Meet the woman who voiced your ’90s Barbie toys

Super Talk Barbie is dressed in gold and denim from head-to-toe. She has lots to say. The computer chip inside her chest picks and chooses from a mix-and-match set of phrases — Let’s get together and… Kenny Goes Dancing,Get ice-cream with friendsOr Sit around and watch Videos. Put all those lines together and Super Talk Barbie has 100,000 different phrases, according to Mattel’s 1994 commercial.

It’s no wonder why Chris Anthony Lansdowne was in Mattel’s California studio every day for years; she’s the voice not only of Super Talk Barbie but of all ’90s products where you hear Barbie’s voice. You can download the app from here. Barbie Fashion DesignerThe following are some examples of how to get started: Barbie Riding Club to a Barbie flip phone and boombox, Lansdowne’s voice You can learn more about it here. embedded in all things Barbie. For so many kids who grew up in the ’90s, Lansdowne isBarbie is the voice of childhood.

Polygon spoke with Lansdowne, in June of this year, to talk about her iconic role. Barbie Fashion Designer, the first mass-market “game for girls.” Lansdowne spoke about getting the job to voice Barbie, the role’s legacy, and about how she told her kid — in Barbie’s target demographic — that she voices her favorite doll.

Polygon: Barbie Fashion DesignerWhat was your first Barbie game?

Chris Anthony LansdowneSince many years, I have been a voice-over artist. First, I worked as an on-camera [actor]. In commercials, I played a blonde goofy and was a humorous bank teller. It became so limited for me because I was this blond, blue-eyed girl and couldn’t do old women or crazy characters, which I’m really known for doing. And I thought, “Gosh, voice acting is so different.” You could be an old, old lady. Then you can be a young boy. The possibilities were endless. And it didn’t matter what you look like. Then I thought: Yes. I just felt like someone had opened up a whole new world to me..

Photo by SSPL/Getty Images

You know, I began booking commercials and animated stuff. Mattel had asked me to do Barbie’s voice in 1994, when I already did the voices for toys. They didn’t really have an established voice. I didn’t know that I was auditioning for Barbie. I’ve got to tell you, this is probably the most crazy part of my journey as Barbie — how I got cast.

Mattel was my destination the following day. I didn’t know it was Barbie. And there was an earthquake — the 1994 earthquake in Northridge, California, which was 20 minutes from where I lived. It wasn’t so bad that I was out of a house, but it was bad — definitely things flying off the shelves. It was the first time I’d ever been inside one, and my baby daughter was with me. It was traumatizing. And I thought in my mind — this is crazy — Oh my God! How will I get to the audition on time? It’s the life of an actress.

I called the director and told them I couldn’t make it. He says, “Look, Chris, we’re under the gun. Can you just give us a couple of lines of something and we’re going to know if you’re Barbie.” I didn’t even catch that. I was a nervous wreck. I said, “Sure, I can audition on the phone. What do you want me to say?” And he says, “Well, why don’t you say, ‘Hi, this is Barbie, welcome to McDonald’s’?”

Now I’m in an earthquake auditioning for Barbie. The intensity was intense. You can also find out more about the following: Barbie. When I was a child, I would play with Barbie as a toy. I wanted her to be kind of soft and sweet, like a little girl’s best friend. And so I went, “Hi, it’s me, Barbie. Welcome to McDonald’s. You look very cool.” I opened my eyes and I went, OK… that just came out of my mouth. That’s Barbie.Nothing was said by the director. He took a few seconds that I thought I was so bad he wasn’t even responding. He goes, “Wow, Chris. Is there any chance you could come down to Mattel tomorrow?” And I went, “Sure. I’ll deal with the earthquake.”

The next morning, I was in my car. There was no running water. Put on your baseball cap. This is very un-Barbie like. Barbie in pink is not what you want. [with] your hair done. In the lobby there’s a big gigantic Barbie, a statue of her. She looked just like an Oscar. And I thought, I’m going to be her voice. After straightening my baseball hat, I returned to the studio. The booth was filled with 10 people. The director says, “Just do what you did on the phone.”

So I went, “Hi, it’s me, Barbie. You all look cool.” They laughed. There was a dead silence. Slow motion. The director put his finger on the talkback button and said, “Hello, Barbie. Mattel welcomes you. We start work tomorrow.”

We did toy after cell phone after boombox after CD-ROM. Every month, we made Barbie toys. Barbie’s voice appeared out of nowhere. The studio was my home.

Image: Tim Leedy/MediaNews Group/Reading Eagle by Getty Images

Next came the game.

