Movie Night at Barbie’s | Melody Abouzari
Nostalgia can be found in everything, from books to movies to toys. The famous doll brand, Barbie, has been around since 1959. But Ms. Barbara Millicient Roberts didn’t make her movie debut until 2001. In each of the Barbie movies, Barbie is an actress starring as the lead role. Each movie starts the same, often with Barbie telling her younger sister, Kelly, a fairytale laced with a moral story attached to it. The Barbie movies premiered on both home video formats along as TV specials on Nickelodeon. For many kids growing up in the early to mid 2000’s, the Barbie movies were an immense source of comfort and joy. And they can still be enjoyed to this day! Personally, I was an avid connoisseur of the Barbie movies, and as such, consider myself to be an expert on the film genre. And though everyone has their own opinions, there are still certain movies that are more enjoyable and rewatchable than the others.
In my well versed opinion, the top three are easily Barbie as The Princess and the Pauper, Barbie in the 12 Dancing Princesses, and Barbie as the Island Princess. These three are simply the most iconic, and most memorable, stories of the whole bunch.12 Dancing Princesses is easily the most recognizable Barbie film plot, in which Princess Genevieve and her 11 sisters discover a secret entrance to a magical world where they can dance, though forbidden by their evil duchess cousin Rowena. The animal characters in Barbie in the 12 Dancing Princesses are: Twyla the cat, Felix the bird, and Brutus the evil monkey. While12 Dancing Princesses may have the most known plot,
The Princess and the Pauper most definitely has the most loved and known soundtrack. With iconic tracks such as I Am a Girl Like You, How Can I Refuse, and Written in Your Heart, how could it not be a fan favorite? It simply is the most enjoyable soundtrack of them all, and anyone can easily just leave it on repeat. Barbie as The Princess and the Pauper stars Annaliesse and Erika, a princess and a poor village girl who look amazingly alike, and each long for what the other has. It easily has the most iconic soundtrack of them all, along with the most iconic villain, Preminger. The animal sidekicks include: Serafina the spoiled housecat, Wolfie the alley cat, and Midas the evil poodle.
Finally, while this last pick of mine might be controversial, I have to say that Barbie as the Island Princess is easily one of the best Barbie movies ever created. Barbie plays Rosella, who was shipwrecked as a child and grew up on the island under the eyes of her furry animal friends. The arrival of Prince Antonia leads Rosella and her little furry pals to explore civilization and save the kingdom. Island Princess may have become the most memed Barbie movie of the bunch due to its slightly frightening animal character depictions (I’m looking at you Tika the elephant!), but that doesn’t mean that it isn’t amazing. With her peacock Azul, red panda Sagi, and Tika the elephant, Ro is unstable! Girl power, cute animals, and a fun twist on a classic tale? Count me in!
Each movie respectively came out with a matching doll and side characters, which just added to the fun of the movies! While I could talk of hours upon hours of Barbie lore, there’s simply too much to mention in just one short deep dive session.
And while many of us may have outgrown playing with Barbies, you simply can never outgrow the Barbie movies.