While the triumph of the world’s most talked about doll has been widely documented, this film reveals the untold story of Barbie’s Mum and Dad, Ruth Handler and Jack Ryan. The film delves into the history of the duo who made Barbie rise to fame, one built the largest toy company in the world, Mattel, from nothing, the other, a rocket scientist who made Barbie “twist and turn”.

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The film spotlights the soaring success of Barbie, with sales of over 300,000 dolls in the first year, to over two billion before Ruth died. The enormous financial rewards for both multi-millionaire parents are exposed and this leads to a surprising story of betrayal, sex, drugs.

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The film features in depth interviews with those closest to the story; Ann Ryan, Jack’s daughter, Annie Contantinescu (former employee and lover), Tom Kalinske (former CEO of Mattel), Mattel employees and friends of Jack and Ruth.

 

Narrator: Gemma Arterton.