Barbie Appreciation Month

Barbie Appreciation Month Week 1, Day 4

Barbie Appreciation Month Week 2, Day 2

Barbie Appreciation Month Week 1, Day 3 

Barbie Appreciation Month Week 1, Day 2 

Barbie Appreciation Month | Week 2: Barbie as Herself | Day 13: Barbie + Character

barbie appreciation month | week 1: fantasy day 3: sidekick appreciation –> romy

barbie appreciation month | week 1: fantasy day 3: sidekick appreciation –> nori

Barbie Appreciation Month | Week 2: Barbie as Herself | Day 12: Favorite Barbie Look

Barbie Appreciation Month | Week 2: Barbie as Herself | Day 11: Favorite Ships

Barbie Appreciation Month | Week 2: Barbie as Herself | Day 10: Pets or Sidekicks

Barbie Appreciation Month Week 2, Day 1

Barbie Appreciation Month | Week 2: Barbie as Herself | Day 9: Favorite Character(s)

Barbara “Barbie” Millicent Roberts – What I love best about all of the “Barbie as Herself” movies is just, well, Barbie herself! She’s kind, caring, and is always ready to help anyone. Fashion house closing? Let’s put together a whole fashion show in just a few days! Hometown in danger of bankruptcy? Time to find a legendary treasure that may not even exist! A secret agency needs help tracking down gems that could charge a very powerful and dangerous EMP weapon? Sign her up! Barbie never backs down from a challenge, even when everything is against her. She was one of my biggest childhood role models and continues to inspire me today.

Marie-Alecia/Alice (from Barbie: A Fashion Fairytale) – I relate a lot to Alice. I can be quite insecure about my talents and abilities, sometimes feeling like I should just give up. But like her, I know I have to believe in myself. I also like that despite the fact that she’s a little shy, she isn’t afraid to speak her mind, like when she calls out Jacqueline multiple times for her dirty deeds. I know a lot of people think her designs were “too girly” or “too frilly” or whatever, but I still think they’re quite pretty! Most of them aren’t really my own style, but I bet they’d look super cool in real life. Also, I like that she keeps her glasses on the entirety of the movie. Often in “makeover” scenes in movies or when the time comes for a character to put on their “big fancy dress”, that character removes their glasses. I honestly really dislike that trope. Yeah, sure, glasses can be a pain and get in the way, but as someone who doesn’t like contacts, it makes me feel good that Alice keeps hers on in her ballgown.

barbie appreciation month | week 1: fantasy day 4: favorite ships –> annika/aidan

barbie appreciation month | week 1: fantasy day 4: favorite ships –> alexa/liana

Barbie Appreciation Month | Week 2: Barbie as Herself | Day 8: Favorite Movie

Barbie: A Fashion Fairytale – Fight me, this is a really fun Barbie movie. Yeah, I’ve got my problems with it, mainly that Diana Kaarina is a bit too shrill as Barbie in this one (I love her in the other movies she’s in though) and I guess the lore behind the Flairies is a bit weird, but I still really like this movie. Marie-Alicia/Alice and Aunt Millicent are awesome female characters, and it’s the first movie to actually feature KEN! I also really like the soundtrack; it’s really lively and every song is honestly a straight BOP.

Something else interesting to note here is that Barbie herself isn’t actually the center of the conflict. I mean, she does her own conflict with Ken “breaking up” with her and trying to get over it, but that isn’t the main conflict. It’s actually about Millicent’s Fashion House going out of business and Marie-Alecia having to come out of her shell to save it. In a way, Barbie is more of an Obi-Wan to Alice’s Luke, which I think is really cool. And even though Barbie, Alice, and Aunt Millicent have to go through the lesson of “believing in yourself”, it’s again more about the latter than the former. 

And again, this movie features KEN in an actual major role. He takes over the B-plot of this movie by trying to get to Paris any way he can. See, Raquelle tricked Barbie into thinking he broke up with her, but instead of calling her he does the whole 9-yards and drops everything to get to Paris. That’s a bit extra, but so romantic!!  

Barbie Appreciation Month | Week 1: Fantasy | Day 7: Underappreciated Characters/Free Day

Underappreciated Characters: Basically all the major characters in Pearl Princess – I feel like a fool for putting Pearl Princess on my Least Favorites list before because after watching it again I realized all of the characters are so charming. Lumina, though a bit oblivious to social cues, always means well, and Kuda does her best to keep her out of trouble. Sandrine is just a pure gem, Cora was sweet, and Madam Ruckus was just awesome. Honestly, I had a great time the last time I watched this movie and I’m glad I did. I think these characters were just too nice to dislike. I also liked Fergis and Aunt Scylla. It could’ve been so easy to make one of them a villain (like make Fergis mean and snooty like his dad or make Scylla more of a Gothel character) but they’re actually very sincere and have good hearts.

Free Day: Favorite Song – Okay, so technically my favorite fantasy song is from a stage musical, but since it’s Fairytopia it still counts. I’m, of course, talking about the song “Rise Above It All” from Barbie Live! In Fairytopia. I really wish I could’ve gone to see this a child, because from the few clips I’ve seen it looks like it would’ve been awesome to see. The songs are genuinely nice, even if not masterpieces of musical theatre. They’re just fun, which is a trait I feel like a lot of modern theatre snobs don’t want musicals to be. “Rise Above It All” is my favorite because it’s a great, uplifting song and it makes me happy whenever I sing it. Here’s a video of Erin Elizabeth Coors, who plays Elina, singing the song on Good Morning America!