Warner Bros explains ‘childlike’ map that sparked Barbie Vietnam ban

The upcoming film starring Margot Robbie was banned over a map depicting the South China Sea, described as an innocent ‘whimsical’ drawing by the film studio.

Margot Robbie in Barbie with the offending map in the background. Picture: Warner Bros Pictures

Warner Brothers studio has stated that a map of the South China Sea in its upcoming Barbie film was not intended to make any kind of statement, days after Vietnam announced it would ban commercial screenings of the film.

The highly anticipated Greta Gerwig film, starring Australian actor Margot Robbie, was originally set for worldwide release on July 21. Vietnamese authorities objected to a scene that displayed a map including the “nine-dash line,” which symbolically represents China‘s arbitrary claims to territory in the South China Sea. They called for a ban on the film’s domestic distribution.

Warner Bros studio responded by stating that the map “was not intended to make any type of statement”. In a statement to Variety, the studio explained: “The map in Barbie Land is a whimsical, childlike crayon drawing. The doodles depict Barbie’s make-believe journey from Barbie Land to the real world.”

It should be noted that the squiggled map, featuring chalk drawings of dolphins and turtles, consists of eight lines and does not resemble an accurate depiction of global maps. Vietnam contests these claims and considers the map a violation of its sovereignty, leading to the suspension of “Barbie” release within its territory.

Ryan Gosling and Margot Robbie in the Barbie movie, which is shaping up to be a 2023 box-office giant. Picture: Warner Bros. Studio

According to state newspaper Tuoi Tre, Vi Kien Thanh, head of the Department of Cinema, a government body responsible for licensing and censoring foreign films, stated, “We do not grant a licence for the American movie Barbie to be released in Vietnam because it contains the offending image of the nine-dash line.”

Barbie is poised to be one of the year’s biggest hits, despite the film not being released yet. The hype has prompted Mattel, the company behind Barbie, to plan an extensive expansion of its cinematic universe.

According to a report in The New Yorker, Mattel is already developing 45 films based on its toy brand catalogue. While only 13 of these projects have been publicly announced, they include notable ventures such as Daniel Kaluuya‘s Barney the Dinosaur, a Hot Wheels film with J.J. Abrams attached, and a horror comedy centred around the Magic 8 Ball. Additionally, it is understood that Tom Hanks is involved in a movie featuring Major Matt Mason, an action figure from the 1960s believed to have inspired Buzz Lightyear in Toy Story.