Ho Yay / Barbie

"She’s been with me through the best and worst times of my life. She knows me better than anyone else in the entire universe."

Barbie's series of direct-to-video movies have amassed quite the LGBT Fanbase since they launched in 2001, and intentionally or not, Mattel has built up some in-movie support for it.

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Barbie in the Nutcracker

• Major Mint and Captain Candy. They bicker like longtime lovers and functionally act as the Beta Couple to Clara and the Nutcracker. But in the end, they stand by each other and conclude the film with an energetic take on the Trepak dance.

Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper

• Anneliese and Erika may be the Fan-Preferred Couple among adult fans who grew up with these movies. They hit it off immediately with their duet "I Am A Girl Like You", and despite the limited screen time they share, Erika is willing to risk everything for Anneliese's safety. Though it ends with them both in two heterosexual marriages, they affirm that the relationship they share is and will remain the most important one of their lives.

  And you're always free to begin again,

  And you're always free to believe!

  When you find the place

  That your heart belongs,

  You'll never leave.

  You and I will always be

  Celebrating life together.

  I know I have found a friend forevermore!

Barbie Fairytopia

• Laverna exudes queer coding on the levels of Disney's villains, trying to seduce pure and innocent Elina to her side. In the Fairytopia Live! performances, Laverna specifically offers to make Elina her consort in her We Can Rule Together song.
• In Mermaidia, Elina and Nalu's not-girlfriend Nori initially got off the wrong foot, but eventually learn to work together, sharing a lot of tender moments between each other. Including Holding Hands, when they need to go through a dangerous passage.
• In Magic Of The Rainbow, Elina also gets off the wrong foot with Sunburst, and they become rivals. Until the climax, where Elina goes out of her way to save her. Then there's the matter of Elina's new wings that look like the pride flag...

Barbie as the Island Princess

• Azul and Sagi are Ro and Tika's fathers. Full stop. They are two men who love each other and are raising a family together.
• Luciana has a sizable LGBTQ+ following in her own right. She's not at all interested in marriage to Antonio, or any man at all until her final seconds of screen time in which she makes eye contact with some nameless man. In fan circles, Luciana is often a proud and independent lesbian or one third of the One True Threesome with Ro and Antonio.

Barbie & The Diamond Castle

• When your two leading female characters ride away on a rainbow together, it's hard to come back. Alexa and Liana live together in their cottage in the woods, sing two different songs about how much they mean to each other, and choose to live together in their humble cottage instead of the literal Diamond Castle. As for their love interests, Jeremy and Ian are largely just comic relief / Ken dolls for the toyline.

  It's so rare to find a friend like you

  Somehow when you're around the sky is always blue

  The way we talk, the things you say

  The way you make it all okay

• Then there's the matter of Liana's Pimped-Out Dress being pink and orange, like the lesbian pride flag, and Alexa's dress resembling the bisexual pride flag.

Barbie in A Christmas Carol

• This version of the Charles Dickens classic gets a lot of mileage out of making sure viewers are invested in the relationship between Eden Starling and Catherine Beadnell, the "Scrooge" and "Bob Cratchit" characters.
  • Eden and Catherine are childhood friends, and Catherine was the lone bright spot in Eden's miserable girlhood under the thumb of her Aunt Marie.
  • One of Eden's Scrooge-like tendencies is her possessiveness over Catherine, accusing her of spending her time with matters other than Eden like a jealous lover.
  • The Ghost of Christmas Present shows Eden how Catherine spends her holiday, including a heart-wrenching conversation with her older sister about how she's holding on to hope that there's still some kindness and good cheer left in Eden, and she's much more invested in her relationship with Eden than her actual Satellite Love Interest, Freddie.
  • While Christmas Yet to Come is much Lighter and Softer compared to other adaptations, Eden is devastated to see that Catherine has turned out just as cruel, money-obsessed, and friendless as she used to be. She begs to return to her own life to spare Catherine from this fate.
  • Now redeemed and imbued with the Christmas spirit, Eden gives Catherine an elaborate Christmas surprise easily read as a Grand Romantic Gesture: a one-horse open sleigh ride back to her family home for Christmas Day.
• Then there's the issue of the Framing Device. As with most Barbie movies, Barbie herself plays the lead, Eden, and her little sister Kelly is in a supporting role, Tiny Tammy. But while Tammy is the spitting image of Kelly, Eden and Barbie are visibly two different characters. Part of why Catherine turns cold and unfeeling in Christmas Yet to Come is due to Tiny Tammy, a young orphan girl she planned to adopt, succumbing to Uncertain Doom after the home for children shutters. Then during Catherine's Christmas Day surprise, Eden shows off an old snow globe Catherine gave to her when they were children, promising to make it a family heirloom for her children — the same snow globe Barbie shows off to Kelly in the framing device. Intentionally or not, Mattel has set up a situation in which Eden and Catherine adopted and raised Tammy together, and Kelly is Tammy's Identical Granddaughter.

Barbie: A Fashion Fairytale

• Alice and Barbie have an entire, ''Roman Holiday'-esque montage where they tour Paris, get themselves drawn together by a street artist, and then work on their dresses...at the end of which they hug each other.

