In this way, Mattel could market new lines of dolls based on these films.
The film series was conceived as a way to reach young girls with stories of Barbie in various careers, while compensating for the fact that its target audience were spending more time online than playing with physical dolls. These films generally share a Frame Story of Barbie telling the story to a friend or younger sibling, while also starring in the story itself, although some of them have Barbie starring as herself rather than another character.
At first, they were released through home video and the movies aired on Nickelodeon, but since mid-2017, they've been released through Netflix instead. Barbie has starred as a virtual actress in a long-running series of CGI-animated films.
