TV NEWS
Barbie: Who Is Skipper? The Mattel Barbie’s Discontinuation Explained
By NINA STARNER
This story contains spoilers for "Barbie."
SPOILER ALERT!
Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” is stocked with many dolls that Mattel has distributed through the years, like Ken, Allen, and Midge, but Barbie’s younger sister, Skipper, isn’t prominent.
When Skipper first appeared in 1964, she was much shorter than Barbie and had a more childlike appearance. Mattel kept aging her until they reached Growing Up Skipper in 1975.
Growing Up Skipper was weird because when kids would raise her arm, her chest would inflate, and she would get taller. A feature that instantly put Skipper through puberty.
The doll was discontinued due to backlash, and Mattel re-released Skipper in 1979 — an iteration that essentially exists to this day — as a slightly older teenager.
While Skipper may not be a big part of the new “Barbie” movie, she did get a chance to shine in the animated series "Barbie Dreamhouse Adventures," which ran from 2018 - 2020.