''Barbie Dreamtopia'', ''Barbie: Dreamtopia'' or simply ''Dreamtopia'', is a web-based

children's A child ( : children) is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person young ...

media franchise A media franchise, also known as a multimedia franchise, is a collection of related media in which several derivative works have been produced from an original creative work of fiction, such as a film, a work of literature, a television program ...

created by Julia Pistor for

Mattel Television Mattel Television is the television production division of American toy and entertainment company Mattel, originally founded under the name Mattel Creations on March 31, 2016. It is headed by general manager and senior vice president, Frederic So ...

(previously ''Mattel Creations'') which was active from 14 January 2016 to 21 October 2021. The original Dreamtopia franchise was produced by

Israeli Israeli may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the State of Israel * Israelis, citizens or permanent residents of the State of Israel * Modern Hebrew, a language * ''Israeli'' (newspaper), published from 2006 to 2008 * Guni Israeli (b ...

animation studio An animation studio is a company producing animated media. The broadest such companies conceive of products to produce, own the physical equipment for production, employ operators for that equipment, and hold a major stake in the sales or rentals o ...

Snowball Studios with support from The Jerusalem Film & Television Fund. from its beginning on 14 January 2016 until 1 April 2018.

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

-based Relish Studios produced an 8-part mini-serial spin-off of the franchise titled ''Barbie Return to Dreamtopia'' as an part of a broader 3D CGI-animated web franchise known as ''Barbie's Dreamworld'' which was released by

on YouTube Kids and YouTube, the latter via its Barbie user handle, between 21 July and 21 October 2021.

Premise

The series follows Chelsea Roberts as she finds herself touring her own make-believe land known as Dreamtopia with her elder sister,

Barbie Barbie is a fashion doll manufactured by American toy company Mattel, Inc. and launched on March 9, 1959. American businesswoman Ruth Handler is credited with the creation of the doll using a German doll called Bild Lilli as her inspiration. ...

. There, they discover a whole new munch-able world; swim through rainbow rivers with small mermaids and fly through cotton candy clouds with fairies.

Broadcast

''Dreamtopia'' began with the release of a teaser promo video on 14 January 2016. The shorts then followed from 5 May to 21 July 2016 and was initially released as a YouTube Kids-exclusive production, but was later made available on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

. A 2D

computer-animated Computer animation is the process used for digitally generating animations. The more general term computer-generated imagery (CGI) encompasses both static scenes (still images) and dynamic images (moving images), while computer animation refer ...

television special spanning 46 minutes in length was distributed by

Universal Pictures Home Entertainment Universal Pictures Home Entertainment (formerly Universal Studios Home Entertainment, Universal Studios Home Video, MCA/Universal Home Video, MCA Home Video, MCA Videodisc and MCA Videocassette, Inc.) is the home video distribution division of Am ...

and broadcast on television in 5 countries and regions on 26 June 2016. The success of the TV special resulted in the

greenlight To green-light is to give permission to proceed with a project. The term is a reference to the green traffic signal, indicating "go ahead". Film industry In the context of the film and television industries, to green-light something is to ...

ing of an eponymous web series, with four episodes released early on YouTube and YouTube Kids on 4 May 2017. The web series episodes began releasing weekly on YouTube and YouTube Kids from 5 November 2017 to 1 April 2018. ''Barbie Dreamtopia: The Series'' premiered on

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...

on 2 March 2018. The series also premiered on Kabillion in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

on 7 September 2018

Main characters

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

(voiced by Meira Bilnkoff): Barbie's little sister and the focus of the franchise. * Honey (voiced by

Lucien Dodge Lucien Dodge (born June 24, 1984) is an American voice actor who does work in animation, anime and video games. He is mostly known for his characters in anime such as Waver Velvet in '' Fate/Zero'', Maron and Chili in ''Pokémon'', K1-B0 in '' Da ...

): Chelsea's puppy. * Otto / Notto Prince (voiced by Addie Chandler) is Chelsea's neighbor. In Dreamtopia, his character is Notto Prince. *

(voiced by Erica Lindbeck): Chelsea's older sister.

Shorts

The ''Barbie: Dreamtopia'' franchise overall was centered on a series of 2D-oriented

shorts released exclusively on YouTube between 5 May and 21 July 2016.

Television film

An eponymous

television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

spanning 46 minutes in length was released on 26 June 2016 by

and broadcast on television in 5 countries and territories including

Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived ...

Super RTL Super RTL is a German free-to-air television network owned by the RTL Group. The channel originally launched in 1995 as a joint venture between RTL Group predecessor company CLT-UFA and Disney's Buena Vista International Television Investments ...

in Germany,

Pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * ''Pop'' ( ...

in the UK and

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

MiniMini+ MiniMini+ is a Polish television channel owned and operated by ITI Neovision SA. Its programmes are aimed primarily at children aged 3–8. History Before the launch of MiniMini, Minimax Minimax (sometimes MinMax, MM or saddle point) is a ...

in Poland,

Karusel Carousel or Carousel International, also known by its transliterated Russian name Карусель, is a Russian television channel dedicated to children and youth. It was founded by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. It is currently available in ...

in Russia and

Media Prima Media Prima Berhad, doing business as Media Prima and stylised as media prima, is a Malaysian media company based in Petaling Jaya, Selangor. It is Malaysia's largest media and entertainment conglomerate with business interests in television, pr ...

in Malaysia.

''Barbie Dreamtopia: Festival of Fun''

The web-based special, ''Festival of Fun'', was released on 4 May 2017 on YouTube and its affiliate

mobile app A mobile application or app is a computer program or software application designed to run on a mobile device such as a phone, tablet, or watch. Mobile applications often stand in contrast to desktop applications which are designed to run on d ...

. It is a compilation of the first four episodes of ''Dreamtopia: The Series'' ahead of its official debut in November that year.

The Series

During

MIPCOM MIPCOM (Marché International des Programmes de Communication, English: International Market of Communications Programmes) is an annual trade show held in the French town of Cannes, traditionally in the month of October and running for 4 days. I ...

2016, Mattel Creations announced the

ing of an eponymous web series and afterwards on

via its Barbie user handle on 12 October 2016, citing the success of the television film special released on 26 June as the reason. It is, like the franchise overall, created by Julia Pistor with assistance from Saul Blinkoff and majority-directed by Eran Lazar. This web series, like the earlier web shorts, was first released on YouTube Kids and to YouTube itself afterwards from 5 November 2017 to 1 April 2018. The series debuted on American television via children's

programming block Block programming is the arrangement of programs on radio or television so that those of a particular genre, theme, or target audience are united. Overview Block programming involves scheduling a series of related shows which are likely to attra ...

KidsClick from

Sinclair Broadcast Group Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. (SBG) is a publicly traded American telecommunications conglomerate that is controlled by the descendants of company founder Julian Sinclair Smith. Headquartered in the Baltimore suburb of Cockeysville, Maryland, ...

on 24 September 2018 and on South African television via eToonz on 25 March 2019.