Malibu Stacy is a plastic doll that is manufactured within Springfield by the Malibu Stacy Division of PetroChem Petrochemical Corporation.
It is the most popular doll in Springfield. Stacy is Lisa's favorite doll, despite some moral issues she has had with the attitudes it promotes.
(The doll exists in the Simpson-verse as a parody of Mattel's Malibu Barbie doll and other fashion dolls for girls in the real world.) The name Stacy is derived from the name of the facial mold used by Mattel for its 1971 Malibu Barbie.
History[]
Malibu Stacy was first created in 1959, when Stacy designed a doll that you could also eat. The first release of the doll was unsuccessful due to the doll's main ingredient - dried onion meal - but the design of the doll was lauded, and so a plastic version was released soon after. Once that happened, Malibu Stacy became incredibly successful.
Stacy Lovell was forced out of the company in 1974, stating that her thinking wasn't "cost-effective". Lovell herself believes that the more significant reason for her dismissal is her funneling of money to the Viet Cong. Since then, she has had no real control over the company she created.
She is seen in dolls in The Simpsons Game, when you collect all Stacy Seals in a level.
Controversy[]
Despite its popularity among the girls of Springfield, Malibu Stacy is also shown to be rather sexist in what it represents and teaches.
Ever since its debut, it has at least subtly influenced girls to be stay at home moms. (Marge Simpson was shown to have being somewhat influenced by it in her childhood, quoting that all of the controversy would be fine after forgetting it over ice cream, although she initially claimed that she turned out fine until Lisa had her doll parrot the exact same line back to her.).
When "Talking Malibu Stacy" dolls were introduced, pulling a string on the doll's back provided typically vapid catchphrases that were considered demeaning to women (such as satirically "Don't ask me, I'm just a girl!" and subsequently laughs in a ditzy tone. That said, the biopic indicated the phrase was a poorly done attempt at her being humble due to it being used when the narrator asked if she had anything to say about her success.). Lisa when first discovering this also noted the implication that the girls who play with the dolls would end up growing up to become gold digging wives. In response, Lisa fronted an effort to produce a competing doll called "Lisa Lionheart", which would act as a more positive female role model. Its sales were disappointingly low, being thwarted by the simultaneous release of "Malibu Stacy with New Hat."
Popularity[]
Malibu Stacy is the most popular doll in at least Springfield, if not across America and her biggest fan is Waylon Smithers. Her popularity was such that she even had a fan convention in her honor called StacyCon, which was located at San Diego Airport Hilton in California (strongly implying that the doll enjoys significant popularity outside of Springfield). On several occasions, Smithers is said to own the largest collection of Malibu Stacy dolls and accessories in Springfield. Smithers also publishes a newsletter for fellow Malibu Stacy fans, has frequently attended StacyCon several times, and has written and produced a musical based on Malibu Stacy, with himself playing her boyfriend, with its debut occurring in a small theater in New Mexico and thus necessitating that he take a leave of absence from Springfield (although it's implied that the musical had been poorly received by the general public, or at least the male patrons, as one of the patrons asked his wife "This is better than a movie ... why?").
Quotes[]
The Talking Malibu Stacy quotes have the following statements uttered by her:
- "I wish they taught shopping at school."
- "Let's bake some cookies for the boys."
- "Don't ask me, I'm just a girl! hahaha, hahaha..." (this also was heard in the Malibu Stacy historical biopic shown at the Malibu Stacy headquarters).
- "Let's find makeup so the boys will like us."
- "Now let's forget all our troubles with a big bowl of strawberry ice cream." (Marge echoed this line seconds earlier, proving that she had in fact been affected by her despite her claim to the contrary.)
- "Thinking too much gives you wrinkles."
- "My name is Stacy, but you can call me [wolf whistle]."
Appearance[]
Malibu Stacy is a fashion doll with long, wavy blonde hair and red lips. Her mostly worn outfit is a pink dress with a layered pink-and-white wavy hem and a fluffy trimming on top, with a sheath skirt, and white high-heel shoes.
Lisa’s Malibu Stacy doll is seen wearing a red and white cheerleader outfit with her hair in a ponytail. We see this version of Stacy more often.
Lisa Lionheart[]
- Lisa and Stacy Lovell team up to create a rival "Lisa Lionheart" doll to try to stop the production of Malibu Stacy and to act as a better women's role model. The doll, which says several intelligent sayings, is only bought by one girl at the end of the episode.
Trivia[]
- Belgian indie rock band Malibu Stacy took the name from the doll.
- The controversy regarding Malibu Stacy being a sexist stereotype due to the release of a talking version was derived from a similar controversy regarding Barbie where the eponymous doll's talking line had included among its recorded lines "Math class is tough", which caused some ire among the American Association of University Women.
- According to one of Lisa's friends, at least one of the talking Malibu Stacy dolls had a production error where it contained a voice chip that was evidently meant for a Spider-Man doll or a similar toy, with Malibu Stacy saying in "her" voice that "her" Spidey-sense is tingling and asking if anyone called for a webslinger.
- This was a reference to a prank conducted by the Barbie Liberation Front group, where they swapped sound chips between G.I. Joe and Barbie and had them giving their respective lines in the other toy.
- In "Grift of the Magi", Lisa's Mallibu Stacy gets destroyed by Funzo.
Gallery[]
Appearances[]
Episode – "Lisa the Greek" - Episode – "Bart the Lover" (head only)
- Episode – "I Love Lisa"
- Episode – "Homer's Barbershop Quartet" (1985 variant)
- Episode – "Lisa vs. Malibu Stacy"
- Episode – "In Marge We Trust"
- Episode – "This Little Wiggy"
- Episode – "Lard of the Dance" (mentioned)
- Episode – "Grift of the Magi"
- Episode – "Homer vs. Dignity"
- Episode – "Bye Bye Nerdie"
- Episode – "Poppa's Got a Brand New Badge"
- Episode – "Bart vs. Lisa vs. the Third Grade" (mentioned)
- Episode – "Fat Man and Little Boy"
- Episode – "We're on the Road to D'oh-where"
- Episode – "Homerazzi"
- Episode – "Dial "N" for Nerder" (mentioned)
- THOH – "Treehouse of Horror XIX"
- Episode – "Now Museum, Now You Don't (episode)"
- THOH – "Treehouse of Horror XXXI" (Toy Gory)
- Episode – "Bartless"
- Episode – "The Very Hungry Caterpillars"
- Episode – "Murder, She Boat" (mentioned)
Video game – Virtual Springfield
Video game – The Simpsons Game
Video game – The Simpsons: Tapped Out
