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Barbie in the 12 Dancing Princesses

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Barbie in the 12 Dancing Princesses is a 2006 computer-animated dance film. It first premiered on Nickelodeon on September 10, 2006,[1] and it was later released to DVD on September 19.[2]

Barbie in the 12 Dancing Princesses
DVD cover
Directed byGreg Richardson
Written byElana Lesser
Cliff Ruby
Based on"The Twelve Dancing Princesses" by the Brothers Grimm
Produced byShea Wageman
StarringKelly Sheridan
Nicole Oliver
Jennifer Copping
Kathleen Barr
Chiara Zanni
Adrienne Carter
Ashleigh Ball
Britt McKillip
Maddy Copozzi
Chantal Strand
Catherine O'Hara
Shawn MacDonald
Christopher Gaze
Edited byColin Adams
Music byArnie Roth
Production
companies
Distributed byUniversal Studios Home Entertainment
Release dates
  • September 10, 2006 (2006-09-10) (Nickelodeon)[1]
  • September 19, 2006 (2006-09-19) (DVD)
Running time
81 minutes
CountriesUnited States
Canada
LanguageEnglish

The film was directed by Greg Richardson and loosely based on the Brothers Grimm fairy tale "The Twelve Dancing Princesses".[3] It is the ninth entry in the Barbie film series and features the voice of Kelly Sheridan as the Barbie protagonist. This is the first Barbie film to be distributed by Universal Studios (now Universal Pictures).

Music for the film was composed by Arnie Roth. "Shine", the end title song written by Roth, Amy Powers and Rob Hudnut, was nominated for a 2007 Emmy Award.

Plot

Genevieve is one of twelve princesses who share a passion for dancing and live in a castle with their widowed father, King Randolph. The princesses’ adventurous personalities and unique hobbies are considered improper by other members of the royal society. King Randolph summons his cousin, Duchess Rowena, to help educate the princesses in proper etiquette; the Duchess's strict rules and instruction begins to deject the princesses’ spirits.

On their youngest triplet sisters’ birthday, Genevieve and the other sisters gift them with a copy of their late mother's favorite story: a princess discovered a magical land where she danced for three nights before it vanished. Looking at each other's copies of the story, and the tiles on their bedroom floor, Genevieve discovers how to open a gateway into the magical land. Upon entering, they are taken to a grand pavilion where they dance the night away. While there, the princesses discover that the hanging golden flowers grant wishes, along with discovering the water has healing properties; the youngest princess, Lacey, takes some water in a vial.

The next day, the princesses appear tired and the duchess finds their new dancing shoes worn out, arousing her suspicion. King Randolph falls ill, so Genevieve asks the royal cobbler, Derek, to investigate Rowena's true intentions upon returning to the kingdom. That night, the princesses return to the magical land; meanwhile, Derek discovers that Rowena has been poisoning the King.

The next morning, the sisters are again exhausted. Rowena, refusing to believe the sisters when they tell her the truth, forces them into servitude. After mishearing their father talking about them to Rowena, the heartbroken princesses return to the magical land for a third time, and Rowena finds them missing the next morning.

Derek figures out how to enter the gateway and goes to report his findings to the sisters. Rowena learns how to enter the magic land from her monkey, Brutus, after he spies on Derek, and takes one of the wish-granting flowers. Despite knowing from the story that they'll never be able to return to the magic land after their third visit, the princesses decide to go home and help their father; however, they and Derek find themselves trapped as Rowena orders her footman, Desmond, to destroy the gateway in the princesses’ bedroom. The group manage to escape when Genevieve and Derek are able to open a different gateway by dancing together.

Once home, they find out that the King is dying and that Rowena has taken over as Queen. While the other princesses outsmart and distract the guards, Genevieve and Derek rush in to confront Rowena. The Duchess uses the golden flower to wish for Genevieve to dance forever, but Genevieve manages to blow the magic dust back at her with a fan, forcing Rowena to dance uncontrollably. When Desmond tries to help her, he is pulled into the spell, and the two dance their way out of the castle. Lacey uses the water she took from the magic land to revive her father. King Randolph apologizes for not seeing through Rowena, and realizes how truly special his daughters are. Soon after, Genevieve and Derek celebrate their wedding.

