Barbie is coming to the big screen in a few weeks, and that means the world will be hearing Aqua’s “Barbie Girl” blasting from cinemas around the world. This may be a surprise to some people as Danish band Aqua have been denying that the song was going to be featured in the movie for over a year. The song does feature briefly at the end of the latest trailer for the meta-movie based about Mattel’s most famous doll, and according to Margot Robbie was always going to be in the movie despite the previous denials.
Speaking with Rolling Stone, Robbie made it clear that there was never a time that the song was not going to be part of the movie’s soundtrack, and even though it is a remix by Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice, the song is very definitely there. Robbie said:
“I was like, “Greta, how are we going to incorporate this song? We can’t do a Barbie movie and not have a nod to Aqua’s ‘Barbie Girl.’ It has to be in there. And [Greta] was like, “Don’t worry, we’re going to find a cool way to incorporate it.” And then, when she was like, “Guess who’s going to do the remix of Aqua’s “Barbie Girl”? Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice.” I was like, “Together? Are you joking?!” I just knew immediately that all my girlfriends were going to lose their minds.”
Barbie Girl is an Iconic Song, but Needed to be Updated to Fit The Barbie Movie
If there is one thing that has been made clear about Greta Gerwig’s Barbie, it is that this is not your typical story of a blonde bimbo plaything, but about something more substantial and real-world, albeit using the world of Barbie to tell its story. The 1997 track “Barbie Girl” doesn’t really have the same deep sense of purpose as Gerwig is trying to bring about with her movie, hence the need for a remix.
The biggest surprise at the song being used in the movie is the history between Aqua and toy company Mattel, which turned sour when the song was a huge hit over 25 years ago and Mattel sued the band for copyright infringement. Aqua ended up countersuing, everything became a mess but ended up with the whole thing going nowhere and the two parties not really communicating with each other beyond that point.
Barbie is certainly going to be a strange movie. Even after multiple trailers, it is still hard to tell exactly who the movie is aimed at. The context of the story is clearly over the heads of young children, but the idea of grown adults telling their friends they are going to see the Barbie movie is an equally strange prospect – even if it does have the pull of Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling. With Oppenheimer being released the same day, and other blockbusters like Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny and Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One having only been out a couple of weeks when it arrives, it will be interesting to see how Barbie can fend off her challengers when the movie is released on July 21.
