Barbie as Rapunzel

Barbie as Rapunzel follows much the same vein as the other historical/fairytale Barbie films. The plot is strong and it's great to see Rapunzal with a slightly feminist twist before the amazing Disney film that is tangled.

The Maiden in the Tower archetype or cliche goes all the way back to even pre Christian Europe with pagan tales, Barbie as Rapunzel follows the story very closely and I enjoyed the storyline. The voice acting is average, except for Anjelica Huston who is fantastic in her role as the baddie Dame Gothel who is extra villainous and always steals the screen presence whenever she's on. I found the talking dragon and rabbit to be unnecessary and childish and they sometimes take away from the making any of it serious, but for very young children they'll be good to make sure they're never scared of the villain or mild peril associated with the film.

The slightly feminist reversal of the Rapunzel tale is that Rapunzel rescues herself, not the Prince rescuing her. I liked this as it's a good twist to subvert expectations and I also liked the Prince's character, I thought he was one dimensional and stereotypical but he was quite sweet and wholesome.

6/10: Good storyline, the CGI is a little dated but definitely makes them look like dolls (if they were going for that effect) nice themes, and a brilliant villain.

My 2 year old daughter loves this movie. I find it hard to sit through, with numerous plot holes and terrible dialogue, not to mention annoying animation. However, it's (almost) completely nonviolent and has a pretty good message. My daughter particularly likes the dragon character, Penelope. Overall, a pretty good kids movie, if not cutting edge.

I love this adaptation of Rapunzel. Rapunzel is portrayed as a strong girl with years of got held abuse but her animal friends are by her side. Anyways it's an enjoyable movie with some humour and the background/scenery are beautiful

The best Barbie movie, and most underrated, is Barbie in the Nutcracker. I loved the music, the story, the animation, the dialogue and the voice-talents. Barbie as Rapunzel is actually not bad at all, but I much prefer Nutcracker. The animation is very good, and the music by Dvorak (New world symphony) was lovely, but I didn't like the added music as much. The opening credits and the making of the dress were wonderful. The voice talents were excellent, especially from the immensely Angelica Huston as Gothel. Kelly Sheridan is lovely too, but Cree Summer brilliantly voices Penelope, the best character, who is misjudged by her father, who doesn't share her love. I also loved Otto and Hobie. The story was very good too(i loved the painting idea), however I didn't think the Prince was sincere enough, unlike Prince Eric in Nutcracker. In conclusion, a nice movie, but not the best. 8/10 Bethany Cox

I have loved the story of Rapunzel since I was a child and I have to say I find this Barbie version very discouraging. It's not the story at all and that's just wrong. I mean I understand that little girls love stories about princesses an that Barbie is trying to provide that, but I think it's more important that these little girls learn the real stories which as such a beautiful part of history. I know it's cute, but so is the real story - so my question is why? Why ruin such a wonderful story by adding a magic paintbrush and a talking purple dragon? What was so wrong with the original story that they felt like changing it? - it just doesn't make any sense