Barbie Movie review- Princess and the Pauper

This is a rather strange choice by me. Barbie dolls are very popular among young girls. To promote imagination and inspire young girls to dream, mattel made several movies of barbie based on pre-existing popular fairy tales. While many of these movies were good, the quality has been deciling lately. This one is a retelling of a classic novel Prince and the pauper by Mark Twain.

The story is much like the original book- Anneliese, a princess burdened by royal duties if forced to marry the prince of a nearby kingdom because all the gold in the kingdom has been exhausted. She is in love with Julian, her tutor. While masquerading as a peasant and looking around town, she meets a peasant, Erika who works for a gown maker. She sings very well and looks exactly like the princess. She promises to call her to the palace to sing. However, Preminger, the royal advisor abducts her to become the king and marry her mother. Julian asks Erika to act as the princess while he can find her.
Erika, while acting as a princess falls in love with the prince of the enarby kingdom whom Anneliese is supposed to marry. Anneliese and Erika's cats fall in love with each other (quite the classic barbie story). In the end, as expected from Barbie, everything is solved and true love conquers all. In the end, everyone gets married to their true love including the cats and the horse (Now, isn't this what you call happy ending?).

I liked this movie very much and it ranks as one of my favourite Barbie movies along with Swan Lake, Island Princess and Nutcracker. Lately, Barbie movies have lost the romantic element.
The story unfolds well and is has a complex story structure compared to most fairy tales. The graphics were good. The songs enhanced the effect of the story. 'Written in your heart' was one of the very good songs in this movie.

The love progressed well and the pairs were perfect. The only possible shortcoming of this story is that it is unrealistic (do cats and horses even get married?) but it is okay considering its target audience.
This is a classic movie from Matel and one of the best movies in the Barbie series. The interplay of pink and blue was a great idea considering the fact that these colours are considered related. The supporting did justice to the story and helped made it unforgettable. This story becomes a part of nostalgic memories especially when seen at a young age.

It is a good movie for children. The lyrics of the songs especially the last one are very inspiring. The movie contains some great scenes (like the last ones) and teaches friendship, love and the need to follow your heart (classic).

I recommend this movie for younger audience.

Story- 4.5/5
Art-4.1/5
Characters- 4.3/5
Music-4.5/5
Overall-4.5/5

Pros-

Story
Music
Art
Values it teaches

Cons

Too much music, too less dialogue