There’s a sad lack of Twelve Dancing Princesses film adaptations, but there is one we couldn’t help but review, as it was a favorite to many of us back in the day.
Today Kirsten, Faith, and I are jumping on the nostalgic train to review Barbie’s 12 Dancing Princesses. Who else used to watch the Barbie movies? *raises hand* Hey, Disney isn’t the only one who’s allowed to produce cute princess movies, right? And this one was a particularly fun one!
So settle in, put on some favorite ballet music, and join us as we discuss an old favorite!
OVERVIEW
Christine:
All right, I’m gonna admit, I thoroughly enjoyed the Barbie movies back in the day—but this one was by far my favorite.
I honestly never really acknowledged these movies much until Princess and the Pauper came out. My little sister had it on, I got interested, and ended up loving it, even though I was “too old” for it. (I was 12 at the time. You know, that age where you’re “too old” for everything. *rolls eyes*) From there on out, I gave the others a try and quite liked them too.
Jump two years and 12 Dancing Princesses released. This one caught my interest because I’ve always loved this fairy tale, and I was a total sucker for all things ballet at the time (okay, I still am to a point). WELL. My sister and I promptly watched it right when it released and I was enchanted. Whyyyy had no one else taken the time to make an adaptation of this fairy tale? It was magical, beautiful, delightful! Like I said, it was a fairy tale I always loved, but this movie made me realize how much. (Disney seriously needs to get on board with this fairy tale!) I sort of lived and breathed this movie and fairy tale for quite a while after its release. The fun of twelve sisters, the dancing, the cute adventure. It was great!
I rewatched it for the first time in yeeeears prior to writing this review and, though it definitely doesn’t hold that magic to my 27-year-old self that it did to my 14-year-old self, I was pleased to find it does still have a sweet charm to it and awakens the imagination. It’s not a perfect movie, but it’s one that re-awoke my passion for fairy tales. I distinctly remember wondering, after watching it for the first time, why I had never actually written any fairy tale retellings. I loved fairy tales, I loved writing. Why not combine them?
It’s a movie that will always mean a lot to me. I may not even be here co-writing for this blog if not for that movie, because it reminded me how much I loved fairy tales, and spurred me on to seek more out, to read retellings, to try my hand at writing them.
Yes, it’s a little cheap and cheesy. But the memories it holds for me are priceless.
Kirsten:
When one grows up in a household of five girls, chances are Barbie movies were present sometime during one’s childhood. I was first introduced to the films when Swan Lake came out, but it wasn’t until The Princess and the Pauper arrived on the scene that my family got hooked. Granted, our interest in the film franchise waned severely after the more modern stories and shallow films started being released. Fairytopia, while cute, was the beginning of the end. They should have stuck to the classic stuff and the beautiful ballets.
I was extremely excited when I saw that Mattel was going to be making a 12 Dancing Princesses film. Swan Lake and The Princess and the Pauper were always my two favorite films, so I had high hopes for another fairytale. Even as a young teenager, I was impressed with the quality of the film. Yes, now I can watch it and critique it (I’ll agree with Christine in saying that it *is* kinda cheesy), but back then, it was all about the magic and dancing and the strong bond of true sisterhood.
Now, I enjoy watching The 12 Dancing Princesses with my daughter, and as a parent, I feel as if I have an entirely new way of looking at the film. It’s clean, magical, wholesome fun that I am completely comfortable in sharing with my daughter. I don’t have to worry about anything fishy popping up that we’re going to have to fast forward or discuss afterwards. While Disney may have some advantage in the storytelling circle, they don’t always score as high in the cleanliness level. I did tell you that I was a snob, right?
Faith:
When I think of Barbie, I basically think: my childhood. I was obsessed with Barbie. Every Christmas or birthday wish list was just Barbie dolls. I would wander the Barbie aisle for as long as my parents would let me, dreaming of which Barbies I could one day own in the future (like those collector Barbie dolls that I was never going to get). I honestly played with those dolls’ waaaay past the usual age (but with four younger siblings and not many friends, I played with a lot of kiddy stuff).
