Be warned… while Barbie may be decked out in pink, watching the movie may make you feeling green with envy. And while you might not be able to live in a Dreamhouse or drive a convertible pink sports car, we can at least give you an idea on how the world of Barbie got put together and where it was filmed.

Far from the eternal blue skies of Barbie Land lies Hertfordshire in the UK. This county is home to the Warner Bros. Studios in Leavesden, near Watford. A former aircraft factory, the complex is now a massive film studio and tourist destination, with the attached Harry Potter Warner Bros. Studio Tour bringing in thousands of wizards every year.

The studio, first used for filming purposes for 1994’s GoldenEye, provided all the principal photography and interiors for Barbie, and was where the colossal set for Barbie Land was created. The two crew members responsible for this magnificent creation were production designer Sarah Greenwood and set decorator Katie Spencer, who previously worked together on films like Atonement and Pride and Prejudice (2005).

As an early decision was made not to use CGI to build Barbie’s world (to keep everything tangible, as if a child could pick up and play with it), the entire pink paradise was built from scratch. Inspired by the Mattel playsets that parents would dread having build and decorate perfectly with the packaged decals, and also by a touch of fifties Palm Springs and Sunset Boulevard, the pink and pastel structures are backed by hand-painted backdrops. Even the beach’s waves are solid.

Speaking to Vogue, Katie Spencer said: “A toy is tactile, A toy is real. Everybody knows what’s CGI. Your sixth sense will tell you – even children will know. So with the painted backdrops, it just gave everybody the belief that you are in the toy box, you are in there, you are a toy.”

As Barbie and Ken head into the Real World, they arrive by way of rollerblades in Venice Beach, California, where they glide down the famous boardwalk at Windward Plaza and pick out a change of outfit at the gloriously tacky Lucky Venice Store.

Heading north a little, Barbie and Ken find themselves in Santa Monica where they run afoul of the law. The jail they are briefly held in is the beautiful art deco building of the Santa Monica City Hall. Nearby, the bench where she meets her real-life namesake Barbara Handler is a bus stop by Tongva Park.

Meanwhile, the building where Ken begins to grasp the concept of the patriarchy is the Creative Artists Agency Building in the Century City complex (former home of the 20th Century Fox backlot). It’s still a popular location when filming movies, with Die Hard’s Nakatomi Plaza just down the road.

And finally, when Barbie literally visits her makers at the Mattel HQ, is that the toy giants real head location? That’s a no on that one. The skyscraper is actually the Bank of America Building in Downtown Los Angeles, recognisable from the abstract red sculpture out the front.

As parents have known for decades, it’s not enough to just have a Barbie, you need the Dreamhouse as well. As fantastical as it is ostentatious, Barbie’s abode is not so humble and comes with its own slide directly connecting the second floor with her backyard pool, of course. Once again, Palm Springs is an influence, in particular the design of Richard Neutra’s 1946 modernist Kaufmann House, as are the post-war photographs of socialites lounging by pools by Slim Aarons.

As with the rest of Barbie World, her home adheres to the rules set out by Gerwig, Greenwood and Spencer: no black, no white, no chrome. Everything is 23 per cent smaller to reflect Barbie’s odd scaling, with Greenwood calling it “the magic number”. Also, no fire or water (Barbie washes under a non-running shower and her pool is made out of a lightly undulating resin). And a big one: no walls or doors. To help kids move the dolls around, obviously.

And to add to the detail, everything in Barbie’s home is a marvel of artifice. Her food is either plastic or a 2D decal, her fridge is stocked with stickers representing food, and her wardrobe is magically laid out just as you’d expect to see it on the shelf in the toy store – it even has the plastic from the front of the box.

We think quite a few people who see Barbie might get their heart set on her hot pink convertible. Although it’s not quite what it seems.

Barbie’s ride is based on a Chevrolet C1 Corvette, the first generation of the iconic Corvette sports car that was introduced in 1953, just six years before the first Barbie doll hit shelves. In fact, Barbie’s model is closest to the 1956/7 models, although instead of packing a V8 engine, hers is an electric model. Why? Because her car wouldn’t have made any engine noises, of course.

That’s not the only change made. As with everything in Barbie Land, the car is 23% smaller – with the chassis, body, and everything else custom made to for the right scale. But they also added a second row of seating to accommodate Ken. (It looks like a tight squeeze). And while the car is operational, it’s absolutely not road legal. In fact, in scenes where it’s being driven, it’s not even Margot Robbie driving the car; it’s being driven remotely by someone offscreen via a VR headset.

So, can you get one? Sadly not. Although the film has caused a spike in enquiries for similar pink convertibles.