Barbie Movie Collection Review

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(More customer reviews)This has the first four Barbie movies in one, they are Nutcracker, Rapunzel, Swan Lake, and the best one ever - The Princess and the Pauper. It is a good mix of Barbie singing and dancing. The quality of the animation and the storys get better as they go on with the Princess and the pauper songs etc the best. There is some great humour in that one too which the kids really enjoy.
Hours of fun in here which will keep your little girl occupied. Also nice dancing in the first two (Nutcracker and Swan Lake). What I like about these movies is Barbie is very capable, she is intelligent and tries to help others. I know it probably sounds trite, but I like the fact that the movies teach good ethics to kids, about being part of a community, and respecting others.

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Barbie as Rapunzel (2002) Review

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(More customer reviews)I was so surprised to see the lukewarm reviews about this video. My 4 1/2 yr. old son and 2 1/2 yr. old daughter watched it repeatedly when we rented it from the video store, so now we are buying it.
I watched it with them several times and was completely enchanted with the original twist on the familiar Rapunzel tale. This version is full of interesting characters, including dragons, dueling kings, and even children. I loved the entire concept of the magic paintbrush as a portal into the village. How unique!
Sure, the animation wasn't exactly as well-done as, say, "Finding Nemo," and the story line was less than perfect, but it was certainly exciting and interesting, even to an adult who was watching it repeatedly with her preschoolers.
I was hesitant to introduce my daughter to the world of Barbie, so to speak, but now that there are such fun new fairy tale characters and ideas to explore, I am much more of a fan.

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Long, long ago, in a time of magic and dragons, there lived a girl named Rapunzel who had the most beautiful radiant hair the world had ever seen.But Rapunzel's life was far from wonderful. She lived as a servant to Gothel, a jealous, scheming witch who kept her hidden deep in a forbidding forest, guarded by the enormous dragon Hugo and surrounded by an enchanted glass wall.However, in a twist of fate, Rapunzel's discovery of a magic paintbrush leads her on a journey that will unravel a web of deception, bring peace to two feuding kingdoms, and ultimately lead her to love with the help of Penelope(TM), the least intimidating of dragons!Stunningly produced in computer animation, the movie stars Academy Award(R) - Anjelica Huston* as Gothel and Cree Summer as Penelope(TM). The movie features a song by Samantha Mumba and music by the London Symphony Orchestra.Barbie(TM) as Rapunzel shows that love and imagination can change theworld...

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Barbie Presents: Thumbelina Review

