A Barbie super-fan in Co Sligo is excited to see her favourite doll on the big screen in the new live-action film, which is in cinemas from today.
Glenda Taylor has more than 700 Barbies in a dedicated room in her home and says she is "happy that everyone gets to enjoy a bit of Barbie" with the Margot Robbie-starring film.
"When I heard they were doing a live-action Barbie movie, I thought, 'Wow, it'll be amazing.’ Margot Robbie is fantastic, she really looks the part – I can’t imagine anyone else playing Barbie," Ms Taylor said.
"Even on the red carpet, she has channeled some of the different outfits of Barbie from over the years.
"She’s totally embracing Barbie and living the dream at the minute. Even Ryan Gosling, I think he’ll do a tremendous job, he has real Kenergy."
Review: Barbie will make you think (pink) but that's about it
For Ms Taylor, her love of Barbie started from a young age.
"I was lucky enough to get dolls from Santa and for birthdays," she said, but she started actively collecting them when she was 18.
"The ones from childhood bring back the most memories, but I love different ones for sentimental reasons, like the one I got on my wedding day from my husband, and one I got when I was in hospital when I was five," she said.
Though she has many happy childhood memories of Barbie, there is one that is particularly special to her.
"I wrote to Barbie in America never thinking I'd get a reply, and I did. I got a letter from Barbie with lots of information about her, and I was made up with it.
"What really touched me was they sent me a little doll – now, I did play with it, it's in loved condition like most of my toys from childhood," Ms Taylor said.
Ms Taylor is mum to two young girls, aged two and four, and they now share in her love of Barbie.
"They’ve only recently discovered the doll room. They’ll say, ‘Mammy, can we go and check the doll room’. So, I do let them in for a little look," she said.
"In fairness, they’re very good, they don’t touch them, they just look around and go, ‘Oh wow!’
"But for Christmas, Santa brought them one or two dolls so they love playing with them now and it’s nice to see their little imaginations come out. I nearly see myself in them when I was there age.
"(Barbie creator) Ruth Handler said in one of her biographies that she didn’t want to give Barbie a personality, she wanted the personality of Barbie to shine through the little girl. In the movie Ken’s line is ‘just Ken’ whereas Barbie is ‘everything’."