Computer game called Barbie Fashion Designer. They said a little girl could sit at the computer and design Barbie’s fashion. The box included some materials. [so]Print out your fashions and place them on Barbie. You could have Barbie wear the dress you made.

The boys had a plethora of games. Girls didn’t have anything. It was revolutionary when this came out. This was a must-have for every little girl Barbie Fashion Designer. “I remember thinking,” This is truly cutting edge technology. The excitement was intense because I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I’m going to be in all these little girls’ homes. They’re going to be playing and I want to make sure she’s just a good friend. I didn’t want to turn her into a dummy or a snob. My goal was for her to be both smart and nice.

They contacted me about this in the year. Fashion DesignerIt made complete sense to be nominated. It was amazing when it was selected. The thought occurred to me, Well, if I kick the bucket tomorrow, at least I’m going to be in the hall of fame!My voice is enough to convince you.

Personally, I played the game as a little girl and hearing your voice… It was just a huge part of my childhood. The Mystery of the Carnival Caper: Detective BarbieIt was my favourite.

Then there were those who argued that Barbie Riding Club, Barbie [Magic] Hair Styler, Barbie: Ocean Discovery. The music continued. Some days I would just finish recording, get in my vehicle and start thinking. “Gee, I wish to remain as Barbie.” She is my world.

Does recording for a game look like Barbie Fashion Designer different from recording for TV or film or any of the toys you’ve done?

It’s definitely true. It’s in that toy genre where it’s a little more broken and chopped. In animation, there’s a story along with it. Video games can be compared to directing. In my world, and what we’re talking about with Barbie, it was directing kids and showing them how to play. The computer games became more enjoyable as they evolved into a more story-based game. Barbie as Rapunzel was a good example. But yeah, it’s like toys for me where it’s got to be a little more directional, you know? But at the same time, I remember there was a line saying, “Oh, you look cool. I love your outfit.” You know, she was encouraging. It was great to see girls playing and being encouraged. Yes, the repetition is annoying because you need to do it over and again.

Image: Digital Domain/Mattel Media

Did you know how crucial this was when you mentioned it a few times before? Barbie Fashion DesignerWhat would you become?

A part of me thought that I would probably outlive what I am doing. Little did I know, I’m still around. It was a feeling I got. It’s hard because you get cast for something and you really appreciate what you’re doing. You have to live in the moment and appreciate what you’re doing. It’s what I did. While I was doing it, I had this feeling. I didn’t feel that way until the time came when people started making her cooler or changing the sound. I had this ’90s feel to me.

Remember when? Toy StoryWhen I saw the sun, I was amazed. Oh my gosh, I’m going to be in this feature film doingToy Story. At that time, Mattel didn’t want me to tell people I was Barbie. Mattel wanted Barbie’s magic and fantasy. I couldn’t share what I was doing for a long time. Because I was so excited about my work, I really wanted to share it. It was hard because I wanted to share it so much. I had a lot of children at my door asking if I did Barbie. Sometimes I’d call sick kids. Mattel didn’t know.

It doesn’t matter. Toy Story came out and for some reason, they didn’t want it. Disney wanted Barbie to be theirs. Barbie was my eighth year of doing it. “I thought,” What? You don’t want me as your Barbie?They did what they wanted. You can’t control a lot of the journey. Jodi Benjamin, a stunning woman, was chosen to be the Little Mermaid. “I thought,” Is she busy enough? Please, give me my Barbie doll back!She did make a Barbie that was different.

I’m just grateful I got to be her for as long as I did.

When people finally realized that you are Barbie, how did they react?

When I did a lot with Barbie, my daughter was around 5 years old. My daughter loved Barbie. She was playing Fashion Designer, she had Barbies in her closet, she had Barbie shoes.

She’s playing Fashion Designer on the computer… She must have been 6 or 7. I’m listening from the other room and I hear Barbie, she’s directing. “And I thought,” Does my daughter even know I’m Barbie? Should I reveal it to her or ruin the surprise? It would be like telling someone there’s no Santa Claus. The thought occurred to me. I’m not going to tell her. I don’t want to ruin it. It was maybe a week later, somebody came up to her and said, “Do you know your mom is Barbie?”

I’m just worried she’s going to be on Dr. Phil. She looks at them and goes, “Huh?” And they go, “Yeah, your mom does Barbie’s voice. That’s your mom.” She didn’t play for about a week. At that age, she didn’t get it. She thought it was pretty cool as she grew up. It’s like, “Do you know my mom? My mom’s Barbie.” Her friends would come over to the car and she’d go, “Mom, do the voice.” And I’d go [in the Barbie voice], “Go clean your room!”