When I was thirteen, Mattel put together the first Barbie movie – Barbie in the Nutcracker. And I fell in love with that film! I swear I re-watched it a dozen times along with younger sisters.
I watched the other Barbie movies when they came out with Princess and the Pauper being my all-time favorite at the time. After that movie, I watched the Barbie movies more sporadically. I didn’t see The Magic of the Pegasus for a while but I did see Barbie and the 12 Dancing Princesses – and of course I loved the film. Ballet dancing, sweet sisters, a magical realm – it reminded me of all my childhood girlish dreams.
While I’m not as patient as I was years ago when watching kid’s movies, I re-watched the Barbie version to find myself still entertained by the charming story retold in the optimistic Barbie style we’ve come to know and expect. And with such a sweet message (anyone can make a difference), what’s not to love?
CHARACTERS
Christine:
The characters, though not very in depth, are all charming and entertaining in their own right, if not a bit…Mary Sue-ish. (But this was made for very, very young girls. You gotta give the creators some slack.)
I love the sweet sisterly bond of the twelve princesses, and the chaos that comes with a large family. It’s so real. The opening scene where they burst into the throne room, playing multiple games, while the King is trying to have a meeting, is hilarious. And one of my favorite bits is the scene after that where they all come down to breakfast and immediately talk 90 miles an hour. It’s so true to what it’d be like to have a house full of twelve girls. Their closeness and enthusiasm for life was a lot of fun. I also appreciated that a few did have some distinctive personalities and interests, instead of giving only Genevieve, the main character, a personality. Some of them are just kind of in the background, but enough of them have different interests to make you believe these are twelve individual girls.
Genevieve is certainly a princess any little girl would root for. Kind, compassionate, and brave—everything you need for a princess movie, yes? *grins*
Then there’s the love interest, Derek who is…also kind, compassionate, and brave. But awkward too, which made the little romance between him and Genevieve utterly adorable. The fun thing about Derek is he’s the cobbler—the very one who provides the girls with their beloved dancing shoes. I thought that was brilliant. It’d make sense the cobbler would be an important part of the story since, well, the whole point of the tale is that the girls wear out their shoes and have to have a fresh pair made daily. And yet you basically never hear about the cobblers in retellings. I thought it was super clever making the cobbler a main character and love interest in this!
Duchess Rowena, the villain of the story, was properly infuriating, and made the story move along well. She is the cousin to the King, and when the poor King begins to think he needs some help raising twelve daughters, he brings her in. Of course, Rowena has more sinister plans than just teaching the girls to be “proper princesses”. She has her eye on the crown. I was honestly surprised how ruthless they made her character. She is not above attempted murder to get what she wants. I like how she was all about proper decorum and high status, while secretly being all “Murderrrrr!” For some reason that contrast is always a blast in a villain. (Or is that just me?) She was a well done foe, I thought. A good balance of infuriating and intriguing.
And, of course, you can’t have a good villain without a bumbling henchman. Desmond, Rowena’s rather meaty footman, was a bit of the comic relief, though there was a smidge of depth to him. He seemed to have a crush on Rowena, thus doing anything she said. A very interesting take on a henchman! And, gotta admit, his parts were pretty funny. I honestly wish there had been a bit more on those two and their backstory buuut, again, this was made for, like, 7-year-olds, so. XD
Honestly, my favorite character was probably King Randolph himself. It was refreshing to have a good-natured, reasonable fairy tale dad for once. He’s an admirable fellow, being as how his wife passed away, he has a whole kingdom to run, and twelve daughters to raise. He takes it all in stride, all with patience and a sense of humor. I really like that they chose to make a kind, caring father, opposed to an antagonistic one, which is usually how 12DP stories go. With good reason! The unreasonable father kind of comes with the fairy tale. But this was a refreshing take!
