Meet the voice of all your favorite Barbie toys and games

Decked out in head-to-toe denim and gold, Super Talk Barbie has a lot to say. The computer chip inside his chest chooses from a mix-and-match set of phrases – let’s meet and, go dancing with ken, eat ice cream with friendsOr sit around and watch the video, Put all those lines together and Super Talk Barbie has 100,000 different phrases, according to Mattel’s 1994 ad.

It’s no wonder why Chris Anthony was at Mattel’s California studio every day for the Lansdowne years; She is the voice of not only Super Talk Barbie but all of the 90s products where you hear Barbie’s voice. From barbie fashion designer And barbie riding club From Barbie flip phones to boomboxes, Lansdowne’s voice is embedded in all things Barbie. For the many kids who grew up in Lansdowne in the 90s Is Barbie, the voice of her childhood.

Play Gamez exclusively spoke to Lansdowne in June to discuss her iconic role barbie fashion designer, the first mass-market “games for girls.” Lansdowne talked about getting the job of voicing Barbie, the legacy of the role, and how she told her own child – in Barbie’s target demographic – that she voices her favorite doll.

Play Gamez: barbie fashion designer This is the first Barbie video game you’ve voiced, but how did you get started in the role?

Chris Anthony Lansdowne: I had been doing voice-over work for many years. i was on-camera before [actor], You could see me in commercials and I was always a goofy blonde and a funny bank teller. It turned out to be very limiting for me because I was a fair, blue-eyed girl and couldn’t play old ladies or crazy characters, which I’m really known for. And I thought, “Oh my god, the voice acting is so different.” You may be an old, old lady. And then you can be a little boy. You can do anything. And it doesn’t matter how you look. and I thought, Yes. someone set me free in this new world,

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Photo: SSPL/Getty Images

You know, I started booking commercials, animations and other things. It was 1994 when Barbie was made, and I was making toy voices, but Mattel was looking for a voice for Barbie. He didn’t really have an established voice. I didn’t know I was auditioning for Barbie. I have to tell you, this is probably the craziest part of my journey as Barbie – how I got cast.

I was going to Mattel the next day, I didn’t know it was for 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 the house, but it was bad – definitely things were flying off the shelves. I had never been there before and I had a daughter who was just a child. it was painful. And I thought to myself – this is crazy – Oh No! How do I get to my audition? This is the life of an actress.

I called the director and told him I couldn’t do it. He says, “Look, Chris, we’re under gun. Can you give us a few lines of something and we’ll know if you’re a barbie. I could not even catch him. I was very nervous. I said, “Sure, I can audition over the phone. What do you want me to say?” And he says, “Well, why don’t you say, ‘Hi, it’s Barbie, welcome to McDonald’s?’

Now I’m looking forward to auditioning for Barbie. It was very intense. Barbie. I thought of the days when I used to play with her as a doll. I wanted her to be soft and sweet, like a little girl’s best friend. And so I said, “Hi, it’s me, Barbie. Welcome to McDonald’s. You look great.” I open my eyes and I’m gone, Ok…that’s all that came out of my mouth. She’s a barbie. The director didn’t say anything. It took him a few seconds to realize that I was so bad he wasn’t even going to answer. He says, “Wow, Chris. Is there any chance you can come to Mattel tomorrow?” And I went, “Sure. I’ll deal with the earthquake.”

I got in the car the next day. No running water. I put on my baseball cap. Totally un-Barbie. You want to audition for barbie wearing pink [with] Your hair is done. There’s a statue of her, a big giant Barbie, in the lobby. She looked like Oscar. And I thought, I’m going to be her voice. I straightened my baseball cap and went back to the recording studio. 10 people were monitoring the booth. The director says, “Just do what you did on the phone.”

So I said, “Hi, it’s me, Barbie. You all look great.” they laughed. There was complete silence. And then this happens, slow motion. The director put his finger on the talkback button and said, “Hello, Barbie. Welcome to Mattel. We will start work from tomorrow.”

After the cell phone, we worked on the toy, the boombox and the CD-ROM. We kept making Barbie toys month after month. Because suddenly Barbie’s voice came. I was constantly in the studio.

