Why you need to know:
The ‘Barbie’ movie is one of the most anticipated of this 2023. Despite the fact that the tape does not tell the story of the doll, it is interesting to discover that its creation is darker than it seems.
The movie of Barbie of Greta Gerwig It is the most anticipated premiere of this 2023. And despite the fact that many details of the story have not been revealed, we know for sure that the tape is not about the creation of Barbie, but a fiction that takes us to Barbieland where the main doll goes on a journey to discover what is your purpose in life beyond perfection.
As we tell you, the movie is not about Mattel and the story behind the creation of Barbie. But for that very reason, we began to investigate how the most famous and iconic doll in the world came to be. We discovered the history of its creator, Ruth Handler, and how she went from ideating Barbie to helping breast cancer patients. Here we tell you the story.
And in our journey through the history of Barbie, we find the name of Jack Ryan (nothing to do with the character played by John Krasinski), a dark character who designed the Mattel doll, while also living a rather strange life. So here we will tell you what’s up with Jack Ryan.
Jack Ryan, the man who designed Barbie
Jack Ryan was born in November 1926. He graduated from Harvard and Yale University, the latter as an engineer.a career that led him to work in one of the most important security companies (hired by the United States military) of the 20th century: Raytheon Company.
Here, he worked on the design and the creation of two guided missiles named Hawk and Sparrow, which are distinguished by being projectiles of air-to-ground and air-to-air effect, respectively. So how did Jack Ryan go from designing weapons to toys?
In 1955, Jack Ryan joined Mattel. However, it is believed that the earnings he received at Raytheon could not be similar to those offered by Mattel. So the marriage of the Handlers he gave him a percentage of royalties for every toy that was sold and outside of Ryan’s creation.
As head of research and development and consultant, over the course of 20 years he designed more than 30 toys such as the doll Chatty Cathy, the Hot Wheels and the most important of all: Barbie.
Ruth Handler returned from a trip to Switzerland with the adult Bild Lilli doll, which had a sensual body, wore intimate and provocative clothing, and her features were fleshy. This was the inspiration for what a doll focused on girls in the United States should look like to help them identify with their future bodies and representation.
Ruth gave the doll to Jack Ryan, asking him to redesign it. That’s how he created one of the most controversial silhouettes not only between toys or dolls, but history in general, always aiming to create impossible expectations about women’s bodies.
Ryan was responsible, among many other things, for Barbie’s “thundering” knees and the doll’s ability to turn her waist. All this thanks to his extensive knowledge of materials (the same ones that he studied during his time at Raytheon.
In 1959, Mattel launched into the New York Toy Fair where it introduced Barbie, a youthful doll in a swimsuit that to the surprise of many, had breasts, a tiny waist, long legs and dreamy hair It came in two colors, blonde and brown.
The (not so) hidden life of Jack Ryan
Jack Ryan was considered a design genius, and his work at Mattel supported this. However, behind what he achieved with Barbie and her impact on pop culture, Jack Ryan’s life was somewhat questionable, if not dark.
The designer was married five times, and with his first wife, named Barbie (indeed, there is a debate whether the Barbie doll is named after Jack Ryan’s wife or Ruth Handler’s daughter), he had two daughters. One of them has a podcast where she reveals how terrible it was for her to live with her father, who was addicted to sex, drugs and used weapons.
Among the strange things in Jack Ryan’s life, was a castle-like mansion in Bel-Air that since 1962 became the center of many parties full of drugs, and it is also presumed, a place where Various orgies were held. The thing is, Jack demanded that the participants of the sexual encounters had an image similar to that of the Barbie that he created: blonde, tall, thin.
His daughter Ann recounted in an interview to promote her podcast, about a terrifying event in which his father, paranoid about drug use and in the middle of a lawsuit with Mattel (now we tell you), held a gun to his sister Diana’s heada threat that ended with the arrival of the police.
By the way, the lawsuit with Mattel is related to the issue of royalties. Do you remember? He signed an agreement with the Handlers receive royalties from the sales of the toys he designed. Barbie is, to date, the best-selling doll in the world… so the wool that Jack Ryan was taking was crazy that became a problem for Mattel.
Jack Ryan’s end was no less tragic. In 1989 he had a stroke that seriously affected his health, so two years later, in 1991, he committed suicide after shooting himself.