There are also some animal characters, which is a staple in these Barbie movies and…not my favorite bits. Though the animals can’t talk to humans, they can talk to each other, and I’ve never been a big fan of talking animals in movies (unless we’re talking Narnia, of course ;D). Those scenes were definitely my least favorite parts, as I found them rather cheesy. BUT I suspect they’re a lot of fun for a child. My 7-year-old self would probably have loved the talking animal bits! This one features the princesses’ kitten Twyla, Rowena’s rude, bullying monkey Brutus, and Derek’s parrot (which actually can speak English) Felix. Felix was pretty fun, as he totally ships Derek and Genevieve and it’s hilarious. While sweet little Twyla faces off with Brutus when he tries to get the girls in trouble. The animals were fun little additions for the younger viewers, even if I wasn’t much of a fan.
Overall, it’s a cute cast. Sure, it would have been nice to see sooome flaws in the protagonists, especially Genevieve. But, again, this is made for very young girls. I see why they went in the direction they did. With that said, I did appreciate the flaws they gave the youngest princess, Lacey. Lacey is clumsy and can’t seem to do anything right. As the youngest in such a large family of talented girls, she wonders if she has a place. But, in the end, she finds her courage and ends up saving their father. It was a sweet message to girls that everyone has a place in purpose in this world.
Kirsten:
One of the things that I love about this film is that there are actually all twelve princesses. I’ve seen one too many adaptations of this fairytale that cut half (or more!) of the girls out to accommodate a shorter story or to focus more on just a few characters. Yes, there are times when I thought the sisters kinda got muddled together, but you’re never allowed to forget their names. They’re introduced to the audience IN AGE ORDER not once, not twice, but three times — (1) King Randolph greeting them at breakfast, (2) Rowena meeting the girls for the first time, and (3) Genevieve dancing on the magical stones in the bedroom. And for added convenience, their names are alphabetized (although that does make you wonder just how many children the queen was planning on having).
I do appreciate that the filmmakers tried to differentiate the girls a little. They all love dancing since that was a favorite hobby of their late mother, but each one seems to have some other interest or quirk that makes them just a bit different than their sisters. And the introduction we get to their different pastimes is just peachy in the beginning. I always laugh at the ambassador in the first scene, poor man, especially when he nearly gets dive-bombed in the head by a blue-winged beetle. (There’s still a big part of me that thinks he deserves it.)
Genevieve is princess #7 in the line-up. Her sisters claim she’s the best dancer, but she’s notoriously late for just about everything. I do struggle with saying that being late creates a flawed character — particularly because, most of the time, her lateness is due to her helping someone else out, not because she has poor time management. As one of the older sisters, though, I really loved seeing how she tried to include her younger sisters in everything. She’s not above dancing with the twins (Hadley and Isla) or the triplets (Janessa, Kathleen, and Lacey) even when the height difference may create more awkwardness for her.
The youngest princess, Lacey, is probably the only other princess who is given suitable screen time to make her a more major-ish character. As soon as you meet her, you can’t help but melt a little and root for her. Lacey is totally adorable, but she’s the runt and clumsy to boot — and she feels both of those keenly. Even though all of the princesses get to play a part in helping save their kingdom, Lacey really is the one who saves the day — and that’s totally precious.
Derek and Felix are a fantastic addition to this film. I love that Derek and Genevieve have fallen in love with each other over time, so we’re not stuck with any nasty insta-love. However, everyone seems to notice it but them, which makes for some very hilarious conversations. The angle of Derek being the princesses’ cobbler only makes him that much better. Christine already said it above, but seriously — who better for the love interest than the guy who has to fix all the worn out dancing shoes?? Felix is probably one of the most quotable characters EVER in the Barbie films (second only to Pim the bat from Nutcracker). He’s a great friend and sidekick for Derek, always ready to provide a nugget of wisdom for his master. “Newsflash: She walked in her own room.”
The stereotypical father in most 12DP stories is overbearing, controlling, and altogether not very pleasant. However, King Randolph is a breath of fresh air from those fathers. He truly loves his daughters, is interested in their hobbies, but worries that he’s not doing his best for them. He has the best intentions when calling in Rowena to help out, but he’s a little oblivious when it comes to spotting her as a bad apple.
