This year’s brilliant addition to the Mattel Wizard of Oz Fantasy Glamour Doll collection is GLINDA™ the Good Witch, who’s every bit the glam equal of previous years’ fantasy re-thinking of Dorothy and the Wicked Witch of the West. The doll also completes the trio of iconic female Wizard of Oz characters. Here are notes from the doll’s designer, Linda Kyaw.
1. Why Glinda?
We chose Glinda because she completes the set of iconic female WOZ characters: we had previously done fantasy interpretations of both Dorothy and Wicked Witch of the West. Not only is she dynamic from a character perspective, but her unique costume and beloved persona made it an easy choice for her to be celebrated into a doll.
2. What does Glinda add to the brand?
In my opinion, Glinda seems to be one of the easiest translations into a doll. Quite simply because of her beautiful costume color scheme and abundance of sparkles! She also represents all that is hopeful, positive and encourages others to follow their own sparkling path.
3. What four adjectives would you apply to the Glinda doll that would attract a consumer?
The four adjectives I would use to describe Glinda are: beautiful, enchanting, joyful, and aspirational.
4. What kind of kid would be drawn to Glinda?
I think most kids would be drawn to Glinda. There is a maternal quality about her that I think people, in general, are drawn to. She is the quintessential archetype for all that is good. I believe that whether we all admit it or not, it is hard not to be drawn to positivity in any form. Kids are no exception.
5. What makes this particular doll’s debut special?
This is the first time we had ever done a fantasy interpretation of Glinda. When you see her, you immediately have that “aha!” moment when all the pieces come together. She is the missing piece to our tribute to the WOZ females.
6. She doesn’t look like Billie Burke–what were your thoughts leading to her re-design?
When I am designing with a fantasy interpretation in mind, I wipe the slate clean for the most part. Once its wiped clean, I bring back in the key elements that have made people connect to her: the colors, the butterflies, the wand, the crown, etc…From there I just take a back seat and let my imagination run free. I’m sure most creatives understand what I mean!
GLINDA™ is available on The Barbie Collection website.