_x000D_Screenshot: Barbie | Max (youtube.com)

The “Barbie” movie received an Oscar nomination for its adapted screenplay. But what was the script adapted from?

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences decided to classify the “Barbie” movie’s screenplay as adapted, not because Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach found a dusty old Barbie diary in an attic, but because they based their script on the iconic Barbie and Ken dolls created by Mattel in the late 1950s. This decision, announced in January 2024, placed the screenplay in the same category as other works derived from pre-existing characters or universes._x000D__x000D_Fun fact: While the Writers Guild of America initially tagged it as an original screenplay, the Academy’s Writers Branch executive committee had a different view. They saw the script as an adaptation of the well-established and globally recognized Barbie universe, which includes not just the dolls but also decades of associated media, stories, and lore.