Open-fronted, like the house built at Leavesden. Heels down
The sign
Overnight, Barbie’s feet go flat, one of the changes that upset her perfect routine. Here, lower her heel a notch at a time: each notch lands in a real Los Angeles place the film used, until her foot is flat at the last drop-off.
Barbie wakes up with flat feet, among other changes, which upsets her perfect routine.
Which Real World scene was shot where.
Discover Los Angeles: Discover real life Barbie locations in LA, by Liz Ohanesian (8 December 2025)ET Online: Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling channel ’80s neon Barbie and Ken on rollerblades (28 June 2022)
On tiptoe, in Barbieland: built on eight stages at Leavesden. Lower the heel to reach the Real World.
Barbieland, on eight stages · March–July 2022
Leavesden, Watford, Hertfordshire, England
All of the Barbieland scenes were filmed here, on eight stages and the backlot.
Sarah Greenwood’s sets included Barbie’s Dreamhouse, Ken’s house and a wide beach set.
Principal photography began here on 22 March 2022 and wrapped on 21 July 2022.
A working film studio, closed to visitors. You can see the lot from the public roads around it.
Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden · March–July 2022
Barbieland is not in California. Every Barbieland scene was filmed in Hertfordshire, on eight stages and the backlot of the studio outside Watford.
The sets are painted. Need another coat?
Barbieland filmed on eight stages and the backlot; sets included the Dreamhouse, Ken’s house and a beach.
Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden: Barbie the movie filmed at WBSL (21 July 2023)
Principal photography from 22 March to 21 July 2022 at Leavesden; the paint supplier’s stock of pink used up.
No walls and no doors in the Dreamhouse; the world ran out of pink.
Leavesden, Watford, Hertfordshire, England
All of the Barbieland scenes were filmed here, on eight stages and the backlot.
Sarah Greenwood’s sets included Barbie’s Dreamhouse, Ken’s house and a wide beach set.
Principal photography began here on 22 March 2022 and wrapped on 21 July 2022.
The Dreamhouse was built with no walls and no doors; Greta Gerwig said a dreamhouse leaves you nowhere to hide.
So much fluorescent pink went on the sets that the paint supplier ran out, and Greenwood said the world ran out of pink.
A working film studio, closed to visitors. You can see the lot from the public roads around it.
The Dreamhouse took its cues from Palm Springs mid-century houses. Greenwood and her set decorator ordered a real toy Dreamhouse to study.
Palm Springs mid-century modernism as the main influence; a real Dreamhouse ordered to study.
Ocean Front Walk, Venice · June 2022
Barbie and Ken arrive in the Real World on rollerblades, in neon. Push off from the Recreation Center and count the house numbers down Ocean Front Walk to the shop where they change into Western outfits.
1800 Ocean Front Walk. Push off outside the Venice Beach Recreation Center.
The Recreation Center at 1800, the courts at 1708–1798 and Lucky Venice at 1501 Ocean Front Walk.
Discover Los Angeles: Discover real life Barbie locations in LA, by Liz Ohanesian (8 December 2025)
1800 Ocean Front Walk, Venice, Los Angeles
Barbie and Ken arrive in the Real World on rollerblades, skating past the Recreation Center and along the boardwalk.
The basketball courts at 1708–1798 Ocean Front Walk go by during the ride.
Later Barbie, Gloria, Sasha and the Mattel executives skate back along it.
Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling were photographed filming on the boardwalk in neon skating gear at the end of June 2022.
The Venice Beach Skatepark is among the film’s locations.
A public boardwalk, open all day. The courts and the skatepark sit between the walk and the sand.
1501 Ocean Front Walk, Venice, Los Angeles
Barbie and Ken buy their Western outfits here after a run-in with the law.
The guide picks out the shop’s Sun Lotion sign.
A shop on the boardwalk, open to all. The photograph shows the stretch of Ocean Front Walk it stands on.
Venice
A Venice Beach hotel steps from the boardwalk where Barbie and Ken skate in: 86 rooms and 33 suites, with a rooftop bar.
See the hotelSanta Monica
A few blocks of Santa Monica do a lot of work. The 1939 City Hall plays a police station, a park nearby gives Barbie her epiphany, and the film ends at an office tower where Wilshire Boulevard meets the ocean.
