Barbie As The Princess And The Pauper [DVD] [2017]

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.

No matter how many remakes mattel tries to make and promote, nothing will ever come close to this masterpiece. One of the best villain songs of all time too.I have this film on DVD (from childhood) already but I needed access to this film without a DVD player and so this was the best option for me as I have a firestick.Best comfort film.

As someone who is not really a fan of any of the recent Barbie films (too fast-paced, too frenetic, too much), I was not sure what to expect with this one. I was very pleasantly surprised. Both leading ladies are really likeable, hardworking, talented, resourceful, and great role models who generally make courageous and wise decisions. The music is fun and the story is charming. The two male leads are different enough, surprisingly complex, and have good character traits (the king is sensitive, sweet, and values honesty and the tutor is loyal, knowledgeable, and dutiful). The main 'baddie' is very well-voiced and characterised. My 4-year-old loves this film (and the Rapunzel, Pegasus, Nutcracker, and Swan Lake films), and I do think this series of Barbie films from the early 2000s are exceptionally well done. I wish they could make more like these.

this is my childhood :') i will be showing this to my grandkids one day

Good

Iconic, and nostalgic, great for kids and adults that loved Barbie growing up.

My childhood film fave, had a fun time rewatching with my children

tried to find this movie for a long time, but the quality is not very good. If someone really like to collect this movie and would like to watch it for several time, best is to purchase a DVD

Bought as a gift, good quality.

昔子どもが観ていたので懐かしく購入しましたが、再生できませんでした。

Was surprised that they did a good story line for this Barbie move unlike their TV show. The story is entertaining and not a bad songs. I enjoyed watching it as much as my daughters.

¡Bellísima! Si pasaste tu infancia en la primera década de los 2000 y eres fan de Barbie, ¡te encantará!La película se ve en full screen, y posee el doblaje latino en 2.0 (cosa que no me parece mal, ya que se escucha muy bien)Aunque la portada de la película no es la misma que del año 2004, la película es exactamente la misma.Funcionó perfectamente en ps4 usándolo como reproductor.

Daughter loves the movie