Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Perfect for girls (and boys!) aged 3 to 6, 18 Aug 2007
My two little girls aged 4 and 6 have watched this time and time again.
I have also therefore watched it time and time again and even though I'm a grown-up male I have to admit enjoying it. Yes, to adults the animation is a little 'wooden', but that is also its charm.
For little girls it's just fantastic, and I have watched it with a little tear in my eye, especially when they get up and start dancing and singing (the music in this is especially catchy and well-written).
Yes. I'm an old softie.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The best Barbie movie by far, 7 Nov 2005
By A Customer
Having two girls under three decent entertainment is essential to a happy life. Having purchased all the Barbie movies, all of which are excellent, this one stands out for sheer singalong value and, may I say, a certain allure to parents (I find myself humming the tunes while cooking etc.) Absolutely brilliant and an essential purchase if you want to enjoy coffee for an hour uninterrupted!
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Perhaps the most original of the Barbie videos, 28 Oct 2007
My six year old daughter (and her twin brother) love this delightfully told little film, which in many ways is the most original of the Barbie children's videos: and of those which have original soundtracks rather than music taken from the classics, it has by far the best music.
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. However, I have been pleasantly surprised.
Yes, they do have a lot of commercial spin-offs and a high saccarine count, but the quality of the Barbie films we have subsequently bought or rented, including "The Princess and the Pauper," was significantly higher than I had previously expected. They have not just kept my children engrossed for hours - including my son as well as my daughter - but introduced them to some beautiful stories and truly wonderful music.
Prsonally I love classical music and want my children to have the opportunity to learn to appreciate it. So it was a big positive for me when I was listening to CDs of classics such as Beethoven's pastoral symphony, or "The Queen of the Night's aria" from Mozart's magic flute, and my daughter, then aged five, recognised the music, and correctly remembered which Barbie film had used it. ("Magic of Pegasus" and "Mermaidia" respectively.)
In this case the soundtrack to "The Princess and the Pauper" isn't taken from the classics, the seven songs in the musical are all original, though the orchestral accompaniment was recorded by two top rank classical orchestras - the London Symphony Orchestra and the Czech Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra. In my opinion Arnie Roth, who wrote the music for both this film and several other Barbie musicals, did his best job to date with this one.
The story is a double love story, and comedy of mistaken identity, based very loosely on the traditional "Prince and the Pauper" legend. "Barbie" is represented both as "Princess Anneliese" and Erika, two girls who look so alike that they might almost be twins. They find out by chance of each other's existence when the Princess hears Erika singing. They compare notes of the contrasting and similar aspects of their existence - one surrounded by wealth and luxury, the other working as an indentured servant - almost a slave - in a dressmaker's shop, but both constantly busy and yearning for more freedom.
Then Princess Anneliese is kidnapped. Her tutor, Julian, persuades Erika to impersonate Anneliese in the hope that the kidnapper will panic and rush to the place where the real princess is held prisoner, so that Julian can follow him and rescue her. Erika manages to take Princess Anneliese's place without immediate discovery, but then things start to go very wrong. Julian disappears and Erika finds herself falling in love with the handsome young King Dominic, wealthy ruler of a neighbouring kingdom who has come to ask for Anneliese's hand in marriage ...
As with many of the Barbie films, comic relief is provided by talking animal companions of some of the principal characaters. In this case both the Princess and the pauper have pet cats, the evil villain has an equally evil poodle, and another character is a horse who for some strange reason has an exaggerated French accent.
Those people who enjoy criticising what the Barbie franchise represents 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. 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 best of all, the soundtrack is almost worth buying the film for on it's own.
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