1685 Main Street, Santa Monica
It plays the Venice police station, where Barbie sends Ken away.
The Art Deco building was completed in 1939, partly funded by the Public Works Administration.
A working city hall. See the front from Main Street.
1615 Ocean Avenue, Santa Monica
Barbie has her epiphany looking out over this park.
The 6.2-acre park is named for the Tongva people, who have lived in the Los Angeles area for thousands of years.
A public park a short walk from City Hall, open daily.
Wilshire Boulevard at Ocean Avenue, Santa Monica
The film’s final drop-off is at the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Ocean Avenue, outside 100 Wilshire.
The film ends with Barbie, now Barbara Handler, arriving for her first gynaecologist appointment.
An office tower. Stand on Ocean Avenue, or in Palisades Park opposite.
Ocean Avenue, Santa Monica
The park is across Ocean Avenue from 100 Wilshire, and its statue of Saint Monica appears in the film.
The statue of the city’s namesake at the end of Wilshire Boulevard dates from 1934.
A clifftop park along Ocean Avenue, open daily. The statue stands where Wilshire Boulevard meets it.
Century City · Bunker Hill · Long Beach · Lake Balboa
Inland, the Real World gets taller. Ken finds his ideas outside an agency in Century City, a Bunker Hill bank tower plays Mattel, and Gloria hides the car in downtown Long Beach. The school scenes were shot at Paul Revere Charter Middle School in Pacific Palisades; it is a working school, so it is not on the map.
Paul Revere Charter Middle School and Magnet Center, 1450 Allenford Avenue, plays Davy Crockett Junior High.
Discover Los Angeles: Discover real life Barbie locations in LA, by Liz Ohanesian (8 December 2025)
Avenue of the Stars and Century Park East, Century City, Los Angeles
Ken walks outside the Creative Artists Agency building, 2002 Avenue of the Stars, and has his realisation about the Real World.
The Century Plaza Towers, 2029 and 2049 Century Park East, appear in a montage.
The twin 44-storey towers by Minoru Yamasaki were finished in 1975, each on a triangular plan.
Office buildings. Walk Avenue of the Stars and Century Park East outside them.
333 South Hope Street, Bunker Hill, Los Angeles
The plaza stands in for Mattel’s headquarters.
Alexander Calder’s sculpture Four Arches, in the plaza, appears in the film.
The 55-storey tower was completed in 1974; Four Arches is 42 feet tall.
An office tower on Bunker Hill. Calder’s Four Arches stands in the plaza by the main entrance.
Frontenac Court and East Alta Way, off East 1st Street, Long Beach
Gloria’s car chase runs through downtown Long Beach; the guide points to an Ocean Boulevard exit sign off Shoreline Drive.
Gloria turns onto Frontenac Court in front of Cutthroat, 425 East 1st Street.
She backs the car into a hiding spot on East Alta Way, with the Broadlind Hotel in the distance.
Public streets downtown. The photograph is Shoreline Drive, where the guide places the chase’s Ocean Boulevard exit sign.
7900 Balboa Boulevard, Hangars C3 and C4, Lake Balboa, Los Angeles
The Premiere Lanes bowling-alley sign, seen in a Barbieland shot, is on display here.
The museum is in two hangars at 7900 Balboa Boulevard, with its entrance on Stagg Street.
Open Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, 10am to 2pm; $15, $10 on Tuesdays, under-11s free. Entrance on Stagg Street. Hours may change.
Lake Balboa · $15 · $10 on Tuesdays · under-11s free · Tue, Thu, Sat, Sun 10am–2pm
Two hangars of old signs and objects, including the Premiere Lanes sign from a Barbieland shot.
Plan a visitThe people
Margot Robbie played Barbie and Ryan Gosling Ken. America Ferrera was Gloria and Ariana Greenblatt her daughter Sasha; Kate McKinnon was Weird Barbie, Issa Rae President Barbie, Will Ferrell Mattel’s chief executive, Michael Cera Allan and Rhea Perlman Ruth Handler. Greta Gerwig directed. Sarah Greenwood designed the sets, Rodrigo Prieto shot it and Jacqueline Durran made the costumes.
It opened in Britain and the United States on 21 July 2023 and took $1.448 billion worldwide. It had eight Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, and won Best Original Song for “What Was I Made For?”.
