Barbie set construction led to international shortage of pink paint, reveals Greta Gerwig

The production of Greta Gerwig's highly anticipated live-action Barbie movie has made headlines for an unexpected reason. It has reportedly exhausted the world's supply of pink paint. The film, which marks the first-ever live-action adaptation of the iconic Barbie franchise, has led to a worldwide scarcity of the vibrant hue.

In an interview with Architectural Digest, director Greta Gerwig shed light on the creative process behind bringing the enchanting world of Barbie Land to life. Offering insight into the remarkable use of pink that contributed to the paint shortage phenomenon. She mentioned what she had in mind while designing the film set.

For the unversed, the Barbie movie is based on Mattle’s plastic dolls that donned pink clothes and resided in a pink Barbie Land. Talking about the set design, Greta said, “I wanted the pinks to be very bright, and everything to be almost too much.”. She also suggested that maintaining the ‘kid-ness’ of the film was integral.

Director Greta Gerwig emphasized the importance of capturing the beloved elements of Barbie from people's childhood memories in her upcoming film. She aimed to infuse authentic artificiality into every aspect of the production. To bring her vision to life, Gerwig entrusted the task of designing the sets to production designer Sarah Greenwood and set decorator Katie Spencer. 

How much pink is too much pink? 

 (A still from the movie Barbie. | Image: @Pop Base/Twitter)

 (A still from the movie Barbie. | Image: @Pop Base/Twitter)

Barbie's production designer, Greenwood spoke to IndieWire about the movie and mentioned, “pink became the film’s thesis”. She also added that to get the right pink, they had to deal with a lot of painters mixing the colors. She asserted that in between mixing colours and building the film set, “the world…ran out of pink”. 

Barbie comes to life on July 21

(Margot Robbie as Barbie from a still in the movie. The actress plays the main lead in the film. | Image source: Pop Base/Twitter)

Barbie is currently restricted to being the plastic doll residing in a box. However, on July 21, the world will see the first ever Barbie live action movie. Helmed by Gerwig, the movie is already generating ample social media chatter. 

The Barbie movie features Robbie and Ryan Gosling in the lead roles. The film will narrate the story of Barbie and Ken coming out of Barbie Land and into the real world. The movie will release in theaters on the same day as Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer.