Barbie's First Animated Film, Barbie in the Nutcracker, Hits Netflix Top 10 Ahead of 2026 Remake

Before Mattel expanded its toy brands into major live-action films, the company released animated movies aimed at children. Many were released directly to physical media, while some also aired on television. But thanks to streaming, these movies have found a second life, allowing a new generation of audiences to watch these popular toys come to life.

One major example is the Barbie movies, a series of animated films based on the Barbie toy line. Before Greta Gerwig cast Margot Robbie as the iconic doll, Mattel released numerous animated films in which Barbie played various princesses, before giving her her own story in 2006's The Barbie Diaries. As Gerwig's Barbie sequel has yet to be confirmed, amid reports of stalled contract talks, and with a new animated movie coming out this year, fans began watching the first Barbie movie that started it all.

Barbie in the Nutcracker was a 2001 CGI animated fantasy film that loosely adapted E. T. A. Hoffmann's The Nutcracker and the Mouse King. The film began appearing on the streaming charts on Wednesday, and as of this writing, it sits at #10 on Netflix's Top 10 Kids Movie chart in the United States, below Despicable Me 3. One possible reason for its streaming resurgence is the announcement that Barbie in the Nutcracker will be remade, scheduled for release this November on Netflix. Another possible reason for the film's uptick in popularity is that fans are paying tribute to the late Tim Curry, who played the Mouse King.

How Many Barbie Animated Movies Are There?

Barbie in the Nutcracker was well received, earning a 60% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes and a 3.5-star rating on Letterboxd. Since then, Mattel has released over 40 animated Barbie movies, starting with Barbie as Rapunzel and, most recently, Barbie & Teresa: Recipe for Friendship, released in March 2025. While many Barbie movies have told stories about princesses, fairies, and Barbie herself, Mattel has changed how it tells the iconic doll's stories over the years.

However, out of all the Barbie movies released, the live-action Barbie, starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, became the most successful, grossing over $1.448 billion worldwide. The film earned a "Best Picture" nomination at the 2024 Academy Awards and won "Best Original Song" for Billie Eilish and Finneas O'Connell's "What Was I Made For?" Its marketing also became a cultural phenomenon thanks to "Barbenheimer," a term coined after Barbie and Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer shared the same release date, creating a theatrical event that drove many to theaters.