Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper is a 2004 direct-to-DVD computer animated musical fantasy film, and the first musical in the Barbie film series. It is
directed by William Lau and stars the voice of Kelly Sheridan as the Barbie protagonists, Anneliese and Erika. The film is loosely inspired by the Mark Twain novel The Prince and the Pauper, but unrelated to the 1939 film The Princess and the Pauper.
Songs for the film are written by Amy Powers, Megan Cavallari and Rob Hudnut, who also executive produced the film.
Plot[]
In an unnamed kingdom, a blonde princess and a brunette pauper are born at the same time. Several years later, Princess Anneliese is betrothed by her mother, Queen Genevieve, to the wealthy King Dominick to save the nearly bankrupt royal treasury; however, she is in love with her young tutor Julian. The Pauper Erika is an indentured servant, working off her parents' debt at Madame Carp's Dress Emporium, but dreams of becoming a singer and seeing the world.
Unbeknownst to the Queen, the reason behind the kingdom's bankruptcy is her adviser Preminger has been stealing gold, emptying the royal mines. Upon learning from his henchmen, Nick and Nack, that the Queen has arranged Anneliese's marriage to King Dominick, he decides to make Anneliese 'mysteriously disappear', which will cancel the engagement; after which Preminger can pretend he has found the Princess, earning her hand in marriage, and allowing him to accede the throne and become king-himself.
Julian takes Anneliese for a day out into the kingdom so that she can be free for once; there, she witnesses the poverty caused by the kingdom’s bankruptcy. Anneliese hears Erika, who is performing in the street to earn money for herself, but Madame Carp collects it as part of her debt. Anneliese and Erika meet and learn they are identical, apart from their hair color and the crown-shaped birthmark on Anneliese's shoulder. The two bond over their shared troubles and become fast friends. That night, Anneliese and her cat Serafina are abducted by Nick and Nack, who leave a forged letter saying she ran away.
Julian, doubting the letter, asks Erika to impersonate the Princess, saving the engagement while he investigates Anneliese's disappearance. Preminger is surprised when Erika, disguised as Anneliese, presents herself at the palace. King Dominick introduces himself to the disguised Erika; over time, the two fall in love, but Erika worries about what will happen if she is found out.
The real Anneliese escapes Nick and Nack, but is turned away from the palace because the guards think the Princess (Erika) is already inside. Mistaking Anneliese for Erika, Madame Carp forces Anneliese into her shop and locks her inside. A suspicious Julian follows Preminger to the house where Anneliese was being kept and overhears Preminger's plans, but is discovered and captured.
Anneliese has Serafina take her ring and a tag from the dress shop so someone can find her; unfortunately, Preminger and his dog Midas intercept her. Preminger takes Anneliese to the mines where she is imprisoned with Julian after Nick and Nack cause a cave-in. Preminger returns to the palace, where he exposes Erika as a fake and has her imprisoned. Preminger convinces the Queen that Anneliese is dead and that they must marry to save the kingdom; with no other options, she reluctantly agrees.
Erika escapes the dungeon by singing a lullaby, causing the guard to fall asleep, and taking his keys. She bumps into King Dominick who tells her that he doesn't believe Preminger's claims about her. Meanwhile, Anneliese and Julian find out how to restore the kingdom's resources with some geodes filled with crystals; the two then confess their love for each other. Erika's barking cat, Wolfie, unearths a mine shaft and the group escapes by flooding the room and floating towards the surface in a barrel.
At the Queen and Preminger's wedding, Anneliese arrives, proves her identity with her birthmark, and reveals the truth about Preminger. After a brief chase, Preminger is arrested along with Nick and Nack. Anneliese tells her mother that she wants to marry Julian and that they can help save the kingdom. Soon after, the kingdom’s prosperity is restored thanks to the crystals in the mine. Madame Carp goes out of business; and—with her debt finally paid—Erika leaves to become a renowned singer. After touring the world, Erika reunites with Dominick after realizing where her heart is and deciding to return home to marry him. Anneliese and Erika have a double wedding and they and their husbands ride off in a carriage together.