Characters

Princesses

Each of the 12 Princesses is designated with a gemstone and a flower. Each princess' flower appears on their dresses, the book gifted to each of them, and on the stones on the floor of their bedroom, and each of the princesses' names begin with the first 12 letters of the alphabet.

  • Ashlyn - The 22-year-old eldest sister. She is practical, calm and knowledgeable. She loves music, especially playing the flute and oboe. She is straightforward and cares for her sisters, for whom she tries to act as a role model. Her flower is the purple geranium and her gemstone is a garnet. She bears the most resemblance to her mother Queen Isabella, and wears a purple dress.
  • Blair - The 21-year-old 2nd sister. She loves horseback riding and collects music boxes. Feisty and outspoken, Blair is always the first to voice her opinion, especially her complaints about Rowena's presence in their lives. Her flower is larkspur and her gemstone is a ruby. She wears a red dress.
  • Courtney - The 20-year-old 3rd sister and is close to Ashlyn and Blair. She seems to be the shyest of the twelve sisters. Her favorite hobby is reading, which makes her intelligent and open-minded, but often renders her totally oblivious to her surroundings. Her flower is the forget-me-not and her gemstone is a sapphire. She wears a blue dress.
  • Delia - The adventurous 19-year-old 4th sister and Edeline's fraternal twin. She loves sports, especially croquet and horseback riding. Her flower is the sunflower and her gemstone is a green peridot. She wears a green dress.
  • Edeline - The 19-year-old 5th sister and Delia's fraternal twin. She loves to play sports, her favorites being badminton and croquet. She also tends to be messy and disorganized. Her flower is honeysuckle and her gemstone is orange citrine. She wears an orange dress.
  • Fallon - The 17-year-old 6th sister. She loves animals, plays the harp, and is a romantic who hopes everyone can find their happily ever after. She likes hearts, lace, and writing stories. Her flower is the camellia and her gemstone is a pearl. She wears a pink dress.
  • Genevieve - The 16-year-old 7th sister, and the main protagonist of the film. She tends to run late for all sorts of occasions. She is also an experienced chess player. Next to her family, Genevieve loves dancing more than anything. Derek, the royal cobbler, harbors romantic feelings for her. Her flower is the pink rose and her gemstone is a pink opal. She wears a dark pink and white dress.
  • Hadley - The 13-year-old 8th sister and Isla's fraternal twin. She loves to walk on stilts, an interest she shares with Isla. Her flower is the narcissus and her gemstone is a topaz. She wears a turquoise dress.
  • Isla - The 13-year-old 9th sister and Hadley's fraternal twin. Isla is a skilled acrobat and enjoys walking on stilts with her twin. Her flower is the lily of the valley and her gemstone is an emerald. She wears a light violet dress.
  • Janessa - The 5-year-old 10th sister and leader of the young fraternal triplets. She is interested in bugs and loves collecting them. While she may be bossy at times, her intentions are always good. Her flower is the jonquil and her gemstone is aquamarine. She wears a light blue dress.
  • Kathleen - The 5-year-old 11th sister, the middle triplet, and is close with both triplets. She loves art and enjoys painting, but tends to be messy like her big sister, Edeline. Kathleen is down-to-earth and helps keep balance among the triplets. Her flower is the daisy and her gemstone is a pink diamond. She wears a light pink and yellow dress.
  • Lacey - The 5-year-old youngest sister. She is very close to her big sister, Genevieve and likes to collect teddy bears. Being the youngest, she is timid, somewhat clumsy and frequently needs help for the simplest things. Even though she loves her sisters and her father, Lacey often wonders about where she belongs in her large family. Her flower is the white lily and her gemstone is an amethyst. She wears a light purple dress.

