Renee Chao is a supporting character in Barbie Dreamhouse Adventures. She is voiced by Stephanie Sheh. Renee is one of Barbie's best friends, and they go to Golden Beach High.
Story[]
Pre-Dreamhouse Adventures[]
In "Balancing Act", Renee and Daisy mention that when Daisy was 5-years-old, she said the food at Renee's house was "weird". Daisy says she only said that because she hadn't tried chicken feet before, but once Daisy tried it, she thought it was delicious. Renee and Daisy have probably known each other the longest.
In "A Delicate Situation", it is revealed that she lives with her parents and that Renee played violin when she was 5.
Season 1[]
In "Baby Sister Babysitter", Barbie is supposed to babysit but she wants to see a movie with her friends. George suggests that Skipper babysit instead. Skipper is left alone with the kids she is babysitting, so Barbie worries about her. On the way to the movie, Barbie's friends share their experiences with their first babysitting gig. Renee says a kid stuck a raisin so far up his nose that he had to go to the ER. Renee says her older sister would've spied on her if she had been 14 during her first babysitting gig. During the movie, Barbie leaves Renee and the others to spy on Skipper.
In "Road Trip", Daisy announces that she has the opportunity to DJ at a huge desert music festival. The audience will have 16,000 people, so Daisy is nervous about performing in front of that many people. Renee is excited to stage dive while Daisy performs. The girls use Barbie's camper to drive to the festival. Daisy keeps trying to delay getting to the festival because of her nerves. She makes everyone stop at a gem cave. Barbie encourages Daisy to perform while Renee suggests taking a selfie in an abandoned mine cart. Renee, Teresa and Nikki get in the cart, but it starts moving and drives them into a pit. Barbie and Daisy save them and then they all have fun at the festival while Daisy DJ's, with Renee stage diving into the crowd.
Season 2[]
In "Balancing Act", Barbie feels she has outgrown her father-daughter tradition of spending the equinox with her dad. She lets Chelsea spend time with him instead, but Barbie feels sad to give up the tradition. She asks Ken for advice, and Ken lets Renee, Nikki, Teresa and Daisy know that Barbie is at home. Renee and the others visit Barbie and they have a pool party. Barbie orders a curried egg salad pizza, which Renee thinks looks disgusting. Renee says none of them are allowed to say the food at her house is weird ever again, referring to Daisy thinking eating chicken feet was weird when she was a kid.
In "Life Can Be a Dream", Barbie and her friends discuss what careers they want in the future. Renee wants to be an intergalactic skip tracer (which she thinks will be possible in the future). Barbie can't decide because there are so many possibilities. She has a dream where she is experiences many different careers, such as being a mayor of a town. Renee is in the dream and he helps Barbie to save the town.
In "Time Will Tell", Renee and her friends do a dare to take part in Dr. Morton Rise's time travel-based escape room. Renee is claustrophobic so she doesn't want to do it, but she agrees because it's a dare. Renee wants to be on Barbie and Ken's team because they work well together. Renee gets nervous when Morton shuts the door of the escape room. Barbie and Ken get separated from Renee and the others. Renee panics because of her claustrophobia and tries to run out the door, but it has been replaced with a chalkboard. Renee bumps into it and her friends say she found a clue. They all find clues in the escape room and manage to solve it with 4 minutes to spare.
In "Putts for Pups", Chelsea wants to teach puppies how to read, but she doesn't have money to buy them books. Chelsea decides to hold a mini golf charity event to get book donations to start the first ever puppy library. Renee cheers Chelsea on. Chelsea completes the tournament, so everyone donates books.
In "A Day at the Beach", Daisy wants to sample tide pool sounds for a summer DJ mix. She goes to the beach with Barbie and Renee to record the tide pool sounds. Trey and his friends arrive and want Daisy and the others to leave the beach. Daisy and her friends challenge Trey's group to three games. The losing team has to leave the beach. While playing hover disc golf, Renee is in the lead. Trey and Barbie get stranded on a rock while playing. Renee and Daisy worry about Barbie and call Ken, who has access to a speedboat, to look for her. Barbie and Trey signal for help, so Ken finds them and brings them back to land. Renee and Daisy are glad to see Barbie, and Trey and his friends leave the beach.
In "A Delicate Situation", Renee is going to Beijing, China for the first time to spend Chinese New Year with her family. Her parents have already left and Renee is nervous about being home alone, so she stays with Barbie for a few days. Renee is insecure because her cousin can play piano and the violin, sing opera and is a gourmet chef. Renee lied to her family that she could play the violin, but she hasn't touched her violin since she was 5. Barbie suggests singing or cooking instead. Renee is bad at those things too, but Barbie doesn't admit this because she doesn't want to ruin Renee's confidence. Renee overhears Barbie and her sisters criticizing her and she leaves sadly. Barbie finds her and apologizes for not being honest. Barbie suggests Renee show her skateboarding to her family. Barbie tells Renee to be herself and Renee remembers her grandmother saying something similar in Mandarin. Renee has fun in China and thanks Barbie for being a good friend.
Season 3[]
In "Virtually Famous", Barbie gets "vlogger's block" and needs help thinking of vlog ideas. Renee and her other friends help her to film a vlog, and it goes viral. Teresa becomes obsessed with making more viral videos, and Renee and the others are excited too. Barbie finds it hard to be honest that she's not having fun chasing internet fame. Barbie talks to Ned, who says people do crazy things when they're scared to tell people their real feelings. An example he uses is when Barbie wasn't honest while helping Renee impress her relatives for Chinese New Year. Ned says he found out about that from Barbie's vlog. Barbie thanks him and tells Teresa the truth. Teresa apologizes and they all film a lip dub video. Renee takes part, and then Barbie's vlogs return to the classic format.
