Although the 'Barbie World' hitmakers were only given a short time to make decision, they are pleasantly surprised Mattel reached out, given their history of legal feud.
- August 8, 2023
AceShowbiz - Aqua admitted it was nice for bosses at Mattel - the toy company behind Barbie - to ask to use the track in movie "Barbie" after the company previously sued the band over allegations of trademark violation. The song was sampled for a collaboration between Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice called "Barbie World" and Aqua star Rene Dif said, "It's just nice to have Mattel come to us and say, 'Hey, that's cool.' "
The lawsuit was dismissed in 2002 with a court ruling the song was protected as a parody. Mattel bosses later embraced the song by using a modified version in adverts for their toys.
The group felt surprised by a request to use their song in the movie as they were only approached two months before its release. The pop group made a huge hit with their 1997 hit single "Barbie Girl" but they didn't think it would ever get used in Greta Gerwig's film until they had a late request to feature song the just two months before the film hit cinemas.
"We thought it would be like butter on bacon. We totally understood that they wanted something fresh and new. And then, just two months ago, we were asked to do the collab. It happened really quickly," singer Lene Nystrom told the Guardian newspaper.
"Barbie Girl" has since been back in the charts as a sample on "Barbie World" and Nystrom is pleased it's getting a new lease of life, saying, "It's just cool to see how this song actually never dies. It just keeps on living, taking turns and twists." She added of seeing the movie's trailer, "It's kind of fun to see the movie trailer going, 'Hi Barbie! Hi Ken!' It was like seeing our universe, our video on steroids - it's the same colours."