Other characters

  • Derek - A handsome, 16 year old royal cobbler. He is friends with Genevieve and her sisters, secretly in love with Genevieve, and becomes the princesses' main ally in stopping Rowena. At the end of the film, he and Genevieve are happily wedded.
  • Felix - Derek's talking parrot. He wants Derek and Genevieve to be together, often blabbing hints about how Derek feels to Genevieve, which causes great embarrassment for his master.
  • Duchess Rowena - King Randolph's cousin and the primary antagonist of the film. She is brought to the castle to help the king raise his twelve daughters. She seeks to steal the throne by poisoning Randolph and getting rid of the twelve princesses. She is doomed to dance forever when a spell she tried to use on Genevieve backfires.
  • King Randolph - The father of the twelve dancing princesses. He loves his daughters more than anything, but is determined to turn them into "proper princesses" with Rowena. Little does he know Rowena is slowly poisoning him in an attempt to steal his throne and that it is up to his "unruly" daughters to save him.
  • Desmond - Rowena's large and ruthless footman. He seems to have a crush on Rowena, doing anything she says to please her. He is doomed to dance with her forever when he tries to free the cursed duchess.
  • Twyla - Genevieve's pet kitten. She tries to act tough in front of her enemies and is constantly fighting with Rowena's monkey, Brutus. She is friends with Felix and believes that she is related to the tigers of India.
  • Brutus - Rowena's pet monkey, who is just as cruel and arrogant as his mistress. He loves making Twyla angry and often spies on the princesses to find ways to get them in trouble with Rowena.
  • Mr. Fabian - An apothecary who sells poison to Rowena in exchange for stolen goods. He is eventually tracked down by Derek, who trades his horse for Queen Isabella's goblet.
  • Queen Isabella - The late mother of the twelve princesses. She is seen in the movie through a portrait that hangs near the entrance of the castle. Even in death, she helps her daughters discover the magical kingdom and the importance of family. Her goblet is stolen by Rowena to purchase poison from the apothecary.

Cast

Music

The songs featured in this film are:

  • 12 Dancing Princesses theme song, based on the theme from the Siciliana in Respighi's Ancient Airs and Dances.
  • Shine (End credit song), performed by Cassidy Ladden
  • The Birthday Song (Sang for the Triplets, until Rowena stopped it)
  • Argeers by John Playford (When Derek plays a tune for them)
  • Sacerdotes Domini by William Byrd (Sang by the princesses on their father's bedroom when he got ill)
  • Mendelssohn's Midsummer Night's Dream - Nocturne (When they first step in the magical world and ride the boat)
  • Mendelssohn's Midsummer Night's Dream - Fairies' March (When the triplets fall asleep and the other girls dance)
  • Felix Mendelssohn's Fourth Symphony, the third and first movement (Played when the princesses are dancing on the first and second night respectively)
  • Mendelssohn's Fourth Symphony, second movement (played when Rowena accuses the girls of lying and place them in servitude)
  • Mendelssohn's Fifth Symphony, second movement (played when the girls dance with the brass statues)
  • Mendelssohn's Fourth Symphony's last movement is played at the final confrontation of Rowena and Desmond by the princesses and Derek.
  • Gottschalk - Tarantella for piano and orchestra is played when Rowena and Desmond dance at the end.

Reception

In the October 14, 2006 issue of Billboard, Barbie in the 12 Dancing Princesses debuted at number one on the Top DVD Sales chart.[4]

References

  1. ^ a b "Family favorites". Palladium-Item. September 10, 2006.
  2. ^ "Barbie: 12 Dancing Princesses". Retrieved 4 November 2017.
  3. ^ "Barbie in the 12 Dancing Princesses". Universal Pictures Home Entertainment. Retrieved 20 November 2016.
  4. ^ "Archive: Sales Charts". Cinema Sight by Wesley Lovell. 2020-05-31. Retrieved 2021-04-23.
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