American Girl Documentary Featuring Doll Line’s Elusive Creator Pleasant Rowland In Production

Participant and Conduit Films have teamed to produce a documentary on the iconic doll line American Girl created by Pleasant Rowland, who has granted film rights to her story and a behind-the-scenes look at the popular characters she created for the first time.

Directed by Conduit Films’ founder Christy Wegener, All American Girls features a sit-down with Rowland, as well as never-before-seen footage and insights from the American Girl brand’s authors, insiders, enthusiasts and journalists. Stop-motion graphics aid the filmmakers as they venture behind the curtain of the brand, which shaped the lives of generations of Americans in the ’80s, ’90s and early 2000s, and maintains cultural relevance today.

The doc illuminates not only the unparalleled influence of American Girl, but also controversies and a radical edge now associated with a historically wholesome brand, as it’s found a new wave of popularity. Nearly four decades since its inception, American Girl has evolved in a rare way; adult fans have co-opted it, remixing the American Girl iconography into their own art, podcasts, online museums, stop-motion videos and memes as a form of political and cultural expression.

Introduced in 1986 by Rowland, who was formerly a schoolteacher, the American Girl line originally featured 18-inch historical dolls with authentic period outfits, accessories and a series of books. Known for their message of empowerment, encouraging girls to voice their opinions, the books are set at different times in U.S. history and offer an atypical perspective of America’s past, where girls are the heroes of the story. Now one of the most recognized brands in the United States and beyond, American Girl has amassed hundreds of millions of fans as part of the cultural zeitgeist, from being spoofed on SNL to generating some of the highest social media engagement levels of any brand in history.

Rowland sold the American Girl brand to Mattel for $700 million in 1998. Andrea Berman and Wegener are producing the doc, with Courtney Sexton and David Linde exec producing for Participant.

In a statement to Deadline, EPs Sexton and Linde said, “American Girl has championed stories of resilience, empowerment, and inclusion, and this film offers a powerful opportunity to bring those beloved characters to life on screen. Together, we aim to create a film that not only entertains but also inspires young audiences to embrace their unique voices and celebrate the strength found in diversity, individuality, and community.”