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So… I
imagine the first question that you might
want to ask me is "Why… oh why…
are you reviewing a BARBIE movie?"
To tell you the truth, I would have wondered
the same thing myself if you asked me that
about 3 years ago. My wife and I were out
shopping one day with our daughter and she
caught sight of a DVD called "Barbie:
The Princess and the Pauper." She went
nuts over the whole princess theme and we
picked up a copy for her. I looked it over
thinking that it would probably be awful…
but fun for the kiddo.
That night, we popped in the DVD and I settled
down to watch it with her (a little niggling
of dread creeping up my spine). But when
it started I was almost instantly taken
aback by the computer animation, which was
better than I expected. Then I quickly learned
that it was a musical and (being that I'm
into Broadway musicals) was shocked that
the songs were really, really good. The
story, which was of course a take-off of
'Prince and the Pauper', actually kept my
interest and even the humorous elements
were actually funny.
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I decided to take a closer look at the DVD case
and noticed on the back that the film was produced
by Mattel (of course) in conjunction with…
Mainframe Entertainment. Now many of you might
not recognize that name, but being that I was
a huge fan of the old "Reboot" series,
I immediately knew who they were. Mainframe was
also the studio responsible for "Beast Wars"
and "War Planets", as well as a bunch
of other really terrific computer animated shows.
Then I checked out the credits and recognized
some of the voice actors from other projects,
but was again shocked when Martin Short's name
appeared (he played the villain of the movie.)
Over the next couple of weeks, my daughter and
I watched "Princess and the Pauper"
several times and I honestly found that I wasn't
getting tired of it. The DVD even came with a
soundtrack and I… ahem… listened to
it in the car. It was actually that good. Since
that time, we've tracked down all of the rest
of the Barbie movies that Mainframe has been involved
with, which up until a few days ago was twelve.
They vary in quality and most are not musicals,
but so far we've enjoyed every single one of them
and look forward to more. I did notice that starting
with “Barbie and the Island Princess”,
the cases no longer said Mainframe. Instead they
were done by Rainmaker Studios, which at first
caused my heart to sink a little, until I learned
that Mainframe had actually merged with Rainmaker,
so it was still technically the same company and
group of animators. (Whew…)
This month, Universal is releasing the 14th Barbie
film, "Barbie presents Thumbelina" and
when it showed up to review, I was actually pretty
excited. Not as excited as my little girl, who
immediately began to do the 'happy dance' in the
kitchen when I opened the package. Was there any
chance of waiting a couple of days to watch it?
No way! Now, as most of the Barbie movies take
liberties with their versions of classic tales
and this one was no different. Rather than the
age old tale of the tiny girl, this Thumbelina
was part of a whole village of fairies. And the
story took place in modern times (which was unusual
for the Barbie series) as Thumbelina raced against
time to save her village from annihilation as
workers try to demolish the land to make room
for a factory. She befriends (quite accidentally)
the selfish daughter whose parents are in charge
of designing and building the factory. I’d
rather not spoil the ending so I’ll stop
right there.
I know, the story sounds kind of hackneyed and
you are probably thinking, “Sheesh, a Barbie
movie…” but it is perfect for the
younger set. I'll admit I absolutely loved every
campy moment of it. But more importantly, my daughter
loved every campy moment of it and sharing that
kind of experience with her parents is as important
to her at that age as anything we as adults deem
as such. Even if I didn’t like the movie,
I would have still been more than happy to watch
it with her just to see her face light up every
time the fairies came up with a new way to stop
the bulldozers. And hearing her laugh… well
that’s just about the best sound in the
world.
Another aspect of this particular Barbie movie
I liked was its message about the environment.
I know that this particular topic tends to turn
off most people, and I am not necessarily a big
environmentalist, but I do feel we have more than
enough malls, parking lots, and factories and
I do get tired of seeing new ones popping up every
day. We live out in the country, but the city
is catching up to us and I’m about ready
to tie myself to a tree to stop it all. I hate
it every time I see another patch of land go to
waste with another needless car lot. That said,
I’m glad that my daughter is aware of the
problem and hopefully she will grow up understanding
that progress is not always progress.
Universal has included a couple of games for the
kids. They are rather fun, and I recommend playing
along.
If you have little girls, any of the Barbie movies
make for a wonderful viewing experience for you
to share with them. Even the most hardened heart
will surely enjoy the time spent with your kids.
Directed by: Conrad Helton
Starring (the voices of): Kelly Sheridan, Natasha
Callis
Extras: Flying Fairy Recycling Game, Thumbelina’s
Green Thumb Challenge
Specifications: Widescreen (1.78:1), Dolby Digital
5.1
Studio: Universal
Release Date: 3/17/2009
Region 1
MPAA Rating: NR
http://www.universalstudioshomeentertainment.com
http://www.barbie.com/thumblina
We'll give Barbie Presents Thumbelina a B.
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