Barbie, princesse de l'île merveilleuse

I came to this because I had a bad experience watching the Disney "Cinderella," and wondered at what passed for acceptable these days. I chose what I thought would be the gene with the lowest standards. I picked wrong. I should have gone with preteen boy anime, because this is pretty darn good.

The animation is actually good. The rendering isn't naturalistic, but since this is supposed to be a doll, its apt. What struck me was how natural the movements of the princess (played by Barbie) were. I think this must have been a marketing decision, because if I recall the doll itself is stiff. The decision to have the girl play with what could be sold as stuffed animals also clearly influenced the story.

The story itself was pretty standard; one arc but with enough elaboration to qualify as long form.

But what made this stand out was the music. This was actually a very professional assembly, on the order of production values every bit as good as your standard Broadway musical. Naturally, the songs are pulled from that formula book. There's nothing to get excited about in terms of depth; its just that this was not taken lightly. The little girls who watch this, at least get the respect of not being taken for granted.

Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.

I find it hard to believe that these Barbie movies don't get more exposure or recognition, because I think the are all so amazing. I didn't even know that these movies existed until I let my 2 year old daughter pick out a movie at the video store. She picked Barbie & The 12 Dancing Princesses (which is also a favorite). I expected them to be silly and not to have much depth (like my son's Land Before Time movies). Boy, was I wrong! They are so good, we've bought almost all of them now.

The reason I love this movie so much is that it's the ultimate love story (and not just love of a "boy & girl", but the love of family, too). It reminds me a little of the movie "Ever After" with Drew Barrymore. Sure, it's the standard 'formula' movie, but it's very satisfying and quite touching in the end (I even cried! A 40 year old woman crying watching a BARBIE movie! I can't believe I am even admitting that!). Not to mention, the songs are excellent. I am not much for musicals, but the songs in this movie really fit in. They don't just break out in song for no reason - it really meshes into the storyline (like most Disney movies I love like Beauty & The Beast and The Little Mermaid, but perhaps even more effectively than those). The woman that sings the songs also sang in the other Barbie musical movies and her voice is phenomenal.

The best part about this movie is that it's not scary in any way for the small kids. My son likes Barbie in the Magic of Pegasus better (because of the scary Wenlock), but watches this one along with his sister just as intently.

Keep the WONDERFUL Barbie movies coming. We are HUGE fans!

I am watching all the barbie movies in order. Some of them I've never seen (like this one) since I was a bit older kid/teen when they came out. This one is not as good as Rapunzel or the 12 Dancing Princesses. The story is meh and I found the Princess annoying af. Luciana was better imo.

Both the dress for the ball and wedding dress were horrid and pretty disappointing especially considering Ro basically wears a towel for the whole first half of movie.

But the songs are awesome. I liked the lullaby, Luciana's song, and the mice singing about cheese.

Would recommend for Barbie fans that may want to learn easy songs and sing along.

Despite the title and the horrid animal animation, it was quite a charming movie!

Of course, my only complaint is the animation but it was 2007 so I cant try to look past that to enjoy this sweet and heart-warming movie.

I'd highly recommend this movie to anyone interested in the Barbie franchise. The villain is interesting, the relationships between the characters are compelling, and the music is amazing.