After years of disagreement between Mattel and the Aqua group, the hit “Barbie Girl” is finally present in the film “Barbie” by Greta Gerwig in a remix signed Nicki Minaj / Ice Spice. Two members of the Scandinavian group reacted to this information.
Barbie: the hit of summer 2023
In just three weeks, the film Barbie reached $1 billion in revenue. Starring Margot Robbie, the film transports viewers to the enchantment of Barbieland, a magical world inhabited by the real Barbies and Ken. When one of them sinks into a spiral of dark thoughts, his journey to the real world in search of his doll’s owner sets off a captivating adventure. While the heroine discovers the subtleties of human existence, Ken (played by Ryan Gosling) explores a universe dominated by men.
Driven by a big marketing campaign (whose budget would be higher than that of the feature film), Greta Gerwig’s film is on the way to dethroning the biggest success of the year so far, Super Mario Bros, the movieand its $1.3 billion in revenue.
The group Aqua reacts to the use of their song Barbie Girl
Before the film with Margot Robbie, the blonde doll had been honored in 1997 thanks to the Scandinavian group Aqua and their hit Barbie Girl, accompanied by a very colorful clip. So obviously, when Greta Gerwig’s feature film was announced, it was inconceivable that Aqua’s piece would not appear. However, he almost wasn’t there.
Indeed, relations between Mattel and the music group were not looking good. When the group’s single was released, the company behind the Barbie doll sued them, because they had no right to use the mark. After a trial, the group finally won the battle because their track was deemed “parodic”. It would therefore have been complicated for Mattel to finally turn around and incorporate Aqua’s piece into the film.
However, as the director had said, it would also have been impossible not to wink at this mythical song. Therefore the song’s chorus, remixed, can be heard in the film in a piece by Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice called Barbie World which serves as the end credits.
In an interview with The Guardian, Aqua singer Lene Nystrøm reacted to the use of their hit in the film, arguing that they weren’t expecting to be featured in the film:
We thought it would be a little too much. And we totally understood their choice to want something new and fresh. And then, only two months ago, we were asked to do a collaboration. It happened very quickly.
Rene Dif, another member of the Aqua group, said they appreciated Mattel’s gesture to come back to them. As a sign that they had buried the hatchet:
It was nice to hear from Mattel, and have them come back to us and say “everything is fine”