Barbie, princesse Raiponce

Unlike the whiners, the irrelevant complaining and just the plain questionable comments I've seen regarding the reviews for this child's movie - I generally liked it.

While Disney's Tangled was a cute adaption (albeit that version of Rapunzel lacked a sense of self-preservation and was much too trusting of strangers). The extra plot twist adds an interesting mystery which intrigues the audience as to WHY Rapunzel was kidnapped to begin with. Also it shows you can be creative to escape the bonds of toxicity and make your dreams come true if your fight honestly for them.

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.

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

1st watched 10/19/2002 - 6 out of 10(Dir-Owen Hurley): Surprisingly well-done Barbie fluff. What impressed me the most about this made-for-video computer animated movie was the obvious time and attention that was put into the story, animation, and character development despite the usual bland Barbie stuff created by Mattel. The animation isn't intended to make you forget that it's animation because we're watching a `doll' in action, not a person(and this is okay). They basically took the Rapunzel character and crafted an entirely different movie than what's in the original book. There is a formidable enemy(voice played by Anjelica Huston), and endearing characters who are Rapunzel's friends(a talking rabbit and a young dragon), as well as a few others who all are done well. There are two very good songs that accompany the movie(although it doesn't try to be a musical), and the usual fairy-tale ending that will please young and those who are young at heart. The bottom line here is that this was a very big surprise to me. I enjoyed this movie from beginning to end, which I believe even those who don't carry the dolls around with us will enjoy this right alongside those younger-folk who do still meddle with them.

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.