And on that note, Rowena as the villain… well, to be truthful, I struggle with this one a little. There are times when I relish hating her and watching her ooze evilness, but at other times I think she’s not quite as villainous as she’d like herself to be. From the very start, you’re introduced to her plan to take over the kingdom, so there’s no mystery there, and it’s sometimes surprising how much she gets away with concerning the girls without the king noticing anything. I mean, for a father who loves his girls that much, how did he not notice the clothing changes, bedroom changes, working changes, etc? Yes, he was sick, but did no invisible servants tell him anything? One would have thought he’d be a little more on top of that. *rant over* I understand Rowena’s plan to kill the king, but I don’t think she thought through the whole twelve-other-heirs-in-line-before-her very well. When she hires new guards, she tells them that the princesses are traitors for having “run away during the king’s time of need” and thus should be thrown in the dungeon. To me, that’s weak. But anyway.
Faith:
I always find it hard when animated stories have large families (like twelve sisters) because they look sooooo much alike haha. After all, these girls are all Barbie. Still, the animators did a good job with creating different outfits for each girl and trying to throw in flashes of each of their personalities to show the girls are unique in their own ways.
The seven oldest girls are modeled after Barbie’s looks. Barbie herself plays Genevieve, the youngest of the adult girls, which makes her basically the middle child. She’s super sweet, good under pressure, a fabulous dancer and deeply caring – with her only flaw that she’s always late. Of course, Genevieve makes a perfect heroine for young girls.
The rest of the sisters are based off the Skipper (or Stacie?) and Kelly dolls. All the girls are sweet and good-natured and have their fun little quirks – like Janessa with her bug collection, Lacy always being clumsy or the twins walking on stilts for fun.
The character of the old soldier is changed here with a young cobbler instead, Derek. This makes more sense as he’s played by Ken and he falls in love with Genevieve, the middle daughter, not the eldest daughter like in the original story. Derek is just as sweet, selfless and empathetic as Genevieve and he shows it several times by helping Genevieve and her sisters – even selling his horse to aid the girl he likes. The romance is very simple but very sweet. And their first dance together is my favorite part of the movie.
The father, King Randolph, is such a sweetie and dotes on all his daughters. Dad doesn’t want his daughters growing up lacking because they don’t have a mother though, which causes contention between him and the girls. However, this is handled so gently without the angst we usually see in films (or in Disney movies haha) and we can see the genuine love between father and daughters.
I enjoyed the villainess, Duchess Rowena, with her proper ways and cold, haughty attitude. She’s an easy villain to understand and root for her downfall. Her servant Desmond is there more for laughs at times as he’s not quite the sharpest tool in the shed but he does his job (while secretly being in love with Rowena haha). I liked how they gave her Rowena a 18th century style in contrast with the girls more 19th century look as the duchess tries to bring a traditional, restrictive life to the girls’ world.
I was not a fan of Twyla the cat or Felix the monkey. Perhaps if I was much younger, I would’ve enjoyed the animals – but even as a kid I was bored by the mice in the Cinderella movie and just wanted more of the humans. And the animals and their voice-acting were just super annoying haha. However, I did enjoy a few of the humorous quips Derek’s parrot, Felix, gave.
PLOT
Christine:
Naturally, the plot is not exactly complex and full of tension, but it is charming and enchanting. Some of the Barbie movies left me with more questions than answers, and though this one could have given us a few more explanations, I thought it was a fairly well-thought out plot.
The gist is, when the kingdom begins to view the twelve adventurous princesses as not very “proper”, the widowed King Randolph invites his cousin, Duchess Rowena, to the castle to help raise the girls. Except…Rowena is a bit power hungry. Not only is she plotting to take the crown, she’s making the girls miserable. Out with colorful gowns, in with drab clothing. Early bedtimes and mornings. No toys or anything fun in the girls’ bedroom. And, worst of all, Rowena has banned any dancing until the girls have learned to be proper princesses. This puts them in a tizzy, as dancing is their favorite activity and was a tradition of their dear, departed mother.
