Barbie Mariposa and Her Butterfly Fairy Friends

IT IS FAIRYTOPIA!!!

Ok, just had to spew that before I said anything else. When I saw the preview for this new Barbie movie, I thought it was another Barbie-with-wings movie yet separate from the whole Fairytopia storyline because it didn't have "Fairytopia" in the title.

Wrong.

As I said already, it is a Fairytopia storyline but this time around, Barbie-Elina isn't the star... not really. She's telling Bibble the story of her friend (who happens to look just like her but with butterfly wings) the story of Barbie-Mariposa, another fairy who lives in a different locale.

I continually tell people that I watch the Barbie animated feature-length movies because they are filling the void Disney has left and I need my animated HEA. Well, this time Barbie didn't deliver.

There is a prince but there is no romantic relationship. It's kind of disappointing really. This is the third Barbie movie where there is no romantic relationship. And they are making another (there was a preview on the Mariposa DVD). Pretty much the entire Fairytopia line has no HEA and very little romantic involvement despite tons of encouragement from a supporting male cast.

Other than the lack of an HEA, the movie was okay. There was no singing... I missed that. Now that I think about it, there was no dancing either.

WTH?!! This wasn't a Barbie movie at all. I might overlook the lack of singing. God knows some of those songs they come up with (meant for kids, but that's no excuse) are annoying, but no dancing. I thought part of the purpose of these movies was to get impressionable girls into ballet. That's not the world coming to an end in my mind, since ballet teaches grace and elegance and balance and self-respect. There are some negatives to ballet too but that's another rant.

It's a cute movie and if you want to shut up your daughter (possibly son) or other young female relation for the length of a movie. In that respect, it's a great distraction. There were pretty colors and a flimsy moral that they beat you over the head with constantly throughout the movie.

It's not as well thought out as some of the earlier Barbie movies, though. Definitely meant for the young. To the adults in the room, I feel your pain as you suffer thru. Since I'm a kid at heart, I wasn't that badly hurt by the experience.

D. Renee Bagby<br />
Building New Realms of Passion<br />
http://dreneebagby.com