Warner Bros. responds to Barbie 'doodle' map controversy that got film banned in Vietnam

Warner Bros. has spoken out after Vietnam banned the Barbie movie due to a doodle that appeared in the background of one scene.

The scene in question involves Barbie, played by Margot Robbie, and 'Weird Barbie', played by Kate McKinnon.

In the background of the scene, shown in trailers, is a child-like drawing of a map.

Vietnam has announced it's not going to be screening Barbie because of the map's depiction of the 'nine-dash line'.

In case you're not clued up on geopolitics in Southeast Asia, here's a quick summary.

Warner Bros

The 'nine-dash line' is used on Chinese maps to show the territory it claims in the South China Sea, with a whole series of disputed islands in the waters and China itself creating artificial islands with military bases to assert its claims on the area.

A 2016 international tribunal ruled against China's claims, but Beijing hasn't taken any notice in the years since.

The South China Sea is contested by China, Taiwan, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei, so a map showing the 'nine-dash line' would not likely go down well in Vietnam, which says China's claims in the region violate its sovereignty.

Speaking out about the controversy, a spokesperson for Warner Bros. said: "The map in Barbie Land is a child-like crayon drawing.

Warner Bros

"The doodles depict Barbie’s make-believe journey from Barbie Land to the ‘real world.’ It was not intended to make any type of statement."

Barbie fans in Vietnam will miss out on the chance to see Barbie being fantastic in plastic, and the country-wide ban comes after a production fraught with similarly bizarre upheavals.

At one point, the film caused an 'international shortage' of pink paint due to them coating Barbie's world in shades of the colour.

And a higher-up Mattel rocked up to set one day to demand that a scene be removed from the flick because he deemed it to be 'off-brand'.

Fortunately, Robbie managed to convince him to change his mind by performing the scene in front of him.

But no scandal could diminish fans' excitement to see Robbie on the big screen - with even her feet getting fans whipped up in excitement.

Needless to say, it's been a bizarre few months of film roll-out.

Barbie will be released in cinemas on July 21.