Just when they can’t take it anymore, they follow clues given to them through a story of their mother’s that leads to a magical pavilion right underneath their bedroom floor. This wondrous place has flowers that grants wishes and the perfect dancing floor where they can dance the night away to their heart’s content.
Unfortunately, their father has become unexpectedly ill, and Rowena’s hunger for power is getting out of hand. The girls realize they can’t run away from their problems, or else the whole kingdom will fall.
The execution of the story isn’t perfect. I think it was trying to be sooorta mysterious, but it’s pretty obvious what’s going on. I wish they had kept Rowena’s agenda a little more subtle. As it is, there’s not much in the way of plot twists. At least…for me. It may be different for younger viewers. Lol. Still, it was a fairly solid plot, and definitely fun.
Like I said before, I loved the sisterly bonds and the delightful chaos that comes with a castle full of twelve princesses. The little romance subplot between Genevieve and Derek was super cute. I also appreciated Derek’s role. He wasn’t just the “love interest”, but he also wasn’t the one to entirely save the day. Instead, he and the princesses used their own special skills to work together to save the kingdom. And just YES! I’m all for characters helping one another, with neither side being the “damsels in distress”. Points to the film company for that! Usually princess movies either have a useless, personality-less prince who does nothing, ooor a useless, personality-less princess who…does nothing. This had neither! Everyone had a role to play and combined their smarts and skills. It was great!
I also really liked how the romance was a small subplot, and not the main point at all. A very rare thing for a princess movie, but refreshing!
I do have three complaints though.
One: Genevieve is literally the seventh princess. According to wikipedia she’s 16 years old (yes, I totally looked it up). And yet she was always the ringleader and *SPOILERS*got married in the end.*END SPOILERS* That was…an odd choice. Why not make her the oldest princess? I just don’t think, with 6 older sisters, she’d be the ringleader. It would have saved a whole lotta plot holes if she had just been the eldest, plus would have been more true to the original fairy tale. Maybe they wanted to make her younger to appeal to the target audience more? The eldest princess was supposed to be in her twenties, and I guess they didn’t want the protagonist for a little girl princess movie to be so “old”. XD I don’t know. It’s just something that has literally bugged me since the first time I saw the movie. Because, yes, even at 14 I picked apart and overanalyzed movies. Hey, I’m a writer. I can’t help it!
Two: The underground world itself. There’s really…no explanation of why it’s there, how it came to be, how it’s magic, nothing. I know this is a movie for a very young audience, but that is still no excuse for plot holes. It wouldn’t have taken much to give some form of explanation. Supposedly it’s connected to the girls’ mother in some form or fashion but…how? Was she magic and created it? Did she have it created by a wizard or something? Did the King know about it? I NEED ANSWERS. Then again, the original fairy tale gave zero answers to the story of the underground world either, so…
Three: There are like…no other people except the main characters. You never see any servants or courtiers or anything within the castle. Or citizens outside the castle. It’s kind of…weird and creepy how everything is so empty. Did it cost more to animate some extra people? I don’t know. It’s just kinda odd.
ANYWAYS. Aside from those things, it’s actually quite a fun little plot! I loved all the dancing scenes, Rowena was a pretty formidable foe, the romance was sweet and not overbearing, the characters were cute, there were even some humorous scenes. Definitely a great movie for any fairy tale and/or princess loving girl!
Kirsten:
I won’t take the time here to summarize the film’s storyline here, since Christine already did a fantastic job of it above. (And if you’re skipping around just to read my portions of the review, shame on you.)
The main focus of the film is sisterhood. I mean, we’ve got a love interest going on, as well as an evil cousin trying to take over the kingdom, but at its heart this is all about the sisters. I love the multiple scenes building the close relationship the girls have with each other (just as real sisters should!). Their first bedroom scene is one of those makes-you-smile-and-feel-cozy since they all know each other so well that they know Genevieve admiring the shoes is her thinking about Derek. And then when Janessa loses her pet Harold, they freak out, knowing it’s one of her bugs. Their squeals and guesses both escalate quickly as they try to determine Harold’s identity — a spider, a scorpion, and a snake. (Seriously, Fallon, did you really think Janessa would keep a snake in such a tiny box?)