Cast, release date, box office, nominations and the Best Original Song award.
Greenwood, Prieto and Durran in their roles.
Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden: Barbie the movie filmed at WBSL (21 July 2023)
665 West Jefferson Boulevard, Los Angeles
The film had its world premiere here on 9 July 2023.
The auditorium opened on 23 January 1926 and seats about 6,300.
A working concert and event hall. See the front from Jefferson Boulevard, or go to a show.
12 places you can visit: one studio in Hertfordshire, the rest across Los Angeles. The studio and 100 Wilshire are seen from outside.
Pins mark public places; private homes are named but not pinned.
General reference · Restricted access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A working film studio, closed to visitors. You can see the lot from the public roads around it.
Leavesden, Watford, Hertfordshire, England
All of the Barbieland scenes were filmed here, on eight stages and the backlot.
A working film studio, closed to visitors. You can see the lot from the public roads around it.
Stay
A hotel a few steps from where Barbie and Ken skate in.
Venice
A Venice Beach hotel steps from the boardwalk where Barbie and Ken skate in: 86 rooms and 33 suites, with a rooftop bar.
See the hotelGo there
Marketplace tours in Venice, Santa Monica and to the Leavesden studio site, and the hangar museum that keeps the Premiere Lanes sign.
Venice
Live marketplace results for walking, bike and skate tours in Venice. None is about this film.
Live marketplace results · itineraries change
Compare toursSanta Monica
Live marketplace results for tours of Santa Monica, from City Hall to the clifftop park. None is about this film.
Live marketplace results · itineraries change
Compare toursLeavesden
Live marketplace results for tours to the studio site at Leavesden. The stages where Barbieland was built are not open to visitors.
Live marketplace results · itineraries change
Compare toursLake Balboa · $15 · $10 on Tuesdays · under-11s free · Tue, Thu, Sat, Sun 10am–2pm
Two hangars of old signs and objects, including the Premiere Lanes sign from a Barbieland shot.
Plan a visitWhat’s on
No screening or event tied to these places is announced.
No current dated events are listed. Check providers for the latest programme.
Take it home
The film’s song album, on CD.
Various artists · CD, 2023
The film’s song album, released on 21 July 2023, the day the film opened.
Live marketplace search · listings and condition change
Find a copyDates, prices, rooms and stock change: confirm with the provider before you travel or buy. A stay or tour is described as a filming location only where the card says so.
Every place and moment behind this page, with sources.
12 of 12 places · 14 of 14 Moments
Leavesden, Watford, Hertfordshire, England
All of Barbieland is filmed on eight stages and the backlot at Leavesden.
The Dreamhouse is built with no walls and no doors.
1800 Ocean Front Walk, Venice, Los Angeles
Barbie and Ken skate into the Real World past the Venice Beach Recreation Center.
Barbie, Gloria, Sasha and the Mattel executives skate back along the boardwalk.
1501 Ocean Front Walk, Venice, Los Angeles
Barbie and Ken buy Western outfits at Lucky Venice after a run-in with the law.
1685 Main Street, Santa Monica
Santa Monica City Hall plays the Venice police station, where Barbie sends Ken away.
1615 Ocean Avenue, Santa Monica
Barbie has her epiphany looking out over Tongva Park.
Wilshire Boulevard at Ocean Avenue, Santa Monica
The final drop-off, for Barbie’s first gynaecologist appointment, is outside 100 Wilshire.
Ocean Avenue, Santa Monica
The statue of Saint Monica in Palisades Park, opposite 100 Wilshire, appears in the film.
Avenue of the Stars and Century Park East, Century City, Los Angeles
Ken walks outside the CAA building and has his realisation about the Real World.
333 South Hope Street, Bunker Hill, Los Angeles
Bank of America Plaza stands in for Mattel’s headquarters, Calder’s Four Arches and all.
Frontenac Court and East Alta Way, off East 1st Street, Long Beach
Gloria’s car chase turns onto Frontenac Court and hides on East Alta Way.
665 West Jefferson Boulevard, Los Angeles
The film has its world premiere at the Shrine Auditorium.
7900 Balboa Boulevard, Hangars C3 and C4, Lake Balboa, Los Angeles
The bowling-alley sign seen in a Barbieland shot is now in the Valley Relics Museum.
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