Dozens of young girls dressed as princesses lined up outside the doors to Tinseltown Theatres in Louisville, Kentucky, the morning of Sept. 15, 2007, anxiously waiting to meet their idol, Barbie. It was typical mid-September weather for Kentucky: a beautiful sunny morning. But there was a very cold breeze. These girls were among many nationwide to receive tickets to a special, sneak-peek of the latest Barbie movie, Barbie as the Island Princess, which was released on DVD on Sept. 18.
Once the doors opened, and the crowd made its way inside they were checked in, and then greeted by Mattel representatives who eagerly showed the young girls all of the new Barbie toys that accompany the movie. The reception line then continued down the hall towards the theater where the girls were then able to meet Barbie. Barbie was extremely gracious, and spent several minutes talking to each girl, and then posing for a picture with each of them.
Once inside the theater the young fans were entertained by Barbie trivia questions on the movie screen. They were trivia questions designed specifically for the young fans, what is Barbie’s favorite color, how many princess movies has Barbie starred in, what other movies did Barbie dance in, and what was Barbie’s pet in the movie The Princess and The Pauper.
After everyone was seated, and had taken their picture with Barbie, Barbie came in to entertain the children before the beginning of the movie. All of the girls were brought to the front of the theatre to sit around Barbie as she showed them pictures of the animals in the movie, explaining what type of animal each one was, what their name in the movie was, and telling the kids about them.
Afterwards, Barbie drew tickets for door prizes as each girl had been given a ticket when they entered. They gave away several door prizes that were toys from the Barbie Movie and ranged in price from $5 to around $40. Among the most popular prizes that were given away were a Barbie as the Island Princess dress, a Barbie CD player, a Princess Rosella Sing Along Styling Head, a pair of Buster Brown Barbie shoes, Princess Rosella and Prince Antonio dolls, and Barbie as the Island Princess Swing and Twirl Tika Toy.
Once the door prizes had been given away, there was a short intermission, and the countdown to the beginning of the movie was very exciting for the young girls, as they counted down the final seconds until the movie began. It was only a “sneak-peek” of the movie so we were shown only the first twenty minutes of the movie, once the movie faded away there were boos, as many of the girls were already mesmerized by the bright colors, and entertaining characters of the movie. After the movie was over each child was given a goody-bag filled with stickers, a bracelet, and other items from Wal-Mart and Mattel.
In the end, it was a very good morning for the children who were able to spend the morning with Barbie, and it was very beneficial for Mattel who successfully created hype for the movie.
