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The highly-anticipated Barbie<\/em> movie<\/a> was never making it to the big screen without a battle or two. Star and producer Margot Robbie<\/strong><\/a> acknowledged this in her initial meeting with Mattel CEO Ynon Kreiz<\/strong> back in 2018, as she recounted in a new Time<\/em><\/a> magazine cover. \u201cIn that very first meeting, we impressed upon Ynon we are going to honor the legacy of your brand, but if we don\u2019t acknowledge certain things\u2014if we don\u2019t say it, someone else is going to say it,\u201d Robbie said. \u201cSo you might as well be a part of that conversation.\u201d<\/p>\n Since then, the toy company has established its place in that dialogue\u2014orchestrating a \u201cBarbie boot camp\u201d with director Greta Gerwig<\/strong> and Noah Baumbach<\/strong>, with whom she wrote the film, and voicing creative differences, Time<\/em> reports. Richard Dickson<\/strong>, COO and president of Mattel, said that he took a flight mid-production to the film\u2019s London set \u201cto argue with Gerwig and Robbie over a particular scene, which he felt was off-brand,\u201d according to the outlet. But once he saw the scene performed in-person, Dickson reportedly reversed course. \u201cWhen you look on the page, the nuance isn\u2019t there, the delivery isn\u2019t there,\u201d Robbie explained.<\/p>\n The Barbie<\/em> movie<\/a> has hit bumps before, stopping and starting various iterations with Anne Hathaway<\/strong> and Amy Schumer<\/strong>. In a recent interview on Watch What Happens Live<\/em><\/a>, Schumer suggested to Andy Cohen<\/strong> that she departed her version of the film because it \u201cdidn\u2019t feel feminist and cool.\u201d Dickson opted not to comment on Schumer\u2019s remark, but told Time<\/em>: \u201cIt was a matter of finding the right talent that can appreciate the brand\u2019s authenticity and bring that controversy to life in a way that, yes, pokes fun at us but ultimately is purposeful and has heart.\u201d<\/p>\n In the same piece, Robbie Brenner<\/strong>, executive producer of Mattel Films, warned Mattel executives (who even get their own onscreen proxy played by Will Ferrell<\/strong>), \u201cYou\u2019re just gonna white-knuckle it the whole time.\u201d But Brenner told Time<\/em> that Barbie<\/em> is \u201cnot a feminist movie,\u201d a belief reportedly expressed by other company execs. \u201cWho said that?\u201d Robbie asked the outlet when alerted to the sentiment before sighing. \u201cIt\u2019s not that it is or it isn\u2019t. It\u2019s a movie. It\u2019s a movie that\u2019s got so much in it.\u201d More importantly, the actor said, \u201cwe\u2019re in on the joke. This isn\u2019t a Barbie puff piece.\u201d<\/p>\n Alas, making an existential, aimed-at-adults Barbie<\/em> movie influenced by 2001: A Space Odyssey<\/em><\/a> was always going to be a tricky proposition. As Gerwig put it, \u201csometimes these movies can have a quality of hegemonic capitalism,\u201d adding, \u201cIt\u2019s like sneaking in humanity to something that everybody thinks is a hunk of plastic.\u201d<\/p>\n