When Margot Robbie first read the script for the Barbie film, which she stars in and co-produced, her first thought was: “They’re never going to let us make this movie. Cinephiles may be intrigued by the pairing of arthouse favourite Greta Gerwig (who co-wrote and directed the movie) with the ubiquitous plastic doll, but for her makers this is an unmissable opportunity to break Brand Barbie out of toyland – and paint all kinds of other products bubblegum pink. Her big moment came when Ruth Handler, who had founded Mattel with her husband, came across the doll on a trip to Europe with her daughters and decided to make an American version named after her daughter Barbara (Ken, who followed in 1961, is named after the Handlers’ son, which perhaps helps explain the dolls’ curiously chaste romance)