When she started working at Mattel Media, Durchin was my age, in her mid-twenties. I quickly learned that her career went far beyond this game! After working on Barbie as Rapunzel as an Associate Producer, Durchin would become MattelвЂ™s Director of Girls Content, be an Imagineer at Disney, and is now a Creative Producer at Universal. She responded to my Facebook post in a global game developerвЂ™s group almost immediately. LetвЂ™s start, as I did, with Jesyca Durchin.Дurchin was the first Barbie as Rapunzel dev I tracked down. What I didnвЂ™t expect was tales of decades-long industry feuds, of secretive off-the-books animated films, heckling at industry events like the Game Developers Conference (GDC) and, ultimately, a teamвЂ™s triumph over conventional wisdom. I expected to hear stories about a time before patches, or the pain of developing games in Adobe Shockwave. So I started reaching out to the developers. Skipping to the credits, I was struck by how many women worked on the game. If youвЂ™re planning on doing this too, I should warn you that RapunzelвЂ™s bird sidekick is named Twitter which does colour their interactions, locked together away from other people, with an alarmingly 2020 lockdown vibe. During one such occasion, I discovered a YouTube playthrough of Barbie as Rapunzel. IвЂ™m now a game developer, meaning my afternoons are sometimes spent researching why a particular type of button reminds me of my childhood (I love this job). I never anticipated that more than twenty years later, this game would hold a treasure trove of insight into my own game development experience. I loved it, I re-played the game endlessly, and I still see the talking magic mirror in my dreams. This article has been updated since its original publication. IвЂ™d say Magic Fairy Tales Barbie was a mildly unhinged collection of mini-games that let you decorate cakes, dress up, practice diplomacy with a troll and a dragon, and rescue a Prince. Wikipedia says the game was вЂњdesigned to teach children early reading and decision-making skillsвЂќ. ItвЂ™s a virtual storybook, similar to the beloved Lion King game. Magic Fairy Tales: Barbie as Rapunzel is burned into my memory.

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