Cast[]
- Kelly Sheridan as Princess Anneliese / Erika / Narrator
- Melissa Lyons as Princess Anneliese (singing voice)
- Julie Stevens as Erika (singing voice)
- Alessandro Juliani as Julian
- Mark Hildreth as King Dominick
- Mark Luna as King Dominick (singing voice)
- Martin Short as Preminger
- Kathleen Barr as Serafina / Bertie
- Ian James Corlett as Wolfie
- Ellen Kennedy as Queen Genevieve
- Pam Hyatt as Madame Carp
- Brian Drummond as Nick
- Jan Rabson as Nack / Midas
- Colin Murdock as the Royal Scheduler
- Janyse Jaud as a Palace Maid
- Lee Tockar as Ambassador Bismarck
- Garry Chalk as Herve
- Roger Monk as the Minister
Reception[]
DVD Verdict called it "wholesome entertainment" with "sweet songs tunefully sung" though lacking in grown-up humor. Entertainment Weekly scored it a B+, noting a generally "feminist" story, and DVD extras including seven sing-along tracks. TV Guide scored it 2.5/4, praising the "peppy score" and classic story as distinguishing an otherwise "ordinary Mattel-icized version of the classic tale".
Trivia[]
- This was the first Barbie film released under Lionsgate after they bought the rights to the films of Artisan.
- Barbie as The Princess and the Pauper won "Children's Title of the Year" at the VSDA Awards 2005.
- The film also had 6 nominations at the 2005 DVD Exclusive Awards.
- Preminger's voice actor, Martin Short, and his character designer Jean Gillmore were nominated in 2005 for the DVDX award of Best Animated Character Performance (Voice and Animation in a DVD Movie Premiere) for Preminger.
- The baker from Barbie as Rapunzel makes a brief cameo in this movie.
- Barbie: The Princess & The Popstar is also based on The Prince and the Pauper, but has a modern setting.
- This is the first Barbie movie that has a blooper reel.
- This is the first Barbie movie to not feature Barbie and Kelly at the beginning, although Barbie does still narrate the beginning and end of the story.
- In Madame Carp's dress emporium during the teaser trailer, there are some dresses that Rapunzel from Barbie as Rapunzel wore, and a dress that is worn by Odette in Barbie of Swan Lake.
- This is the only movie with a double wedding.
- This is the first movie where Barbie plays two characters.
- This is the first movie to not feature any fantasy-related elements present in the previous movies (Preminger has no magical abilities).
- In the Norwegian dub, Anneliese and Erika were voiced by three sisters; Their speaking voices are performed by Benedikte Krus, Anneliese´s singing voice is by Anine Kruse, and Erika's singing voice is by Jannike Kruse.
- In the teaser trailer, Anneliese's singing voice was different from the one used in the movie while Erika's was the same.
- This is the first Barbie movie to not have opening credits at the starting of the movie, not counting Mattel and the title.
- At the time of release, this was the longest Barbie movie, but afterwards, other movies were released that are the same length.
Goofs/Errors[]
- When Erika is taking her bath, the tub has taps. Plumbing would not have existed at that time.
- Anneliese's mother says she missed her at breakfast, when Anneliese has breakfast in bed every morning.
- One explanation for this is that the maid reported Anneliese was missing from her bed when she went to deliver breakfast.
- During the song "Free" Anneliese walks along her very long balcony whilst singing. A wide shot shows that she is halfway along the balcony, but then a shot after shows that she is only a few steps away from the edge, yet there has been no signs of her running or taking deliberately large steps.
- During the song "I Am a Girl Like You", Anneliese is animated singing during Erika's part twice (as proven by the soundtrack).
- The first "You're just like me"
- The second "A heart that beats"
- When Julian is talking to Erika, and tells her that Anneliese is missing, you can see a golden flower on his tie. But throughout the rest of the movie, and some seconds after you see it, it disappears.
- There are several moments when Erika is in disguise that Anneliese's crown disappears and then reappears on her head.
- Wolfie is referred as "no status quo calico" by Erika, which implies he is a male calico cat. Calico cats are almost 100% female cats, due to a sex-linked gene that allows them to be calico. In the very rare case in which a calico cat is male, it's due to a genetic disease and the cat is sterile, so realistically Wolfie wouldn't be able to reproduce with Serafina. However, Erika could have just been using "calico" as an interchangeable word for any kind of cat to fit in her song.
- Near the end of the movie as Erika's leaving on a horse she's wearing her old dress. When she returns she has the dress she borrowed on. No bag was shown attached to the horse's saddle for her to carry it in. Even if there was a bag the dress would have been too bulky to fit in it. Folding it wouldn't have helped.