Barbie, princesse Raiponce

The worst thing about this video is its cover, which looks stiff, commercial and artificial. What's inside, however, is a very well done original take on a little-dramatized but familiar fairy tale that entertains without overdoing or offending and has an extremely positive subtext. You can tell it's got its heart in the right place, when at the very beginning in an introductory sequence Barbie, at an easel, encourages her little sister to paint what she wants and express herself rather than telling her what to do. Rapunzel, not immature in this version of the story, though sheltered, also paints when she can to pass the time between chores, and unlike Disney's Little Mermaid, doesn't feel the need to forego developing her talent and creativity to chase handsome princes. She discovers and explores her world while always trying, though not usually successfully, to keep peace with her unreasonably demanding and jealous stepmother, whose voice is effectively performed by Angelica Huston, and with feuding royalty in two neighboring kingdoms. The impossible-to-dramatize plot elements of the original fairy tale have been replaced by effective new characters and story ideas, which keep the presentation from being all decoration without substance, and though Rapunzel's baby dragon friend may be somewhat distractingly big and purple, her own sub-plot does work into the main story well and add interest when we are introduced to her grown up dragon father, the guardian of the tower. Choices made in good taste are all over this DVD, which is refreshingly free of Disney-style smartass humor and sell-out scripting. The original music is nice and very underplayed--Barbie could easily have been made to burst into song at any time here, but wisely the producers just let the perfectly decent story stand on its own instead of trying to make it into a Broadway musical. The whole package here is pretty, original, pleasantly presented, and encourages self-expression without pandering or being heavy handed about its message at all. From start to finish it is refreshing, interesting and positive. Only the packaging is corny, but even the doll it cross-promotes is as pleasant-looking as the movie. Highly recommended for the little girl in the family.

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

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.

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.

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.