Photo: Tim Leidy/MediaNews Group/Reading Eagle via Getty Images

And came the next game?

computer game called barbie fashion designer, She said that a little girl can design Barbie fashions by sitting at the computer. they supplied some material in the box [so] That you can print out the fashion and put it on your barbie. Your Barbie can model the outfit you just made.

Boys had millions of computer games. The girls had nothing. When it came out, it was unprecedented. every little girl had to have barbie fashion designer, I remember thinking wow this is cutting edge, It was very exciting because I kept thinking, I’m going to live in all these little girls’ homes. They’re going to play and I want to make sure she stays just a good friend, My whole intention was not to make him a fool or a fool. I wanted her to be smart and sweet.

when they approached me this year fashion designer To be inducted into the Video Game Hall of Fame makes perfect sense. When it was picked up, it was amazing. I thought to myself, Well, if I die tomorrow, at least I’ll be in the Hall of Fame! Well, my voice would be anyway.

Personally, I played this game as a little girl and hearing your voice… it was a big part of my childhood. Detective Barbie in The Mystery of the Carnival Caper was my favourite.

and then there was barbie riding club, barbie [Magic] Hairstylist, Barbie: Ocean Discovery, This went on continuously. There were days when I’d finish recording and just sit in my car and think, Yes, I want to be a barbie. I want to live in his world.

like recording for a video game barbie fashion designer Aside from recording TV or film or any toy you’ve made?

It definitely is. It’s in that toy style where it’s a bit more broken and shredded. In animation, it is accompanied by a story. But video games are like directing in a way. In my world, and what we’re talking about with Barbie, it was to guide children and teach them how to play. But then as we got into computer games like the story, it got a little more fun. Like when Barbie was Rapunzel. But yeah, it’s like the toys for me where it has to be a little more directional, you know? But also, I remember there was one line, “Oh, you look great.” I love your clothes.” You know, she was encouraging. It was really cool to encourage girls and encourage someone to play. But yeah, it’s a little repetitive because you have to repeat over and over Is.

Image: Digital Domain/Metal Media

You mentioned this a little earlier, but did you realize at the time how important it was? barbie fashion designer Will become?

A part of me felt that what I was doing would probably end my life. Little did I know, I’m still around. But I was aware of it. It’s tough 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 are doing. And I did. I felt like the times didn’t change until I did when they started making different sounds or making it hipper, cooler. I had this 90s feel.

I remember when toy Story came out and I thought, Oh god, I’m going to act in this feature film toy Story. At the time, Mattel didn’t want me to tell people I was a Barbie. They wanted the magic and imagination of Barbie. For a long time I could not share what I was going through. It was hard because I wanted so much to share because I was so proud of it. There would be a bunch of kids at my front door asking if I could make a Barbie. And many times I used to call the kids who were sick. Mattel didn’t know.

but anyway, toy Story came out and for some reason, they didn’t want it. Disney wanted to use its own Barbie. I had been making barbies for eight years at that time. and I thought, What? You don’t want me as your barbie? He decided to do his own work. You can’t control a lot of travel. He eventually used a beautiful person, Jody Benson, who was the Little Mermaid. I thought, Does he have enough work to do? Let me get my barbie back! But they did and she created a different version of Barbie.

I am just grateful that I got to be with him for so long.

How did people react when they finally found out that you were Barbie?

My daughter was about 5 years old when I was doing a lot of the Barbie work. My daughter was really interested in Barbie. she was playing fashion designerShe had Barbie in her wardrobe, she had Barbie shoes.

she is playing fashion designer On the computer… She must have been 6 or 7 years old. I’m listening from the other room and I hear Barbie, she’s directing. and I thought, Does my daughter even know I’m a Barbie? Do I tell her and completely ruin it for her? It would be like telling someone that there is no Santa Claus. I thought, I’m not going to tell her. I don’t want to waste it. Maybe a week later, someone came up to her and said, “Did you know your mom is Barbie?”

I’m just worried that she’ll be on Dr. Phil. She looks at them and says, “Huh?” And they say, “Yeah, your mom does the Barbie voice. She is your mother.” She didn’t play for almost a week. At that age, he didn’t get it. But as she got older, she thought it was really cool. It’s like, “Do you know my mom? My mom’s Barbie.” Her friends would come over to the car and she’d say, “Mom, honk.” And I’d go [in the Barbie voice]”Go clean your room!”