Much of the plot revolves around the girls. They dance together, they sympathize with each other, they work together, they get locked in together. And it is the twelve of them that have to work together to save the day. Have I mentioned yet how much I love sister stories? The scene where they sing to their father is just the best.
The plot doesn’t feel too rushed in my opinion, since we’re given ample time to meet all the characters, and then we’re also thrown into the action pretty quickly. It is interesting to think that the main action of the film takes place in less than a week. Rowena really doesn’t wait all that long to act on her plans. And it doesn’t take that long for the girls to bond together to take her down.
The magical realm and golden pavilion is a point of contention, however. It’s absolutely beautiful, but we’re never really told *why* it’s there. How did the mother know about it? Did she know she was going to have twelve daughters, one for each step of the dance? Some things just line up too perfectly and without explanation. It’s enough to drive one bonkers — until you remember this is supposed to be a kid’s film and sometimes fairytales don’t have to make sense (even if you want them to).
The other big question with the magical realm is why the girls haven’t found it until now. Did one have to step on the stones with the intention of dancing? If so, with twelve (count ‘em — 12) girls who loved dancing, and probably danced in their own bedroom, why didn’t any of them mimic the dance from their favorite story until now? Some things just don’t have sensible answers.
The ending is super cute and tied up well with a ribbon. Rowena got what was coming to her — and that’s probably one of my all-time favorite ironic ends. The final scene with all the princesses ([SPOILER] it’s a wedding) is adorable; I love getting to see King Randolph finally join his daughters in dancing. I believe this may be something the filmmakers have fixed since the film’s release, but my family’s DVD copy glitched on the animation of Derek’s hand while he dances with Genevieve. His hand goes from white to color to white to color again. Understandably, we found that hilarious.
Faith:
Honestly, I was drawn right into the movie from the beginning when the movie began with the royal invitation for the princesses to go to a ball. Once the messenger sees the princesses running around the palace, playing and just being normal girls, he immediately rescinds the offer. This sets up the the story effortlessly with the princesses merely wanting to be themselves and embrace their lives in contrast with the stuffy royal expectations of those around them.
I think this movie handles the conflict between the daughters and their father and Rowena in a really great “Barbie” fashion. You can feel the girls desire to be themselves, to just be able to do the things they love – like sing or dance – and not be controlled by Rowena. Still the girls are never selfish or rude to their father or Rowena. Nor is their father cruel or controlling, rather he just wants his daughters to succeed in life.
Of course, the daughters and father’s maturity isn’t probably what you’ll find in real life, I find the good-naturedness of the film refreshing in a sea of films that are more about kiddos trash-talking their parents and somehow always being the ones in the right. Here we see the girls consistently just try to talk to their father and open communication between them because they believe he cares and will help. They get shut down multiple times, mainly because of Rowena’s manipulation, but the girls continue to believe that if they can just speak to their father, they can resolve things.
I really enjoyed the plot overall with Rowena and Derek and the magical world and its ability to grant wishes from its magical flowers. I thought the story mostly held together with some nicely down foreshadowing that comes to play throughout the storyline. Of course, there are lots of little plot holes here and there or just unanswered questions – like where did the magical realm really come from? Or my biggest question – how did the sisters become such incredible synchronized dancers? Forget princesses, these girls needed to start their own ballet troupe.
Overall the ending is totally satisfying and the film wraps up everything in true romantic fairytale fashion.
ANIMATION/SETTING
Christine:
I think this would have to be one of my biggest problems with the Barbie movies—the animation is sooo stiff. Though I suspect they did not have much of a budget and worked with what they had. So I’ll give them some slack. But sometimes it’s hard to watch, as the characters move like…well, Barbie dolls. XD They’re not very limber, and it’s just awkward.
Now, the drawings are pretty well done. I like the style of the faces, and the background setting is always quite lovely. They’re very pretty movies, if not for the stiff movement of the characters. This was one of the early-ish ones though. I think the animation got better as time went on.
