The studio responded to a Barbie Land map that caused Vietnamese officials to pull the “Barbie” movie ahead of its release later this month.
Warner Bros. is weighing in on what it called a “child-like” map in the “Barbie” movie that caused Vietnam to ban distribution of the film.
Vietnamese officials said the map shows the “nine-dash line” that represents China’s unilaterally claimed territory in the South China Sea. Vietnam says the territory is its continental shelf and banned the “Barbie” movie’s distribution.
“The map in Barbie Land is a child-like crayon drawing,” Warner Bros. Film Group said in a statement first reported by Variety. “The doodles depict Barbie’s make-believe journey from Barbie Land to the ‘real world.’ It was not intended to make any type of statement.”
The map in the Greta Gerwig-directed film, set for release this month, shows just eight lines and is “in the shape dictated by actual global maps,” Variety noted.
The “Barbie” movie is also under review in the Philippines, according to NPR.
K-pop group Blackpink also caused a “nine-dash line” stir after using the map on a website, Time reported.
The group is set to hold shows in Hanoi this month. The concert organizer apologized and vowed to take down the map, according to Vietnam National Television VTV.
Other films also have been banned in Vietnam over the map, including “Abominable,” a 2019 Dreamworks film that got pulled from theaters in Vietnam and Malaysia.
The Philippines and Vietnam called off distribution of the video game-based film “Uncharted” over the appearance of the map last year.
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