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View Full Version : Barbie Mermaid movies! (Latest 2014: Barbie in the Pearl Princess)



Mermaid Mhara
02-15-2014, 12:48 PM
Hey guys! So I had a quick search and I found one thread focusing on a Barbie Memraid movie in this entire section (please let me know if there's one like this already!)

So I created this thread to group all Barbie Mermaid movies together, considering Barbie movies are my guilty pleasure (I own all 26 of the current movies on DVD) and I know a little about 'em :')

So let's start from the beginning

The first Barbie movie to feature any Merpeople was the first Fairytopia movie, then in 2006 the sequel to Barbie Fairytopia was released titled 'Mermaidia' it focuses on the main character Elina, diving under the water to help her friend Prince Nalu the Mermaid. In doing so she enters a world of Mermaids, Mermen, sea creatures, and even Merfairies!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4Off_fKRFw

Review: I personally loved this movie, and remember it as one of the movies I was obsessed with during childhood. The story is VERY LOOSELY based on Hans Christian Anderson's 'the little mermaid' whereas Elina, the fairy, swaps something she loves so that she can become a Mermaid to save her friend Nori (very similarly to how the little mermaid trades her voice for legs) As a Barbie movie you can expect it to be cheesy and as it was an early Barbie film, the animation isn't amazing but I love the designs of the underwater world! And the Mermaid tails are beautiful! Well worth a watch if you love mermaids and cheesy movies!

Merpeople next made a brief appearance in Mariposa, where they were portrayed as vain, and selfish creatures. Although the appearance is too brief to go full into discussion about.

Then Barbie went full out to create and focus on a world full of Merpeople. In Barbie in a Mermaid tale. In this movie, Merliah, a top surf girl, starts worrying when her hair starts turning pink in water, and she suddenly has the ability to breathe underwater and speak to a dolphin. This is when she is told her mother was a Mermaid, and not just any mermaid...a queen! Merliah sets off on an adventure to save an underwater world of Merpeople from a deadly threat: Her own aunt! And to find her long lost mother.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5xlAqeuEQQ

Review: Although it was a very enjoyable movie, the cheese level in this one is BEYOND the usual Barbie standard...and that's saying something! I found myself cringing a LOT to this movie and was actually very disappointed that this was how Barbie made it's true first Mermaid based movie debut. Although saying that, the animation was much better than Mermaidia and the story was fairly good. But the over the top fashionable mer-kingdom was hard to watch. It's a fun watch, but very mindless and not something I'd really want to watch over and over again.

Following Barbie in a Mermaid tale, was the sequel Barbie in a Mermaid Tale 2. In this movie, Merliah enters a surfing competition which sends her to Australia to keep her title as 'Queen of the Waves' but is torn when she finds out the annual changing of the tides ceremony takes place at the same time as her surfing competition. Along with all this, her aunt Eris escapes her imprisonment and is plotting to take over the underwater kingdom of Oceana. Merliah with a new friend must journey to stop Eris, and save Queen Calissa


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGLJ5PVL9DQ

Review: I didn't have high hopes for this movie when I saw the trailer...but wow was I shocked by how much I loved it! The animation was even better, giving us beautiful ocean scenery and mermaid tails. The story was well thought out, and I enjoyed every second of this movie! Much improved from the first...so much I actually watched this movie three times in the span of two days! A very watch worthy film for all Mer-lovers in my opinion. Cheesy as usual...but who doesn't love a bit of cheese every now and then? :)

The next movie to be released in Spring 2014 was Pearl Princess, a movie about a 17 year old Mermaid called Lumina, who has a secret talent...she has Pearl Magic and can manipulate pearls to move, and glow. In the movie Lumina sets out of her reef home where she has never leaved before in order to go to the palace.

Here's the trailer:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_6rZUtIVBQ

Thoughts thus far: I'm looking forward to this movie...but I am worried it looks to be in the 'Mermaid tale' category and not the sequel standard...but I was plesantly surprised by Mermaid Tale 2 and I hope this movie will surprise me too! The tail designs are gorgeous, and I give massive kudos to Barbie movies for FINALLY giving the Mermen as detailed tails as the Mermaids! usually every Mermaid has a unique tail whereas the Mermen are given same colour, same design tails...but I've seen some photos on the Barbie Film Series facebook page of gorgeous Mermen with beautiful tails.

Review: I loved this movie, and for some reason it reminded me of The Little Mermaid Disney TV series. There are some lovable characters, a good story plot, and some GORGEOUS designs! There are Merfolk with all sorts of different tails including seal-like tails and shark tails :) Of course as always it was extremely cheesy BUT I was not disappointed by this film!

In Fall 2014 there will be a new Barbie movie titled Barbie and the secret door. It seems the plot is that Barbie's character enters through a secret door which leads her into a world full of magic...and connects her with a fairy and a mermaid. Hmmm...seems a bit too cheesy? I'll still watch it though!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uw2LZKcZe0U



I will continually edit this post to review movies and add more when released :)

So who here has watched some of these...thoughts??