Barbie: A Fairy Secret

• When they get their wings, Barbie's are the colors of the pansexual flag, while Raquelle's resemble the bisexual pride flag.
• Barbie and Raquelle ultimately save the day, and each other, when they come to terms with their relationship and forgive each other from their fight (in which, it must be noted, Raquelle jealously tricked Barbie into breaking up with Ken). Their fairy mentors specifically equate Barbie and Raquelle's Power of Friendship with The Power of Love.

Barbie: Princess Charm School

• Blair and Delancy are another "enemies to gal pals to something more" pairing in the same vein as Elina and Nori. They're quite popular in fan works, but it's undercut significantly due to the reveal that Blair is the long-lost Princess Sophia, and thus she and Delancy are first cousins.

Barbie in the Pink Shoes

• Kristyn and Hailey are best friends, and their bond is the emotional core of the movie. The climax is built around Kristyn sneaking into the Snow Queen's evil lair to rescue Hailey in full "dashing hero / Damsel in Distress" mode. She insists on bringing Hailey onto the stage with her in the end so she can share in the glory she deserves.
• At every turn, heterosexuality is framed as a bad thing for Kristyn. She's found herself trapped in the stories of famous ballets. If she follows the established story of Giselle, she'll be Driven to Suicide and become a wandering ghost. If she follows in Odette's "proper" footsteps in Swan Lake, she'll at best be a swan forever and at worst commit suicide. She does have an implied crush on Swan Lake's Prince Siegfried, but ultimately, he's just a means to an end to break the spell, and he drops out of the story when she realizes Hailey has been captured by the Snow Queen, the ultimate enforcer of a ballet's intended order.

  Prince Siegfried: Not before I ask you right here, right now to be my wife.

  Kristyn-as-Odette: Why does everyone keep asking me that?

• As the ballets go Off the Rails due to Kristyn and Hailey's adventures, Albrecht and Hilarion, the two rival lovers from Giselle find they have a lot more in common and become very close friends. In the end, they let Giselle go to save Hailey and affirm their friendship together.

Barbie: Mariposa and the Fairy Princess

• The beating heart of this film is the relationship between Mariposa and Princess Catania, Star-Crossed Lovers from two warring fairy races. In spite of the tensions between their communities, they hit it off immediately The two share their love for books and history, they exchange expensive and valuable gifts after a day out in the city.
• Mariposa teaching Catania how to dance at the gala, and their Dance of Romance becomes the highlight of the event.
• Once again, our heroine's color palette is pink and orange, much like the lesbian pride flag.

Barbie Starlight Adventure

• Barbie and Sal-Lee join Elina and Nori in the grand rivals-to-lovers Barbie tradition. When Barbie meets Sal-Lee, her fan-girling over the famous spacefarer is palpable. They have some competitiveness at first, but they learn to work together and form a loyal bond.

Barbie: Dolphin Magic

• Barbie meets Isla, a mermaid attempting to infiltrate the human world to save a captured dolphin. Barbie immediately takes a shine to her and shows her around the human world. Every interaction is intimate and characterized by long, loving gazes. They represent a new, fascinating, beautiful world to the other.
• There is a Ken here, but he and Barbie are specifically Just Friends and they have no kind of romantic subplot.

Barbie Big City Big Dreams

• Malibu and Brooklyn's friendship is the core of the movie's plot, and their relationship goes through plenty of beats familiar to the romcom format. Much like Anneliese and Erika, Malibu and Brooklyn take a shine to each other from the moment they meet as they realize how much they have in common—including having the same name. They make a vow to not let their aspirations of Broadway fame tear them apart and push each other to do their best in the arts program. When Malibu is framed for supposedly deliberately pushing Brooklyn and spraining her ankle (in actuality, it was an accident), we're treated to a sad Good-Times Montage before Brooklyn learns the truth and makes up with Malibu...by serenading her with their Friendship Song.
• Emmie's characterization also lends itself to a queer reading. She used to be friends with Brooklyn until her controlling Stage Dad interfered, and her subplot revolves around her standing up to her father and living her life the way she chooses.
• In a similar vein to Luciana from Island Princess, Malibu and Brooklyn's fashionista friend Rafa is thought by many fans to be gay-coded. His statement about not believing in labels (except designer ones) and the fact that he has a dog named Gato (Spanish for "cat") has only fueled this interpretation, with the latter detail being considered a shoutout to Wolfie from Princess and the Pauper (a character whose arc has been dubbed by many Barbie fans as a trans allegory).

Barbie (2023)

• In an extended comedic bit, Ryan Gosling and Simu Liu's Kens threaten to "beach each other off." They also share a fairly homoerotic rivalry throughout a lot of the film, culminating in a dance-off. Gosling's Ken also seems pretty happy when he gets kissed on the cheek by two of the other Kens in said dance-off.
• In addition to this, Kingsley Ben-Adir's Ken is seen throughout the movie shyly looking at Ken from a distance from the side, follows behind him in most scenes or is not far behind, is the first one to stand by his side during the 'beach off' bit and even gets Gosling's Ken's fur coat at the end. It's not a stretch to read him as a closeted man desperately wanting the approval of his crush.
• During the Ken War, a couple of Kens are seen in the background going from fighting to dancing with each other. During the big song and dance number, 'I'm Just Ken', towards the end the Kens are passionately dancing with each other. There's also the delightfully campy line 'put that manly hand in mine'.
• With Barbie paying more attention to Gloria than Ken, sharing a Held Gaze when they met due to Gloria being the human playing with this Barbie and Gloria's husband barely being in the movie to the point of not even getting named, it is easy to ship them.