Why Did the Horse-Heavy ‘Barbie’ Leave Out the Best Barbie Toy of All?

Warning: The following article contains spoilers about Barbie.

With one of the biggest opening weekends in movie history, hundreds of stellar reviews and massive crowds of theatergoers in pink, Barbie is no doubt a smash success. It's a triumph of filmmaking and perhaps the best example ever of turning a toy franchise into an award-worthy blockbuster. And while the movie dug deep into the Barbie archives to revive some long-discontinued toys like Pregnant Midge and Magic Earring Ken, there was one very relevant toy that somehow didn't get featured at all, despite a running horse motif. Where was Barbie's High-Stepper Horse, the greatest Barbie toy of all? 

In case you forgot or never had the pleasure of allowing your Barbie to gallop through imaginary meadows to the dulcet tones of tiny little leg motors doing their best, the High-Stepper horse was a light brown mechanical horse that, with the flip of a switch, could walk on its own. And we're not just talking stiff-legged robot steps. Sure, the back legs made stiff-legged robot steps, but the front legs had knees, and those knees could bend. It walked like a horse, mostly. It also had a beautiful mane, a denim blanket, a pink saddle and many hair accessories. It was magical. You can see it in action in a 1994 commercial below. 

This horse would have fit perfectly into the movie as Ken (Ryan Gosling) believes that horses are the ultimate symbol of masculinity and patriarchy, thanks to a brief visit to the real world. He turns Mount Barbiemore into Mount Horsemore. He and his fellow Kens fight a war in which they all ride on stick horses. Why would they do that when Barbie has a horse? And not just a horse, a horse with two knees!

It felt like a no-brainer for what some former children might call their favorite toy ever to be included in a Barbie movie with a horse theme, but apparently, we were wrong. Our only theory is that it would have been complicated to show off because of the rules of Barbieland. But also, there are no rules of Barbieland. Imagine all the Kens fighting a war on real horses that can't bend their back legs and make crazy mechanical noises as they slowly gallop. It could have been a spectacular visual joke for at least one Barbie viewer.

Currently, we can only speculate about the lack of Barbie's High-Stepper Horse in the movie because WB, Greta Gerwig and Mattel have yet to return our request for comment. But if we do receive word, we'll update this post ASAP.