knox_j-1

Found this gem at a local store's bargain bin. I though my 3 year old daughter would enjoy this more than the classic full length version (the flying monkey's gave scared me as a kid!), what I found was nothing short of horrific. Not only have they compressed one of the most classic films of all time to under an hour (which I can understand given the target audience), but they hacked at the script with a chainsaw rather than with a knife. There is no flow to the slapped together scenes, the spirit of the original movie is all but lost, and the worst animation I have seen since the 70's. After watching this with my daughter, I put it away. I figure she deserves to see the REAL film when she's a bit older, not this phony.

First off, my daughter really enjoyed the Fairytopia movie and I have found that the other Barbie films to have some redeeming value for a young lady. However, I could tell what kind of movie this was going to be when the first thing to fall out of the DVD case was the catalog with toys from the film listed. The animation is at par with the other Barbie films (another Mainframe production). The script was clearly written during a meeting of executives at Mattel to maximize product revenue generated from the film. As overly cute as Fairytopia was, it at least had some though put into it to make it mildly entertaining. Mermaidia just goes through the paces. That all being said my daughter really likes the mermaids and Barbie. And at the end of the day it's all about her entertainment, not mine. But it doesn't stop me from grumbling when I have to sit through it with her.