Barbie Fairytopia: Magic of the Rainbow [DVD]

Compared with some of the other Barbie videos I was slightly disappointed with this, but the target audience certainly were not. In the week we rented this film I have lost count of the number of times my children have watched it.

For reference, this is the third in the "Fairytopia" sequence which currently consists of:

Fairytopia
Mermaidia
Magic of the Rainbow.

Before we first rented one of the Barbie videos for my daughter, I was expecting them to be trite, over-commercialised, over-sugary and over here. In general, however, I have been pleasantly surprised.

Yes, they do have a lot of commercial spin-offs and a high saccharine count, but the quality of the Barbie films we have subsequently bought or rented, including all three "Fairytopia" films, was significantly higher than I had originally expected before watching any of them. These films have not just kept my children engrossed for hours - including my son as well as my daughter - but introduced them to some beautiful stories. Several - but sadly not this one - also introduced my children to some truly wonderful music.

On more than one occasion I have been listening to a CD of a classic such as Beethoven's pastoral symphony, or "The Queen of the Night's aria" from Mozart's opera "The Magic Flute", and my five year old daughter has recognised and expressed appreciation of the music, and correctly remembered which Barbie film had used it. ("Magic of Pegasus" and "Mermaidia" respectively.)

So I was very disappointed that "Fairytopia - the magic of the rainbow" did not continue this tradition: no great classics this time, the musical score is just competently written filler.

The film continues the story of a Barbie as the good fairy Elena, and her "puffball" companion, who seek to protect the land of the fairies (Fairytopia) from being taken over and ruined by the evil Laverna.

This time the "puffball" comic relief character gets a romance of his own.

Those people who enjoy criticising the way Mattel operate the Barbie franchise will not have much difficulty finding things in this production to sneer at. If you, or more importantly your kids, are allergic to an excess of twee sweetness, then this film and the Barbie videos generally may not be for them.

And the female characters are all on the thin side of plausibility: I'm not worried that watching this is going to give my own daughter anorexia as she likes food too much and has a good sense of the difference between fantasy and reality. And after all, the characters in this story are fairies, complete with wings! However, if you are worried that your children may be forming an unrealistic idea about how thin a healthy female body shape is, it is not quite impossible that this film may contribute to it.

But on the plus side: it is beautifully made, it will hold the attention of most small children for long enough for the typical exhausted parent to clear the mess they have made in several rooms of the house or collapse for an hour's rest after doing so. And there are still a few more sophisticated jokes thrown in, so you won't be completely bored to death if you decide to watch it with your offspring.

Overall this is not, in my opinion, quite as good as some of the previous Barbie videos, including the first two Fairytopia" titles, but anything which can hold my children's attention as well as this film did clearly has something going for it.

Having rented the title to try it out, I then bought it for my children, as part of the triple DVD set with all three "Fairytopia" titles.

As always with Barbie films - this older film is great. My daughters love Barbie and the Film is loved by all.

My 4 year old and her 2 year old sister have watched this a dozen times, they love it. Great for an hour's ppeace and quiet for mum!