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(More customer reviews)This movie is drastically different from the other Barbie movies. They are trying to do their good deed by making a movie with an environmental message. This appears to be a calculated move from a marketing standpoint, rather than genuine concern for the environment since the only effort Mattel has made is with the items associated with this movie (recylced packaging for the toys, etc.). Nothing makes blatant commercialism stand out like a sore thumb like trying to package it as anti-commercialism. We all know that the Barbie movies are commercials for their toys (like the TV cartoons we grew up with), but as parents we've tolerated it with the Barbie movies because they've so far done alright at putting good moral lessons into them and making them relatively entertaining. This movie is not on the same level as the previous movies in a few ways. The writing, particularly in the dialog department, is very weak and stilted. They have built everything around their obviously half-hearted attempt at "doing a good deed for the environment" and it shows in that every element involved in the "green theme" is poorly executed. The dialog in these parts is atrocious, cringe-worthy jargon. It sounds more like a cheap PSA than movie dialog. The premise is horribly flawed that they would be trying to build a factory so far out of the way that they have to attack a field of flowers that nobody ever goes to. That they transplant a section of the flowers from the field to Makena's room using an excavator (and apparently so quickly and cleanly that the twillerbees inside have no idea where they are or what has happened) is positively laughable. I've had more to explain to my daughters of how things wouldn't happen the way they depicted in this movie than any other Barbie movie, and we have all but the Diaries and Fairytopia ones.
The animation is not up to par on this movie either, and I suspect it is because they are trying to churn out more movies this year than any previous year. They seem to have caught on that the movies are very effective at selling toys, so they're trying to hit us with a non-stop barrage. What happens then is that they are trying to slap these things together in maybe a quarter of the amount of time they used to have. Thus now the lifelike characters move like hollow rubber tubes, and the main characters aren't even attempted to look lifelike. Oddly enough, they look like the Sweet Streets dolls from Fisher Price... I also noticed several times during the movie that the image will pixellate and become grainy, so the finish is seriously lacking. Also noteworthy is the small role Kelly Sheridan has been playing lately. She got to mostly sit out of Mariposa, Christmas Carol, and Thumbelina and only had a starring role in the Diamond Castle movie.
I guess I've been lucky about the brattiness of the girls in this movie, as my daughters have not tried to emulate them. In fact the only comment I've received so far is my oldest asking "Why doesn't she say anything other than 'Ch-ya'?" which has given me the opportunity to point out that she doesn't have anything valuable to add so she just says something stupid. I also point out at the end that her part was so insignificant that nobody is credited for her. Frankly I thought the part was hillarious as a representation of the stupid things snobby people will say when they can't just be silent, but that is beside the point since I'm old enough to not be influenced by cartoons.
All of this aside, I will say that the weird looking characters can grow on you. Usually I like the villain characters in the Barbie movies because they tend to ham things up and totally upstage the heroic characters (particularly Martin Short's Preminger- classic!), but in this one, I think Thumbelina's ditzy friend, Chrysella steals a lot of scenes. Also the construction workers (not counting the crazy foreman) provided a few good laughs, although they would have a hard time keeping a job with the way they spend most of their time eating lunch and smelling the flowers. A good crew would have had the job of blading the ground done before lunch on the first day. Poor little pixies would never have known what hit them... All in all, the depiction of construction workers was pretty bad showing them to be lazy and more than a little weak in the head, and the foreman was the primary villain. In that respect, the environmental message skews the story into the very turbulent waters of over-generalization. It reminded me of a book that was just banned from the schools for trying to generalize Loggers as evil polluting critter killers. They tried to soften it by making it only the foreman who is really trying to tear the place up, but by doing that they made doofuses out of the workers. Way to go guys. Some kids watching this may have parents who work in construction, or other relatives, and now they are going to have to explain to these kids that they don't go around trying to destroy pixie homes... Does it also need to be pointed out that there is plenty of good that can be said in favor of green practices and environmental causes without having to involve magic and make-believe situations (which only dillute the message)? Since there aren't any pixies in the homeless shelters, trying to save their habitat is kind of pointless, you think?
This movie is mildly amusing and my daughters enjoy it immensely, but I think it has the worst dumbed-down plot of all of them. The parts about understanding what true friendship is are good, and that goes back to what most of the Barbie movies are good at, self-esteem stories. They need to stick to those motifs if they're going to do rush jobs on these movies.
And if you think this one was bad, the next one features four Barbies riding horses in mini-skirts waving swords around. That ought to get all of us parents up in arms!

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BARBIE PRESENTS THUMBELINA - DVD Movie

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Barbie in The Nutcracker (2001) Review

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(More customer reviews)Beautiful. Exquisite. Captivating. There aren't enough superlatives to describe the quality of Barbie's first, and hopefully not last, movie. I bought this for my daughter thinking that it would be fun video for her to watch (Barbie lover that she is at 2 1/2) as the holidays approach. I didn't expect to fall in love with it myself. In amazing computer animation, the Nutcracker is retold through the eyes of Barbie playing both the roles of Clara and the Sugarplum Princess. The story is strong, with lots of action and tenderness: the plotline includes, of course, Prince Eric as the Nutcracker, the Mouse King and his legions, and lots of adorable sugarplum fairies. The dance sequences will take your breath away as the graphics artists have integrated actual footage of the dancing of the New York City Ballet into their computer animated scenes. I only wish there had been more of them, but I will take quality over quantity! A few of the scenes were a little rough for my 2-year old, but really no worse than a Disney movie. Even if you're not a fan of Barbie, pick up this movie for its sheer storytelling and visual value. All in all, I have to say that this is destined to become a favorite for girls (including us moms!) of all ages.

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This modern adaptation of the holiday classic casts Barbie in two roles, Clara and the Sugarplum Princess, as she embarks on a musical fantasy adventure for girls of all ages. New York City Ballet's Peter Martins choreographed this wonderful animated film, with music by The London Symphony Orchestra, and featuring the voice of Tim Curry as the Mouse King.

