Barbie Fairytopia: Mermaidia (2006)

I started watching this movie when it was on TV at 6am. The more I watched it,the more absorbed I became,not to mention,fascinated.In fact, I think I enjoyed it more than my 4 year old daughter did and she was the reason I was watching in the first place! The vibrant colours were amazing and the characters were humorous and believable.I never once got up to make coffee even,as this movie "grabbed me". There were some admirable female characters in the forms of Elina and Laverna,the heroines,and some really cute little dolphin,turtle and underwater fairy characters too. The scene where Bibble eats a voice berry and starts singing like Barry White really cracked me up too! Yes people, do watch this movie,especially with your children,though I believe it's a great movie for everybody,it is sooo well done!

This was my first Barbie video. Going in I had very low expectations, but I ended up being pleasantly surprised by what I saw as a pretty feminist plot. Barbie is the hero and rescues the prince. She is not the helpless woman of most stories. She makes a sacrifice for a friend. It also encourages girls not to be jealous of each other and that boys and girls can be just friends. Further more, the girls are rewarded for their bravery. The Barbie fairy also uses her intelligence to trick the bad woman. Perhaps this is silly, but I also appreciated that the bad character was a woman wanting power. So often the stereo type of a "bad" character is a power hungery man. The characters did look and sound super girly, but over all I think it had good a good message...then again I expected very little. I think Disney should be taking notes.

This movie had lots of great adventures and Barbie remains a positive attitude through the tough times. A continuation from Fairytopia, it adds to the story in a fun and magical way. My daughter really enjoyed this film. It has a lot of comical and funny moments for everyone who has a sense of humor to enjoy. Everyone could relate to Barbie's longing to be something that she is not and through this adventure, she realizes who she truly is. This movie is also about girls needing to stick together and not let boys come between their friendship. I would recommend watching this movie because it takes you to another world and makes you think about what is important in life.

This follow up to Barbie Fairytopia was another attempt of Mattel to recapture the magic of the original Barbie movies. I found this movie to actually be superior to Fairytopia. The plot and character developpment were terrible, but the story is very magical, which made it great for little kids, and the kid in all of us. Lately the Barbie movies have been taking a step away from sexism by showing young girls that they don't have to depend on a man, because Elina, the main character does not, and she saves her home and friendsfrom danger. The whole story is very cheesy, but that is exactly what makes these movies so great. They aren't aiming for an Oscar, but just to entertain the viewers, which I thought this movie definitely did.