Oprah: Life's come 'full circle' from not being able to afford Barbies to being made into one
Oprah Winfrey said life has come "full circle" from her days as a girl playing with corn cob dolls to getting a Barbie designed to look like her character from "A Wrinkle in Time."
"My whole life we couldn't afford a Barbie," Oprah said in an interview on "Good Morning America." She said Barbies were a far cry from the type of dolls she had as a child.
"I had actually a corn cob doll," she admitted.
"You go in the cornfield and you take the corn shucks and the golden hair, what was the silk of the corn and that's what we played with," she explained. "I started with a corn cob doll and then to have a full circle that there's a doll made in your image and the image of the character is pretty incredible actually."
Oprah, who plays Mrs. Which in the sci-fi film, said Mattel "did an incredible job" with the the doll.
"A Wrinkle in Time" also stars Reese Witherspoon and Mindy Kaling. Mattel also made Barbies in the likeness of their characters.
Barbie releases dolls modeled after real inspirational women
Mattel also announced it will honor 14 historical and modern-day female role models through its Shero program, showcasing women who have broken boundaries in their respective fields.
"As a brand that inspires the limitless potential in girls, Barbie will be honoring its largest line up of role models timed to International Women's Day because we know that you can't be what you can't see," Barbie executive Lisa McKnight said in a statement Tuesday. "Girls have always been able to play out different roles and careers with Barbie and we are thrilled to shine a light on real life role models to remind them that they can be anything."
From "Wonder Woman" filmmaker Patty Jenkins to Team USA snowboarding Olympic gold medalist Chloe Kim, the new Barbies are availible worldwide to help ignite a conversation around the importance of positive role models for young girls.
"A Wrinkle in Time" opens March 9 from Disney, the parent company of ABC News.