In "Getaway and Got Away", Ken gets offered a summer job as a lifeguard at Relax-o-Rama, a new spa resort. He gives Renee and her friends free passes. When they arrive, they meet the owner, Lucinda Crawford. Ken has to babysit her grandson Grayson. Renee and her friends relax and enjoy the spa. Grayson likes doing magic illusions, so he makes a bat come out of his magician's hat. Renee starts to get bored of the spa. Renee and her friends get full body mud wraps, so they can't move. The bat lands on Nikki and scares them. Grayson knocks Renee and her friends over while he tries to catch the bat, and then more bats land on Renee and the others. After the spa trip, Renee and her friends have fun in the Dreamhouse pool.
In "Barbie Roberts: Undercover Mermaid Part 1", Renee goes to a tropical island with her friends and Barbie's family. Renee is very excited. Barbie's parents go to a documentary festival while Barbie's sisters try to prank Barbie. Renee and her friends plan on showcasing Nikki's designs in a mermaid fashion show that will be judged by Nikki's idol, Fairuza Ukwani. Margaret borrows a necklace to Nikki for the fashion show. Renee and her friends encourage Nikki when she feels unconfident. After Daisy, Teresa and Renee enjoy a romantic mermaid royal wedding, Nikki notices something sneaking into hotel rooms. It is a monkey, and it ends up stealing Margaret's necklace.
In "Barbie Roberts: Undercover Mermaid Part 2", a hotel detective brings Barbie's sisters to her and says he's investigating a string of thefts at the resort that weekend. He suspects Barbie's sisters are involved after catching them taking things from Barbie's hotel room. Renee takes photos of Nikki, Teresa and Daisy with King Neptune. After Barbie sees the monkey stealing, she comes up with a plan to catch it and prove her sisters didn't steal anything. She gets her mother's necklace back and puts it on Nikki to lure the monkey. At the fashion show, Renee performs with Nikki and Barbie tells Nikki when to turn around, revealing the necklace. A monkey tries to steal it, and it turns out the monkey was stealing for King Neptune. The security goes after him. Nikki impressed Fairuza with her designs, so Fairuza announces that Nikki is the winner. Renee and her friends say they had the best vacation ever.
In "A Dog's Day in Court", Nikki is at the Dreamhouse getting help with her pet business. Some dogs run over to the Reardons and give Trey fleas. This inspires a plan by Poppy to make the Roberts move away. The Reardons release fleas in the neighborhood and cause a 3-mile wide flea infestation. Nikki has no customers because of this. While the houses are being fumigated, there is an official city order that there can be no animals on the premises. Poppy rents several animals and has them delivered to the Dreamhouse. An animal inspector checks the Dreamhouse, sees the animals, and says the Roberts have the right to appear before the city council and plead their case. Renee watches in the courtroom as Barbie finds a animal rental receipt and a witness (the person who delivered the animals) to prove that Poppy is to blame. Poppy resigns from the city council and the Roberts are saved from being evicted.
Go Team Roberts! Season 1[]
In "Magical Mermaid Mystery: Part 1", Renee and her friends get summer jobs at a water park named Oceans Extreme. Renee has to wear a mascot costume of a whale named Spotty, but she finds it hard to walk in the costume. Barbie's family goes on vacation to Costa Rica so George can film a whale documentary. Renee has fun testing the water slides with Daisy. Renee and her friends are going to be in a musical that their boss, Darcy, has written. The musical is about a legend involving a mermaid who leads rare whales into the secret cave. Darcy goes missing, so Barbie worries about her.
Go Team Roberts! Season 2[]
Physical Appearance[]
Renee is a tall Chinese-American teenage girl. She has long black hair with side bangs, brown eyes and pale skin. Renee's usual outfit is a sleeveless white top, red pants and gold high-top sneakers. She accessorizes with a grey beanie hat, two pairs of stud earrings (one white, one red), and multiple bracelets. The wristbands are purple, red, gold and pink.
In "Road Trip!" and "Balancing Act", Renee wears a black swimsuit with white lining, and black flip flops. She wears this with her usual earrings and wristbands.
Personality[]
Renee is eccentric and high-spirited. She likes skateboarding because it helps her to relax. She also enjoys watching movies in the camper, and stage diving. Renee is very playful and loud. Renee dreams of being an intergalactic skip tracer. She dislikes curried egg salad pizza.
Trivia[]
- In Barbie's "2018 Chinese New Year of the Dog" vlog, she says that Renee has a cousin named Xiaomei.
- In "Time Will Tell", it is shown that Renee is claustrophobic. This is also shown in "Nothing to Fear" and Barbie: Princess Adventure.
- In "A Delicate Situation", Renee cannot sing. In Barbie Dreamhouse Adventures: Magical Mermaid Mystery, she attempts to sing in the play. However, her singing is fine in Barbie: Princess Adventure.
- In "Road Trip" and "Getaway and Got Away", Renee is scared of bats.
- In "Barbie Roberts: Undercover Mermaid Part 1", Renee says has seen every episode of a show called Heartthrob Teen Couples and that she likes mini pretzels.
- In "Barbie Roberts: Undercover Mermaid Part 2", it is shown that Renee can dribble.
- In some official illustrations (seen on things like box art, magazines and books), Renee has colored hair, like silver, or different colored streaks, like green or pink. She also often has a bob haircut.