s. Emerald Fennell plays her, and the narrator advises the audience not to think about her too hard.
9. What practical footwear does Weird Barbie offer as one choice?
- Birkenstocks
- Cowboy boots
- Running spikes
- Rain boots
Weird Barbie, played by Kate McKinnon with chopped hair and marker on her face, offers a stiletto or a Birkenstock, Matrix-style: stay comfortable and ignorant, or learn the truth. Barbie grabs the heel and is told that is not how this works.
10. Who plays Gloria, the mother working at Mattel?
- Gina Rodriguez
- Salma Hayek
- Eva Longoria
- America Ferrera
Ferrera plays a Mattel employee whose drawings of a Barbie with cellulite and thoughts of death are what set off the crisis in Barbieland. Her speech about the impossible expectations placed on women got her a Best Supporting Actress nomination.
11. What is Gloria's daughter's name?
- Sofia
- Sasha
- Stacie
- Skipper
Sasha is the teenager who tells Barbie to her face that the doll has been making women feel bad about themselves since she was invented. Her mother turns out to be the one actually playing with the doll; Skipper and Stacie are Barbie's sisters.
12. Which 1990s hit do the Kens serenade the Barbies with on the beach?
- Iris (Goo Goo Dolls)
- Wonderwall (Oasis)
- Push (Matchbox Twenty)
- Closing Time (Semisonic)
The Kens sit the Barbies down for an acoustic serenade of the Matchbox Twenty hit, each with a guitar and a captive audience, as part of the Kendom's new order. Gosling also sings I'm Just Ken, the number that was nominated for Best Original Song.
13. What does Ken describe as his job?
- Beach
- Lifeguard
- Surf instructor
- Volleyball coach
Ken is firm that his job is beach, not lifeguard; the joke is that it involves nothing beyond standing on sand. In the real world he discovers patriarchy, tries to get a corporate job on the strength of being a man, and is told that is no longer enough.
14. What color is Barbie's familiar convertible?
- White
- Yellow
- Turquoise
- Pink
The car is a pink Chevrolet Corvette, a model Mattel has sold alongside the doll for decades. The trip to the real world passes through a boat, a rocket and a tandem bicycle before finishing on rollerblades at Venice Beach.
15. Which film opened on the same day, turning the pairing into a double-bill phenomenon?
- The Flash
- Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
- Oppenheimer
- Haunted Mansion
The two films opened on the same July day in 2023, and instead of splitting the audience the pairing became an event, seen back to back. Barbie ended as the year's top earner and won one Oscar, for Billie Eilish's song; Oppenheimer won seven.

All the answers

1. Who directed Barbie?

Greta Gerwig

Gerwig came to it from Lady Bird and Little Women, and Mattel let her and Noah Baumbach poke fun at the company itself. The film became the biggest release of 2023 and made Gerwig the first woman to direct a billion-dollar film on her own.
2. Who plays the central Barbie?

Margot Robbie

Robbie's company LuckyChap developed the film before Gerwig came aboard, so she is a producer as well as the star; the Best Picture nomination was hers, the Best Actress one famously was not. Her character is credited as Stereotypical Barbie.
3. Who plays the main Ken?

Ryan Gosling

Gosling was in his forties playing a doll whose whole existence depends on Barbie noticing him, and got a Best Supporting Actor nomination for it. He performed the big musical number live at the Oscars, in a pink suit backed by a crowd of Kens.
4. Who co-wrote the screenplay with Greta Gerwig?

Noah Baumbach

Baumbach is Gerwig's partner, and the two had written Frances Ha and Mistress America together before this. Their script was nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay, adapted, the Academy decided, from a doll. Diablo Cody wrote an earlier version for Sony.
5. What toy company is central to the film's story?

Mattel

Mattel co-produced the film and still let itself be played as a boardroom of men who have never met a woman, with Will Ferrell as its clueless CEO. The real company sits in El Segundo, near Los Angeles, and sales of the doll jumped after the release.
6. Which classic film does the opening sequence parody?

2001: A Space Odyssey

Helen Mirren narrates the prologue, in which little girls smashing their baby dolls to the Richard Strauss fanfare stand in for the apes and the bone, with a giant Barbie as the monolith. Gerwig even keeps the slow-motion toss of a doll into the air.
7. What everyday body change alarms Barbie early in the film?

Her feet become flat

Barbie's feet are molded for heels, so when they drop flat one morning it is the first sign that something from the real world is leaking into Barbieland. Robbie did the shot of stepping out of her shoes for real, on tiptoe, with no visual effects.
8. Which of Barbie's friends does the narrator note was discontinued for being pregnant?

Midge

Midge was launched in the 1960s as Barbie's freckled best friend, and a pregnant version with a removable belly came and went in the 2000s. Emerald Fennell plays her, and the narrator advises the audience not to think about her too hard.
9. What practical footwear does Weird Barbie offer as one choice?

Birkenstocks

Weird Barbie, played by Kate McKinnon with chopped hair and marker on her face, offers a stiletto or a Birkenstock, Matrix-style: stay comfortable and ignorant, or learn the truth. Barbie grabs the heel and is told that is not how this works.
10. Who plays Gloria, the mother working at Mattel?

America Ferrera

Ferrera plays a Mattel employee whose drawings of a Barbie with cellulite and thoughts of death are what set off the crisis in Barbieland. Her speech about the impossible expectations placed on women got her a Best Supporting Actress nomination.
11. What is Gloria's daughter's name?

Sasha

Sasha is the teenager who tells Barbie to her face that the doll has been making women feel bad about themselves since she was invented. Her mother turns out to be the one actually playing with the doll; Skipper and Stacie are Barbie's sisters.
12. Which 1990s hit do the Kens serenade the Barbies with on the beach?

Push (Matchbox Twenty)

The Kens sit the Barbies down for an acoustic serenade of the Matchbox Twenty hit, each with a guitar and a captive audience, as part of the Kendom's new order. Gosling also sings I'm Just Ken, the number that was nominated for Best Original Song.
13. What does Ken describe as his job?

Beach

Ken is firm that his job is beach, not lifeguard; the joke is that it involves nothing beyond standing on sand. In the real world he discovers patriarchy, tries to get a corporate job on the strength of being a man, and is told that is no longer enough.
14. What color is Barbie's familiar convertible?

Pink

The car is a pink Chevrolet Corvette, a model Mattel has sold alongside the doll for decades. The trip to the real world passes through a boat, a rocket and a tandem bicycle before finishing on rollerblades at Venice Beach.
15. Which film opened on the same day, turning the pairing into a double-bill phenomenon?

Oppenheimer

The two films opened on the same July day in 2023, and instead of splitting the audience the pairing became an event, seen back to back. Barbie ended as the year's top earner and won one Oscar, for Billie Eilish's song; Oppenheimer won seven.