You can make a movie with a phone, so why not with a doll?

The Barbie Video Girl Doll ($50, Mattel, for ages 6 and up) looks just like a regular Barbie, but a closer look reveals a camera in her pendant, and a postage-sized color screen on her back, peeking through her blouse.

“Creepy!” said nearly every boy I showed her to; “Cool!” said the girls, who immediately got the idea of the toy — to make movies from Barbie’s point of view.

Powered by two AAA batteries (one in each leg), the doll can record up to 30 minutes of Webcam quality AVI video, with a three-button interface. You can watch your recordings on the doll’s screen, but with no sound (“Hey — there’s no sound!” the testers complained). Or you can transfer them to your Macintosh or Windows computer by way of the included mini-U.S.B. cable.

Because the doll can be posed, she doubles as a pretty good tripod. One problem: We drained two sets of batteries by accidentally leaving the recorder on. Mattel estimates just over an hour of recording time per set.

This is not the first time engineers have been given the challenge of packing Barbie’s figure with technology. Michelle Chidoni, a spokeswoman for Mattel, said Barbie has been accessorized with speakers, motors, fiber optic clothing and an impeller-pump designed to push glitterized fluid through special wings.

Today, her 256 MB of onboard memory can capture any sight or sound your child desires.