W: Walk Lively

 

Walk Lively 

This series came out in the early 1970s. The dolls in this line came with a walk-and-turn stand. No batteries were needed. Only Barbie, Ken and  Steffie appeared in the line, but the Walk Lively feature was also used on Mattel's Miss America dolls. 

 

 

Barbie's friend Steffie may not be well-remembered, as she only appeared in three lines. But Walk Lively Steffie (shown above) is notable in that her closed-mouth head mold has been reused many times. Barbie herself has used the mold, as have many of her friends, including Christie, P.J., Teresa, and Midge, and the one-time Tracy Bride doll. Miss America and the African American Mrs. Heart also used the Steffie head, as did one of Jazzie's friends, Stacie. The 4.5-inch doll line Dazzle from the early 1980s used a scaled-down version of the Steffie head for some of its girl dolls (other girl dolls in that line used a scaled-down Superstar Barbie head mold). I had most of this line.

V: Video Girl Barbie

 

Video Girl Barbie

One of the more obscure iterations of Barbie seen in the movie is that of Video Girl Barbie. Released in 2010, the original toy was a real working video camera that was able to record up to 30 minutes of film and even upload to a computer. As shown with the live-action character, Video Girl Barbie came with a large hole in her upper body that featured the camera lens but was disguised as a fashionable pendant. The doll was discontinued for a unique reason: the FBI saw the doll’s hidden camera as a potential threat to children, saying that it could have been used for child pornography. Though no such incidents were ever reported, Mattel pulled Video Barbie from shelves in 2012. (from this link)

The doll was launched the same year as Instagram (link). The rise in social media most likely had a lot to do with the doll's controversy and cancellation. Had it been released in the 1990s or the early 2000s, would it have caused the same controversy? Though perhaps the FBI might have worried over porn at that time as well.

U: Unicorn

 

Unicorn

This was a tricky letter, and the most I could find was the Unicorn-themed movies, as well as the Dreamtopia Dolls.

Here are some of the unicorn movies:

 

And from the Dreamtopia series:

A commercial for the Dreamtopia Unicorn set: 

The Dreamtopia doll with a removable unicorn headband:

And one of the Dreamtopia unicorns:

T: Teresa

 

Teresa

Teresa was the first regular Hispanic character other than the Hispanic versions of Barbie and Ken. Teresa's story is in this video:

Teresa first appeared as part of the California Dreams series in 1988. She has been with the Barbie line ever since, thus making her one of Barbie's longest lasting friends. She used an often-used head mold of Barbie's friend Steffie (more on this to come) before Teresa received her own head mold. 

Teresa's first appearance.

(From left) Beach Blast Dolls Miko, Barbie,
Christie and Teresa.

The Rollerblade dolls were recalled because the
light-up skates caused sparks.

She has also been in many of Barbie's animated videos. That being said, I now wonder why she wasn't referenced in the movie. But I guess they could only show so many characters in the movie.

S: Shani

 

Shani

"'Shani' means marvelous in the Swahili language and marvelous she is. ..." So began the tagline for The Marvelous World of Shani. Though it was a separate series, Shani (pronounced SHAW-nee) and her friends are retroactively considered friends of Barbie. Shani and her girl friends are the same size as Barbie and her boyfriend the same size as Ken, so they can share clothes. Shani was Mattel's attempt at creating an ethnically correct African American doll line. Previous AA dolls were criticized as having more Eurocentric than Afrocentric features, as many used the same head and body molds as their Caucasian counterparts. Kitty Black Perkins, who was responsible for designing the line, had also designed the Black Barbie doll in 1980. The video below talks about the creation of the Shani dolls and their releases and media reception:

The first wave of Shani dolls in 1991 featured the lead doll and her two female friends, Asha and Nichelle, in convertible gowns. Shani's gown transformed into a bathing suit and cover-up; Asha's into a mini dress and jacket; and Nichelle's into a ballerina outfit. Each one had a different skin tone, facial feature and hair texture. Four different fashion sets were also sold, and the packaging stated that the clothes fit Barbie, too.