Nicoseamus
02-15-2014, 01:49 PM
I also have always had a guilty pleasure for Barbie. However, the mermaid themed movies were not my favorites. Strange, right? :p. I guess they just weren't realistic enough for me. Haha, I know, since when has Barbie been realistic? I personally like the earlier Barbie movies better than the later ones, despite the animations. I didn't like the first Barbie In A Mermaid Tale movie very much, so I didn't give the second one much of a chance. Maybe I should... :thinks:

Mermaid Mhara
02-15-2014, 02:04 PM
Please give it a chance it is so much better! :) it's available on Youtube to watch for free so what's there to lose right? :)

Yes the first three Barbie movies and Princess and the Pauper hold a very special place in my heart! :) But I have to admit I'm a sucker for all of them :') old and new! haha

malinghi
02-15-2014, 04:16 PM
I've seen parts of some of these and they're alright. A bit too cutesy for me. The animation in that new one looks like its an improvement over earlier movies, although the way they animate swimming still isn't great.


I don't know a lot about how CGI movies are made but I think unlike hand drawn animation they can actually use physics models to make them more realistic. An example of that would be this demo of the snow modelling used in Frozen, which was totally stunning. You can skip to 0:55 to see the models in action.

http://youtu.be/seUJsmugI78

Anyway, they obviously don't have the budget to incorporate really great physics, but its too bad cause its annoying that their swimming is just hovering with tails moving back and forth.

Mermaid Mhara
02-17-2014, 02:04 PM
That's really interesting Malinghi! :d but no, Mattel doesn't seem to have a budget for over the top animation yet, they are getting slowly but surely better...although I suppose it's hard to focus on animation when the main focus of these movies are to make the dolls more appealing and desirable.

I have edited the top post with a new movie coming Fall 2014 which features another Mermaid character! :)

Mizuko
02-17-2014, 05:33 PM
I loveeee Barbie movies. haha! I own most of them too! XD
The mermaid ones are certainly my favourite, though.

Aradia
02-18-2014, 12:47 AM
Yeah, i've watched them all too.. it really is a guilty pleasure. Often a friend and I will sync up watching Barbie films at the same time and commentate the events. Its really fun, much more than it should be.
Also, when people look at me weird for knowing the Barbie mermaid films, I just smile and say, "Professional development" ;D

Mermaid Mhara
02-18-2014, 02:18 AM
Yay! I'm glad I'm not alone!

18638

As you can see my DVD's take up a lot of space (a few Winx there too - another guilty pleasure of mine!)

My favourites have always been the fairytopia and Mermaid based movies. Although, I did have a MAJOR soft spot for 'Pink Shoes' because I'm a ballet dancer myself. I just kinda wish Barbie would do a Ballet movie focusing on a Ballet school and not a ballet adventure...like Princess charm school but with ballet girls instead of princesses :)

Mermaid Mhara
02-19-2014, 01:25 PM
So I was able to get Pearl Princess on dvd yesterday and have to admit, I loved it! :) I think it's one of my favourite memraid movies by Barbie so far!

If you like, here's a link to the FULL movie on YouTube but watch it quick before YouTube takes it down! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-TefjME-98

Mizuko
02-19-2014, 05:48 PM
ah, its not available in Australia til March 13th! Dangit! XD I can wait (I much prefer to buy the dvd than watch it online, haha!) I've somehow recruited a bunch of friends to come watch it with me; I've tainted them with my Barbie love ;D haha!

Echidna
02-19-2014, 05:55 PM
Thanks for the link to the movie.
It was the first Barbie movie I ever watched, so I had to get used to the style, but I really liked it a lot :)

Did you notice how the only character with a shark tail was the bad guy? :p
While his cronies were moray eels.
I know most muggles don't like morays, but hey!
Eels are cool. Racism I say.

thevirginiamermaid
02-20-2014, 12:53 AM
OMG I used to LOVE the Barbie movies when I was younger. My favorite was Rapunzel and the nutcracker. I do remember seeing fairytopia a few times but I think it came out when I was sort of out growing the barbie movies. This thread is getting me all nostalgic!

thevirginiamermaid
02-20-2014, 12:54 AM
Also tangled TOTALLY used barbie as inspiration...the dresses are identical!

thevirginiamermaid
02-20-2014, 01:07 AM
AND the Barbie Rapunzel paints and so does disneys tangled rapunzel. AND the evil stepmother's name was GOTHEL. I know that is not a coincidence

Meshy
02-20-2014, 01:15 AM
OK going to show my age, I know this is meant for more mermaid related Barbie movies, but since I'm not only obsessed with mermaids, I'm also a huge Barbie Doll collector... This Barbie movie is from my time... And yes, I had every single one of these dolls too. I also own (still in the box) the collector edition they re-made of Barbie from Barbie and the Rockers.
http://www.amazon.com/Barbie-Rockers-Vol-This-World/dp/630316837X