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Barbie and the Three Musketeers Review

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(More customer reviews)Mattel's latest gender-reversed classic in the "Barbie" animated series begins on a farm in Gascony where Corinne, daughter of the famous D'Artagnan, is practicing her swordfighting moves. (Her idea of swordfighting seems to owe more to the "Zorro" films than anything you would actually expect to find in 17th century France, but never mind.)
Corinne's life's ambition is to follow in her father's footsteps by becoming a royal musketeer. When she turns 17 she goes to Paris to enlist, carrying as D'Artagnan had before her, a letter of introduction to Monsieur de Treville, who is still Captain of the King's musketeers. (With the silver hair which is the only sign of age in this kind of film.)
Unfortunately for Corinne, the 17th century French authorities are not ready for the idea of a lady musketeer (probably this reluctance is the most plausible part of the film.) So instead she has to accept a job as a maid at the palace.
Just as D'Artagnan fell foul of "the three musketeers" on his first day in Paris and agreed to fight duels with each of them, Corinne has unfortunate meetings with three other girls while attempting to rescue her pet cat from an unpleasant dog belonging to the film's villain, and then finds that they are her new work colleagues.
Despite this unfortunate start, Corinne becomes friends with her new colleagues and it turns out that all four share an ambition to be royal musketeers. So they begin to train in secret.
Meanwhile the handsome Prince Louis, heir to the throne, is about to be crowned King on reaching his majority. His cousin Phillipe, who has been ruling France as Regent while Louis was a child, is less than happy at handing over power. Phillipe's nefarious plans are about to run into a most unexpected obstacle ...
From my adult perspective this was quite the most ridiculous of all the Barbie films - the fact that the music to the climax of the film was the song "unbelievable" seemed only too appropriate. But this isn't aimed at adults, it's aimed at little girls and I have to report that my eight year old daughter loved it, as did her twin brother. And in fact some of the jokes in the film are quite funny: they had my wife as well as our children laughing out loud and raised a few smiles even from me.
It has all the stock Barbie ingredients - a relentlessly positive heroine, a wicked villain, good and bad talking animals, etc. Like all the Barbie films "Barbie and The Three Musketeers" is also beautifully made, charming, and, if my daughter is anything to go by, can hold the attention of a little girl for hours.
Before we first rented any of the Barbie videos for my daughter, I was expecting them to be trite, over-commercialised, and over-sugary. In general, however, I have been pleasantly surprised.
Yes, they do have a lot of commercial spin-offs and a high saccharine count, but the quality of that film and the other Barbie videos we have subsequently bought or rented, was significantly higher than I had originally expected before I saw the first one. They have kept my children engrossed for hours - including my son as well as my daughter - and also introduced them to some beautiful stories. Several of them also introduced my children to some great musical classics: others, of which this is one, had instead enjoyable original or modern music. In all cases Mattel had hired first class international orchestras to provide the instrumental soundtrack.
On more than one occasion I have been listening to a CD of a classic such as Beethoven's pastoral symphony (Beethoven: Symphony No.6), or "The Queen of the Night's aria" from Mozart's opera "Mozart: The Magic Flute", and my daughter, who was then five years old, recognised and expressed appreciation of the music, and correctly remembered which Barbie film had used it. ("Barbie and the Magic of Pegasus" and "Barbie Fairytopia: Mermaidia" respectively.)
The music for "Barbie and the three musketeers" is easy on the ear, though this is not one of those Barbie films - there are some - which you would buy for the music.
For reference, the Barbie films with beautiful musical scores taken largely from the classics include
"Barbie of Swan Lake" (with music from the ballet of that name)
"Barbie in The Nutcracker" (ditto)
"Barbie and the Magic Of Pegasus" (Beethoven)
"Fairytopia II: Mermaidia" (Mozart)
"Barbie in the 12 dancing princesses dvd" (Mendelsohn)
"Barbie in a Christmas Carol" (various traditional carols)
The two best with music which is original rather than taken from the classics, are "Barbie as The Island Princess" and "Barbie As The Princess and the Pauper" the music for which I can particularly recommend. In terms of production values, the DVD runs smoothly and is fairly easy to navigate around: it is as visually beautiful as any of the Barbie films to date, which is quite a high standard, and contains a few extras such as games.
Those people who enjoy criticising the way Mattel operate the Barbie franchise will not have much difficulty finding things in these films to sneer at. If you, or more importantly your kids, are allergic to an excess of twee sweetness, then these DVDs and the Barbie videos generally may not be for them.
One charge which is sometimes made against the Barbie films but which does not hold much water is the idea that they reinforce gender stereotypes, and that criticism does not appear at all applicable to this particular film. It's a gender reversed story, and the heroine and central character is far more interested in foiling plots against the King than in going on a date with him.
To summarise, these films are beautifully made, and will hold the attention of most small children for long enough for the typical exhausted parent to clear the mess they have made in several rooms of the house or collapse for an hour's rest after doing so. And there are enough more sophisticated jokes thrown in that you won't be completely bored to death if you decide to watch "Barbie and the Three Musketeers" with your offspring.