(from left) Asha, Shani and Nichelle
in the first year of release.

For the second year, the girl dolls came in two-piece bathing suits (the Beach Dazzle series), and Jamal, Shani's boyfriend, was introduced, wearing a convertible yellow tuxedo. Originally, Jamal had a mustache, but was clean-shaven in subsequent releases. Three more outfit sets were produced, but none for Jamal. Shani's only accessory was also made: a gold-tone Corvette (pictured below), a repainting of Barbie's Corvette from the 1980s. Shani didn't last long enough to get a house or other playsets. 

The box back of the Beach Dazzle Shani dolls.
The bathing suits were made from material used in the dolls'
 first-year gown bodices, but Shani and Asha swapped material since
the original Shani already wore a swimsuit under her gown.

Jamal with mustache

Jamal's party tuxedo could be
converted into a casual outfit.

Two more waves of Shani followed. Another beach-themed line, known as Beach Streak, and a tie-in line to the hit music-and-dance show Soul Train, both with the now clean-shaven Jamal.

After Shani's own line was cancelled, she made one US appearance in the Barbie line as Sun Jewel Shani (below), the annual swimsuit series. She also appeared in the Jewel and Glitter line, sold only on foreign markets. A Dr. Shani doll shown in promotional catalogs was never released (an AA Dr. Barbie was made instead). 

Sun Jewel Shani was
 the last Shani produced.

 

Even after Shani disappeared entirely, reminders have popped up from time to time.  An unrelated line, Asha African American collection (not the same Asha who was Shani's friend), made in the late 1990s, was considered a spiritual successor to Shani. This doll named Asha used Shani's face mold, skin tone and hair texture. The head molds for Shani, Asha, Nichelle and Jamal have been used on other Mattel African American dolls, including Christie and Steven and AA versions of Barbie and Ken. The So In Style (S.I.S.) line from 2009 to 2017 is considered another spiritual successor to Shani. Like Shani, the Grace doll from S.I.S. was incorporated into the Barbie line after S.I.S. was cancelled. Also, the name Nichelle has appeared in the Generation Girl and Fashionistas lines. The Mystery Squad doll line had a doll named Shawnee, pronounced the same as Shani. Both Shawnee and Nichelle Generation Girl oddly used Asha's head mold. 

Procedure Last Week

Well, my colonoscopy went well. Last Monday I had an EKG and a urine test at the hospital hours before I began drinking the cleansing solution. I'd bought a box of adult pull-ups the night before at Dollar Tree and began wearing them that morning. As people had told me, I needed to be in the bathroom a lot! At first I sat in the kitchen to drink the stuff, then moved to the bathroom once the need to use the toilet began. I barely slept at all on Monday, and did not shower on Tuesday before the procedure. My cousin drove me to the hospital and her son picked me up afterward. I did not fell anything during the procedure. A day and half without solid food me very hungry and I immediately had some cereal once I got home. I immediately felt better as the rest of the day went on. I spent most of the two days lying in bed.

I'd begun scheduling my posts starting on the 5th, to see how it works. It's been great, and the rest of the A to Z posts have been scheduled for their designated letter days. This was especially a good idea for the timeliness of the posts and for day of my procedure. Originally, I was to have been up at 2AM that morning, per the instructions that were sent to me regarding the solution I was to drink. The instructions had been for a two-bottle, two-dose solution, that I was to have begun on Monday at 6PM, and Tuesday at 2AM. But the hospital sent a 4-liter jug instead. So I now had to begin on Monday at 3PM, taking a dose every 10 minutes until the bottle was gone. I no longer had to be up at 2AM, but I'm sure I was awake by then, since I barely got any sleep on Monday night. 

I'm glad it's over now. It was said to be normal, and they now recommend having one every five years. 

Bonus Post: Barbie From 2020

 While searching my Facebook memories yesterday, this one from 2020 came up:

I then looked up "quarantine Barbie memes," and came across this article, which contained a link to this photo on Instagram:

And even more in this article.

This was perfect for a Sunday post. Kind of an A to Z bonus.