I do love the setting though. The creators go out of their way to make it every little girl’s dream world. Beautiful castles and lush gowns (as Hayden would say, that’s super important for princess movies!) and lovely gardens. The princesses’ pavilions in the gardens and in the underground world were just drool-worthy. Is it all over-the-top girliness? Yes, yes it is. But even at 27 I’m still a total sucker for that stuff! Gimme ALL the fairy tale castles and gowns and frilliness, please and thank you!
Kirsten:
This is your classic Barbie film with lots of pastels (i.e. lots of pink), gorgeous fairytale castles and dance pavilions, and all. Our main character (Barbie) looks like, well, Barbie in pretty much every film made up to this point. The animation does come off as a little stiff at times, and pretty repetitive at others (c’mon, did you really expect the animators to do twelve completely different-shaped girls? Especially when seven of them are all princess adult size?). The dancing scenes then basically become a game of copy-and-paste. XD
I think the colors of this film are really what get me. They’re absolutely stunning. As a synesthete, I basically think in colors, so seeing a film like this that totally GETS the colors is amazing. The coloring for the girls’ bedroom is soft and feminine, while very elegant and rich for the rest of the castle. The magical dancing pavilion is a deep gold with beautiful accents — still completely different than anything else. One of my favorite colored scenes is when Derek sneaks into the castle… the sunset behind him… STUNNING. You really don’t expect a sky like that in an animated film.
The colors also reflect the mood of the film. I love seeing how the light changes as the story progresses. We’ve got lighter scenes while following the girls and their fun adventures, amazing and vibrant colors while they’re dancing in the magical world, and then when Rowena comes in, things go colorless and dark (i.e. she makes the girls wear gray dresses and her most villainous scenes take place during night). I don’t mean to sound like a high school literature teacher, but I did study literature for four years in college, so give me a break. You can’t watch this film and not notice and appreciate the color in it.
Faith:
Well… it’s Barbie. Haha. So I suppose we all expect the animation to be so-so. I can’t even say that it’s now dated for its time because I know films with MUCH higher quality CGI animation in 2006. It really just looks super chunky and awkward and like a really bad video game.
However, I really loved the setting. It’s nothing new but the coloring was nice; the blues and purples in the palace. Like I said earlier, I liked Duchess Rowena’s old-world style in contrast with the girl’s more 1800s look (I’m being generous here as they don’t really adhere to a historical setting haha). It feels like an old fantasy-fairytale world that can’t really be aged other than a long time ago.
LIKENESS TO THE ORIGINAL FAIRY TALE
Christine:
Erm. Pretty low. Buuut this would not be appropriate for 7-year-old girls if it followed the original tale, so, ya know. XD They did take some inspiration from Grimm’s version though!
Some things include: the girls sharing one big room, the underground world is beneath their bedchambers, they wear out their shoes at night. The underground world can also only be accessed for three nights—a nod to the three nights the men have to solve the princesses’ secret in the original tale. Derek also gets his hands on a goblet that helps solve a mystery, which is another nod to the original tale, as the soldier steals a goblet from the underground world to prove to the king the place is real. The goblet in this plays a different role, but I appreciated them adding it. Proof the creators did at least read the original story. XD
Kirsten:
I was actually really pleased with how much they incorporated from the original fairytale. Christine already mentioned most of the main elements above, so I won’t repeat them. The goblet and three nights thing… *those* I really liked. We also see the boat ride over the lake as per the original, as well as flowers with diamonds on them (not diamond trees, but close enough).
One of the biggest things that I love about this as a retelling is that the girls aren’t under any type of curse. They choose to go dance in the world below because they want to; they just love dancing that much. The original fairytale (as we all learned earlier this month with FTC’s mind-blowing fairytale commentary) saw the princesses going to dance of their own choice; it was actually the twelve princes they danced with that were cursed. (One could argue that the gold statues the girls wish into animated dancing partners are the cursed princes of the original, but I doubt Barbie meant to do that.)
