NEW YORK (AP) — Love her or loathe her, Barbie has been transformed again, this time into a version for children as young as 3.

Gone is the contentious hourglass figure for My First Barbie, which launched Thursday ahead of July's live-action film about the icon starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling.

The slightly softer-bodied Barbie follows on the high heels of tall, petite and curvy iterations that were released five years ago in a massive makeover.

My First Barbie is 13.5 inches tall, 2 inches taller than traditional Babs, with a larger waist that de-emphasizes the bust line (it remains in place, however), and flesh-tone modesty undergarments permanently attached.

Her fashion is more kid-like, with playful heart, star and flower designs on jammies and flouncy preschool-friendly dresses and swim gear. Her accessories are larger for littler hands, and her hair is extra long for easier brushing.

My First Barbie's limbs are moveable, like some past versions of the doll, and her facial features remain recognizable. A huge milestone: Her fingers and thumbs are connected, eliminating a frequent complaint that Barbie's hands get caught in her clothes when children try to put them on.

Lisa McKnight, a Mattel executive vice president and global head of Barbie and dolls, told The Associated Press the company created the new version in response to feedback from parents.

“We talk to parents and kids almost 365 days a year,” she said. “We started hearing a theme around younger kids wanting to play with Barbie. Parents were concerned that their children at the preschool age didn’t have the fine motor skills to have a positive play experience with our traditional fashion doll.”

The first rollout of the new doll includes four diverse skin tones and hair textures.

Critics of 63-year-old Barbie, intended to symbolize a girl in her late teens, have long cited her dimensions as promoting unattainable, sexualized body standards for girls. My First Barbie, at a price point of $19.99, goes a long way in eliminating that issue.

McKnight wouldn’t directly address the criticism or whether My First Barbie has a place in turning around that negative view.

Research is mixed on whether Barbie's bad rap on body issues and her adult-leaning fashion sense have any impact on children, said Jody LeVos, once a leader of Mattel's child development and learning team and now chief learning officer for Begin, a company that creates learning apps and other educational fare for kids.

Among parents, she said, “there's a big nostalgia factor” when it comes to Barbie.

“I don’t think there's one specific doll that’s most appropriate. I think doll play allows children to really practice storytelling skills, perspective taking and social interactions,” LeVos said.

The Barbie line’s overall sales have soared in recent years after a period of decline in 2013.

Joaniko Kohchi, director for Adelphi University’s Institute for Parenting, questioned Mattel's motives.

“If we’re going to think about Mattel guiding our choices then we have already kind of limited them,” she said.

McKnight made it clear that My First Barbie will not be a separate, parallel Barbie universe. She said new content featuring the doll will hit Barbie's YouTube channel later this month, with an animated special about the planning of a surprise party.

Andrea Werner, a pediatric occupational therapist in West Hartford, Connecticut, and mother of a preschooler and an infant, supports doll play as developmentally valuable.

“There are plenty of dolls on the market,” she said. “Companies will always be trying to sell consumers the next best thing.”

Kohchi isn't entirely sold on My First Barbie as appropriate.

“We know that if you’re going to hand a child an image and say, this is beauty or this is wonderful or look how pretty that is, it should resemble the child a little bit more closely,” she said. “It’s certainly still a little older than a preschooler.”

The iconic Barbie doll went on display for the first time on March 9, 1959, at the American Toy Fair in New York City.

Barbie was created by Ruth Handler, who co-founded the toy manufacturing company Mattel with her husband in 1945. Handler came up with the idea for the toy after seeing her young daughter ignore her baby dolls to play with paper dolls of adult women.

Barbie was the first mass-produced toy doll in the U.S. with adult features.

The doll's original design was based on a German doll named Lilli, which was originally marketed as a raunchy gag gift for adult men. Mattel bought the rights to Lilli, and Handler renamed it "Barbie" after her daughter, Barbara.

Over the years, the Barbie doll has generated a lot of controversy, mainly surrounding its appearance. Many claimed that Barbie’s slim waist and large bust created an unrealistic body image for young girls.

On the other hand, many viewed the doll and its series of now more than 200 career options as an inspiration to children because it provided an image different from traditional 1950s gender roles.

Handler wanted Barbie to convey that "a little girl could be anything she wanted to be and that she has choices," according to Mattel's website.

Due to the doll's increasing popularity, Mattel released a boyfriend for Barbie in 1961 named Ken, which was named after Handler's son, Kenneth.

Since its launch in 1959, over 1 billion Barbie dolls have been sold worldwide.

New Barbie honors journalist Ida B. Wells

Updated: 10:51 PM EST Jan 11, 2022

Ida B. Wells, the famed Black journalist who worked to expose the horrors of lynching, has now been immortalized by Barbie.The latest addition to Barbie's "Inspiring Women" series, the Wells doll features the journalist in an 1800s-style high neck black dress, with her hair piled atop her head."When kids learn about heroes like Ida B. Wells, they don't just imagine a better future — they know they have the power to make it come true," Barbie said in an Instagram post. The doll is set to be available at major retailers by Jan. 17.Wells was born into slavery in 1862 was actively involved in exposing racism in the U.S., writing about race and politics in the South. She owned the newspaper The Memphis Free Speech and Headlight and was a vocal critic of segregated schools. Later, she became active in the anti-lynching campaign in 1892 after multiple friends were lynched, according to the National Parks Service, even visiting the White House to advocate for reforms.

'I still can't believe it': Barbie doll created in likeness of a COVID-19 nurse

Updated: 7:58 PM EDT Aug 5, 2021

Mattel has unveiled six new Barbie dolls to honor individuals leading the fight against COVID-19,The one-of-a-kind dolls feature the likeness of Amy O'Sullivan, a nurse who treated the first COVID-19 patient in Brooklyn and became ill herself; Dr. Audrey Sue Cruz, an Asian-American physician who helped fight racial bias; Professor Sarah Gilbert, who helped develop the Oxford-Astrazeneca vaccine, Dr. Jaqueline Goes de Jesus, who led the genome sequencing of Brazil's COVID-19 variant; and Dr. Kirby White, who developed a doctor's gown that could be laundered and reused."I still can't believe it," O'Sullivan told WCBS-TV. "I just feel so honored."The Barbie dolls are part of Mattel's "Thank You Heroes" program.The company also announced it was donating $5 for each doctor, nurse and paramedic Barbie doll sold at Target.The money will be donated to the First Responders Children's Foundation.Watch the video above to learn more about this story.