The great chimpanzee expert, animal behavior expert, conservationist and activist Dr. Jane Goodall has received yet another honor. The woman who discovered that chimpanzees make and use tools, regarded as one of the greatest achievements of 20th-century scholarship, is to have a Barbie doll released in her effigy by Mattel, the makers of Barbie Dolls, in November. The Jane Goodall Barbie doll will join the house’s Barbie Inspiring Women Series.

The doll comes with the always fun litany of Barbie doll accessories but not the high heels, clutch bags and evening gowns of another time. Joined by chimpanzee David Greybeard, the Dr. Jane Goodall Barbie
doll wears field attire, comes equipped with the scientist’s signature black canvas sneakers, although she mostly went barefoot, a pair of field binoculars, a watch, a notebook and a stick in a nod to the tool used by David Graybeard to remove termites from a mound. David Graybeard was the first chimpanzee that Dr. Goodall observed using tools. Unfortunately by and large unnoticed, World Chimpanzee Day was celebrated on July 14th. The doll and chimpanzee are made mainly from recycled plastic. Dr Jane Goodall joins Billie Jean King, Eleanor Roosevelt and Rosa Parks among others in the Barbie Inspiring Women Series.

The Barbie Inspiring Women Series pays tribute to incredible heroines of their time, courageous women who took risks, changed rules and paved the way for generations of girls to dream bigger than ever before. Barbie, explains Mattel, is recognizing Dr. Jane Goodall’s decades of dedication, ground-breaking research and heroic achievements as a conservationist, animal behavior expert (Editor’s note: ethologist) and activist. Dr. Jane Goodall DBE, and founder of the Jane Goodall Institute and UN Messenger of Peace made her first journey to what is now Tanzania 62 years ago and ventured into the then little-known world of wild chimpanzees.

« Throughout my career, I have wanted to incite children to be curious and to explore the world around them, as I did when I made by first journey to Tanzania 62 years ago. I am delighted to be associated with Barbie and to encourage young children to learn about their environment and to feel that they can make a difference, » said Dr. Jane Goodall.

In partnership with the Jane Goodall Institute, Barbie is presenting the Barbie Eco-Leadership Team (the 2022 Career of the Year Four Doll Set) featuring a conservation scientist, a renewable energy engineer, a chief sustainability officer and an environmental activist.

« We know that the protection of the environment is a major pre-occupation for future generations and we are proud to unveil this new Barbie in the Inspiring Women Series as well as the Barbie Eco-Leadership Team set made with recycled materials, » said Lisa McKnight the executive vice-president and global head of Barbie and Dolls portfolio at Mattel.
©Trish Valicenti for The Gourmet Gazette
https://www.janegoodall.org/
https://shop.mattel.com/pages/barbie
https://www.worldchimpanzeeday.org/