Why American Girl Dolls’ New Modern Makeover Have Fans in a Frenzy

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Ken Doll's Real Name Revealed 65 Years Later

American Girl is playing around with a classic.

To mark its 40th anniversary, the toy company has given its iconic line of Historical dolls a makeover to fit in with contemporary times as part of the new Modern Era Collection.

Take Samantha Parkington, whose signature plaid dress got a "playful update," according to a Mattel press release. In place of the drop-waist frock, the orphan now wears a pink satin top with a short, plaid skirt featuring pink tulle. Her black tights and Mary Jane shoes have also been replaced with ankle socks and faux leather ballet flats with pink bows.

Meanwhile, Josefina Montoya received a "contemporary update with crimson-ruffled shorts, colorful primrose accents, and cowgirl boots, inspired by her life in 1824," per the toy brand.

Other Historical characters that are part of the new collection include Addy Walker, Molly McIntire, Felicity Merriman and Kirsten Larson, whose braided pigtails have become space buns.

The dolls itself have also shrunk in size, now standing at 14.5 inches compared to its original height of 18 inches. And fans definitely saw the difference.

"Did they … snatch their waists???" one wrote on Instagram, while another quipped, "Why do they look like they’re on Ozempic?"

Many others also compared the new dolls to Bratz, which are known for their large heads, pouty lips and modern fashion sense.

"Wtf with these big heads and small bodies?" a third fan asked. "Makes them look like confused Bratz wannabes."

Mattel

Plus, some people took issue that “none" of the 18-inch dolls’ original wardrobes will fit the modernized figures.

"My inner child is heartbroken seeing this," a fourth fan wrote. "These dolls shaped our childhoods, and this 40th anniversary feels like a missed opportunity to celebrate what made American Girl iconic."

But the Modern Era Collection isn't the only new project for American Girl. The brand will also be releasing its first novel for adults, titled Samantha: The Next Chapter, which will center around the New Yorker as an adult. The book will be out Oct. 13, 2026.

Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post via Getty Images; Mattel

“For our 40th anniversary, we’re celebrating the timeless stories and immersive experiences that have had a lasting impact on the American Girl legacy and its multigenerational fans,” Mattel's Global Head of Dolls Jamie Cygielman said in a Feb. 11 statement. “From the start, we’ve been honored to spark and nurture deep emotional connections with characters girls love and grow up alongside."

Cygielman continued, "As we look ahead, we’re excited to continue evolving for the next generation while staying true to telling stories that act as both windows and mirrors, empowering girls to see themselves as the heroines of their own story.”

And for more interesting facts about pop culture's beloved icons, read on.

WIktor Szymanowicz/NurPhoto/Shutterstock

Hello Kitty Isn't a Cat

Many fans were left purrrrrfectly confused after this revelation.

“Hello Kitty is not a cat,” Jill Cook—an executive at Sanrio, the company behind the character—explained to Today in July 2024. “She’s actually a little girl born and raised in the suburbs of London. She has a mom and dad and a twin sister Mimmy who’s also her best friend. She enjoys baking cookies and making new friends.”

While the news may have surprised some, Cook wasn’t the first to share this insight. As a matter of fact, Christine R. Yano—a professor of anthropology who penned the book Pink Globalization: Hello Kitty's Trek Across the Pacific—had also previously confirmed that Hello Kitty isn’t a feline.

“Hello Kitty is not a cat,” she told the Los Angeles Times in 2014. “She’s a cartoon character. She is a little girl. She is a friend. But she is not a cat. She’s never depicted on all fours. She walks and sits like a two-legged creature. She does have a pet cat of her own, however, and it’s called Charmmy Kitty.”

Other fun facts about Hello Kitty? According to Sanrio, she is five apples tall, weighs three apples, was born on November 1 (making her a Scorpio) and dreams of being a pianist or poet.

Noam Galai/WireImage

Goofy Isn't a Dog

Gawrsh! Did you know this fact?

Bill Farmer, who's provided the voice of Goofy for decades, explained why the Disney character can talk while Mickey Mouse's pet Pluto can't.

Goofy is "not a dog, but he's a canine," the voice actor said on an August 2024 episode of Popcorn Podcast with Leigh Livingstone and Tim Iffland. "So it's kind of like a wolf is not a dog but it's a canine—same thing. Goofus canis, that's what he is. Or, he's a MOG—he's a man-dog."

However, Pluto, he added, is a "regular dog"—a blood hound as it turns out.

Squidward Isn't a Squid

You'll want to get to the (bikini) bottom of this discovery.

SpongeBob SquarePants' creator Stephen Hillenburg once revealed that Squidward Tentacles is actually an octopus—not a squid.

"This is Squidward the Octopus, SpongeBob's grumpy next-door neighboor," he shared in the 2005 Case Of The Sponge 'Bob' video resurfaced by BuzzFeed. "I like the octopus for this character because they have such a large, bulbous head, and Squidward thinks he's an intellectual so, of course, he's going to have a large, bulbous head."

But if you're wondering how Squidward can be an octopus when he has only six legs instead of eight, Hillenburg had an answer for that, too—noting "it was really just easier for animation to draw him" with fewer tentacles.

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Blue From Blue's Clues Was Originally an Orange Cat

Break out your handy dandy notebook and jot this one down.

"One of the things that nobody knows is that Blue was originally a cat," the show's co-creator Angela Santomero said in the 2006 special Behind the Clues: 10 Years With Blue resurfaced by Mental Floss. "First his name was Mr. Orange and then we're like, 'Uh, maybe Mr. Blue.'"

But according to the special, Nickelodeon was already working on a series about a cat—leading animators to toss out the original idea and redesign Blue as a dog.

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Doug Was Almost Named Brian

Now this really isn’t funnie, er, funny.

But as it turns out, Doug Funnie from the cartoon series Doug was almost named Brian. As for what led to the change?

"I just thought Brian was too fancy of a name," Doug creator Jim Jinkins told HuffPost TV in 2014, "So, I geared it down, and started calling him Doug. If you think about what that sounds like, it sounds incredibly average, and that’s what I was trying to do: express from that point of view.”

Boo From Monsters, Inc. Isn’t Her Full Name

This fact is so good it’s scary.

In Monsters, Inc.: An Augmented Reality Book, the name of Boo—the little girl who accidentally ends up in Monstropolis and befriends monsters Mike and Sulley—is revealed to be Mary Gibbs, according to BuzzFeed. And if the name sounds familiar, it’s because it’s the real-life moniker of the actress who provided the voice of Boo.

Need more proof? In the movie, there’s actually a scene where Boo is sorting through some of her drawings and fans can spot the name “Mary” scribbled at the top of one of the pieces of paper.

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Minnie Mouse Has a Longer Moniker

Speaking of names, while Mickey Mouse’s girlfriend is often called Minnie Mouse, according to the BBC, it was revealed in 1942 that her full name is actually Minerva.

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