The character of Dean Morrison from Barbie: Big City, Big Dreams appears twice in the series, but in silent cameos.
Barbie's personality shift in the series, where she's more impulsive and less of a role model, is in response to criticism of Barbie Dreamhouse Adventures of people thinking she wasn't interesting enough.
Showrunner Marsha Griffin cited Barbie: Life In The Dreamhouse as her favorite Barbie project, and wanted to bring that level of storytelling to her own Barbie project.