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It’s “All for One and One for All" as Barbie™ and her friends co-star in Barbie™ and The Three Musketeers!Join Barbie™ as Corinne™, a young country girl headed to Paris to pursue her big dream – to become a female musketeer!Never could she imagine she would meet three other girls who secretly share the same dream! Using their special talents, the girls work together as a team to foil a plot and save the prince. Come along on an action-filled adventure that dares you to dream as never before.

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Barbie: A Fashion Fairytale Review

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(More customer reviews)Oh, to go back to the days when Barbie movies were full of imagination, creativity, princesses, dreams come true and REAL fairytales. This is no fairytale. It's a pathetic excuse for a kid's movie that is trying to be hip and modern and introducing little girls to the world of twitter, Juicy Couture and boyfriend breakups. "A Fashion Fairytale" is anything but. The animation was lame, the dialogue was too filled with "hip" phrases and "teen terms" to be good, and the characters leave much to be desired. And the clothes are immodest, over-glitterized pink party outfits that no one in the real world would wear. The themes have more sexual content than a Barbie movie has ever had, and I'm truly sorry I bought this sorry excuse for a movie. Even older viewers and Barbie lovers can't enjoy it, because the bar has been set. Listen up, Mattel!
This movie is nothing but an encouragement to have the latest fashions, the top designs, the coolest new cell phones, the hottest boyfriends, and be uber popular at the same time. Please! Children don't need sexy models and lecherous dogs to look up to. Barbie used to stand for something more. Her standards used to be higher. Now she's too busy shopping for even MORE tight, low-cut, haute clothes. And while she's at it, she COULD use another micro miniskirt, couldn't she? The only decent outfit this chick wears is when she's filming for "the Princess and the Pea." And she gets fired from that!
I want to go back to the days when I saw a barbie movie and bought it knowing it was going to be wholesome, whimsical, sweet, and creative. They got it so right back then-this is madness.

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Join Barbie™ in a colorful, modern-day fairytale filled with fashion, friends and fun! Barbie™ and her dog, Sequin™, jet off to visit her aunt’s amazing fashion house in Paris, and much to her surprise it’s about to be shut down forever. After she discovers three enchanting Flairies™ with sparkle-magic powers, Barbie™ comes up with a brilliant idea to save the business. She even inspires Alice, a shy fashion designer, and together they create a dazzling runway fashion show. Barbie™ shows that magic happens when you believe in yourself.

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Barbie in a Mermaid Tale Review

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(More customer reviews)Our three and a half year old daughter wanted to see this movie after seeing a preview on the Nick Jr website. The only other Barbie movie we have watched was the Nutcracker, and while it was a cute movie with beautiful ballet sequences, it had too many scary parts for her. We watched A Mermaid's Tale tonight as a special treat after a particularly traumatic day involving blood testing for allergies. I was pleasantly surprised in this movie. The animation is fantastic, beautiful and lifelike. The characters are sweet. And the story line (you must realize we are talking it's for small children who love Barbie and fantasy) is easy to follow and fun. My daughter loved it. The "scary" parts weren't too scary, some sharks, a few jelly fish, and the mean Queen. And while she is mean, it's nothing like the Queen in Sleeping Beauty that can give very young children nightmares for weeks. The movie's message is that it is okay to be different. We are very particular about what we let our daughter watch. She watches Max and Ruby, the Wonder Pets, The Berenstain Bears, Little Bear, Olivia and occasionally Maggie and the Ferocious Beast. She has seen the Tinkerbell movies, but didn't enjoy the other Disney movies, as the bad guys are always too scary. She doesn't see any network TV or commercials in general. She saw the commercial for this on the Nick Jr website, and only after we had watched it first. My husband and I especially appreciated the fact that there weren't references to things she wouldn't understand, there weren't jokes thrown in for the adults only, and that is was sweet and simple with no violence, no name calling and nothing offensive. I would gladly watch it again with her, and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to a parent who was looking for a sweet, fun movie for little girls who love pretend and make-believe and believe it's possible Mermaids are really out there in the ocean somewhere.

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Barbie™ stars as Merliah™, a surfing champion from Malibu. One minute she’s a normal teenager and the next she learns a shocking family secret: she’s a mermaid! Merliah™ and her dolphin friend Zuma set off on an undersea adventure to rescue her mother, the queen of Oceana. With help from her new mermaid friends, Merliah™ saves the ocean kingdom. In the end, she discovers what makes you different can also be your greatest strength.

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