Customer Reviews
Perhaps the most original of the Barbie videos - By: Marshall Lord, 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: & 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 & over here. However, I have been pleasantly surprised.
Yes, they do have a lot of commercial spin-offs & a high saccarine count, but the quality of the Barbie films we have subsequently bought or rented, including "The Princess & 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 & truly wonderful music.
Prsonallly I love classical music & 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, & my daughter, then aged five, recognised the music, & correctly remembered which Barbie film had used it. ("Magic of Pegasus" & "Mermaidia" respectively.)
In this case the soundtrack to "The Princess & the Pauper" isn't taken from the classics, the seven songs in the musical are alll original, though the orchestral accompaniment was recorded by two top rank classical orchestras - the London Symphony Orchestra & the Czech Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra. In my opinion Arnie Roth, who wrote the music for both this film & several other Barbie musicals, did his best job to date with this one.
The story is a double love story, & comedy of mistaken identity, based very loosely on the traditional "Prince & the Pauper" legend. "Barbie" is represented both as "Princess Anneliese" & 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 & similar aspects of their existence - one surrounded by wealth & luxury, the other working as an indentured servant - almost a slave - in a dressmaker's shop, but both constantly busy & 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 & rush to the place where the real princess is held prisoner, so that Julian can follow him & rescue her. Erika manages to take Princess Anneliese's place without immediate discovery, but then things start to go very wrong. Julian disappears & Erika finds herself fallling 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 & the pauper have pet cats, the evil villain has an equallly evil poodle, & 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 alllergic to an excess of twee sweetness, then this film & the Barbie videos generallly may not be for them.
And the female characters are alll 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 & has a good sense of the difference between fantasy & 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 smalll 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 alll, the soundtrack is almost worth buying the film for on it's own.
Perfect for girls (and boys!) aged 3 to 6 - By: Brian Levine, 18 Aug 2007 My two little girls aged 4 & 6 have watched this time & time again.
I have also therefore watched it time & time again & 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, & I have watched it with a little tear in my eye, especiallly when they get up & start dancing & singing (the music in this is especiallly catchy & well-written).
Yes. I'm an old softie.
The best Barbie movie by far - By: , 07 Nov 2005 Having two girls under three decent entertainment is essential to a happy life. Having purchased alll the Barbie movies, alll of which are excellent, this one stands out for sheer singalong value and, may I say, a certain alllure to parents (I find myself humming the tunes while cooking etc.) Absolutely brilliant & an essential purchase if you want to enjoy coffee for an hour uninterrupted!
a great way to spend ur second childhood - By: Michelle May, 18 Sep 2005 i love this film! i am 21, at uni studying a ba hons in english & history, but i adore this film it is simply lovely.
The tendency with a lot of 'fluffy' films made for young children is to veer towards the more sugary sweet soppy end of the scale. While barbie's world is indeed full of green grass blue skies & sunshine every day the characters are more than tolerable, they are likeable. There are no cringe-worthy moments or over americanised ideals. It is simply a lovely fairy tale & the songs are actuallly quite good. Many of the songs in todays childrens films particularly those sequels to classic "mouse" films (u know as in "mickey") made purely to make money, have a distinct lack of effort put into their songs. The ones in this film however are catchy little numbers & there is a particular jem sung by Martin Short.
What surprises me about the barbie films & they keep getting better in this respect is how they translate actors into animation. with live actors there are little looks, a certain fleeting expression or a line delivered with the emphasis of facial expression, this film does that wonderfully. The figures have alll the facial ability of real actors, expressions of guilt, embarrassment, cynicism are alll present. Furthermore the dances which accompany the songs are perfectly appropriate to the musical theatre genre, as a musical actor myself i recognise many big smily moments!
i would say buy this film if u are experiencing your 2nd childhood as i am it will proudly sit on my video shelf next to my other happy comfort films; dirty dancing, calamity Jane, gone with the wind & Miss congeniality, i bought this film 2 days ago & have watched it 3 times. I cant imagine that any little girl wouldn't immediately love it & be dancing round the house pretending to be the pauper experiencing princess-ness for the first time, as for the buried child in alll us girlies this film will remind you of alll those fantasies of happily ever after you idealised as a child.
Buy this film? as Premanger says "how could you refuse?"
Unbelievably, great entertainment ! - By: Mr Grant W Cheveral, 20 Jul 2005 We got this little gem for our 4 year old daughter & found it thoroughly enjoyable. We initiallly let her watch it while my wife & I did the normal household chores, but the quality of the songs drew us in until alll three of us were glued. Can't get the tunes out of my head now !
If you can get over the fact that 'Barbie' is in the title & enjoy it for what it is, it will be a winner !