I do want to take a moment here to say how much I loved the dancing. It’s called the Twelve DANCING Princesses, and they actually dance here. And it’s in the beautiful ballet-esque style of the first few Barbie films. The dancing scenes are wonderfully balanced with shots of all twelve girls dancing, against beautiful backgrounds and Mendelssohn’s majestic scores. I loved watching the dance sequences from Barbie’s Nutcracker and Swan Lake, so I really appreciated the nod back to the first original films in this movie. My daughter is only one and a half, and the dance scenes are her favorite. She loves watching the colors and she’s beginning to try to mimic the dances she sees on the screen. It’s completely and utterly adorable.
Faith:
Well, they changed a lot. I mean, there’s no soldier, no invisible cloak, no king offering to marry off his daughter to any man who can uncover the secret. However, I’m usually okay with retellings doing their own twist on it and I got what Barbie wanted to do. They needed a story more about the daughters and their father and Dad trying to marry one of them off as a reward would seem rather odd (and heartless).
One thing I forgot when I re-watched this movie was there weren’t exactly enchanted princes in the magical realm (well, okay, a few of them show up for a minute on screen) and that there was a time-limit on the girls’ visits to the realm.
I have to agree with Kirsten – I really loved the dancing! The music is quite lovely and the ballet moves are just copied from real ballerinas. I loved the dancing in the other Barbie films as well (Nutcracker & Swan Lake) making this film a delight as the revisit the style that the beginning Barbie films did so well. And the song and dance when Genevieve and her sisters visit the secret magical world is just so fun and magical feeling *grins.*
CONCLUSION
Christine:
This is not a masterpiece of a movie by any stretch of the imagination. But it is a good movie. It’s got all the right elements to charm all of us princess movie-lovin’ gals. And, to be a direct to TV/DVD film, it was done pretty well! Some of the plot holds up better than even some of Disney’s old stuff, in my opinion. (The romance *gasp* isn’t love at first sight and the male love interest *more gasping* does have a personality!)
Plus, like I said at the beginning, this movie will always mean the world to me, cheesy or not, because it brought a fresh awareness of how much I absolutely love fairy tales, especially The Twelve Dancing Princesses. This little film will forever hold a special place in my heart.
I also am so glad someone chose to make a film adaptation of this fairy tale, since apparently Disney hasn’t found it worthy enough. >.> This fairy tale is just way too beautiful for there to be no films of it!
It’s a cute, enchanting little movie, and one I’d recommend to any little girl who loves fairy tales!
Kirsten:
Like Christine said, this isn’t a masterpiece set to blow you away with the fantasticness of its retelling abilities. It is a children’s film, and you can tell it was meant for children to watch. But that doesn’t mean adults can’t enjoy it, too. True, it probably holds more sentiment for those of us who grew up watching the Barbie films, but I think it’s a great, clean movie to share with families. My brother now has issues watching it because it’s Barbie and he’s over 18, but once upon a time, he was a big fan and quoted Felix more than my sisters and I combined.
It’s a sweet story that focuses on sisters, adds in a bit of pretty believable romance, showcases some beautiful music and dance sequences, and keeps a good portion of the original fairytale in tact. I think sometimes this fairytale overwhelms people at times with how many girls there are, which is a total shame considering how wonderful it could be. And there is plenty of “what ifs” and unanswered questions from the original that practically *beg* for a good retelling. And that’s what this is: a good retelling.
Faith:
It’s a Barbie movie and definitely one of the better ones! Along with Nutcracker and Princess and the Pauper, this is a favorite of mine with the dancing, the music and the sweet story of loving sisters against a cruel (and evil) governess.
Also, like Christine said, it’s SO refreshing to see a not-so-often retold fairytale coming onto the screen. It would’ve been easy for Barbie to retell another Cinderella movie or Snow White and while those retellings might’ve been enjoyable too, it’s just so much fun to see the Twelve Dancing Princesses finally get their moment.
Now it’s your turn! Have you seen Barbie’s 12 Dancing Princesses? Do you agree/disagree with our assessments? Share all your thoughts!
Fairy Tale Central 