American Girl dolls, celebrating their 40th anniversary, have become symbols of nostalgia and empowerment for millennials, reflecting evolving societal values and diverse stories, while also serving as a mirror to their own growth and changing perspectives on girlhood and history.
Mattel Films is teaming up with Paramount Pictures and Temple Hill to develop a feature film based on the popular American Girl doll line. Lindsey Anderson Beer will write and produce the project, which aims to bring the historically accurate dolls and their immersive backstories to the big screen. This is part of Mattel Films' ongoing efforts to adapt its beloved toy brands into movies, with projects based on Hot Wheels, Magic 8 Ball, Matchbox, Major Matt Mason, Masters of the Universe, and Polly Pocket also in development.
Saturday Night Live parodied Greta Gerwig's upcoming live-action Barbie movie with a faux movie trailer centered on American Girl dolls. Host Ana de Armas and cast members played the dolls, but in this twisted world, they're plagued by cholera and harrowing backstories. The skit's voiceover says, "Not all dolls live in a Dreamhouse. Some are bigger, younger, sadder — some dolls are American Girls." The parody sketch is a dark and twisted take on the classic toys, with a comedic twist.
"Saturday Night Live" parodied the "Barbie" movie trailer with a dark twist, featuring American Girl dolls with harrowing backstories. The sketch included Chloe Fineman as Samantha, Heidi Gardner as Kirsten, Molly Kearney as Molly, Ana de Armas as Josefina, and Ego Nwodim as Addy. The dolls did not have pink corvettes or boyfriends, but instead did mundane tasks and suffered from vague old-timey diseases. The sketch ended with the dolls traveling to modern times and losing another doll to disease. Ana de Armas made her "SNL" hosting debut during the episode.
"Saturday Night Live" created a parody trailer of Greta Gerwig's "Barbie" movie, imagining what it would look like if American Girl dolls got their own film. The sketch features historically accurate characters from various time periods, including a young Black girl growing up during the Civil War and a World War II-era character. The tongue-in-cheek trailer ends with multiple American Girls contracting cholera, while Josefina (Ana de Armas) announces her plan to stop the Spanish-American War. The "Barbie" movie, starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, is set to release on July 21.
SNL parodies the upcoming live-action Barbie movie with a trailer for a sadder movie featuring American Girl Dolls, each with their own woeful biography of hardship and suffering. The parody ends with Ego Nwodim's Addy revealing she's a runaway slave. Spoiler alert: Kit and Kirsten die. The moral lesson? Product placement.