Barbie in a Christmas Carol

I bought this movie for my 4 year-old daughter to give her an introduction to the theme of the story before she sees the "Christmas Carol" in an upcoming ballet production. I was specifically looking for an adaptation without so much fearful imagery. This adaptation not only served that purpose, but in addition is very well done - even my husband liked it!

I love this movie I think infact its the best that the Barbie makers have done! I know I'm 27 and I watch Barbie movies, deal! LOL I want to buy it now and share the wonder of it with my nieces and nephews!

Great movie, good storyline, great songs, and beautiful animation!

A real treat for all those dreaming of sugar plums this time of year.

Michelle

My daughter and I were introduced to the Barbie movies last winter and since then have purchased every movie. I bought this latest one for her two days ago and she has already watched it several times. She loves the singing (traditional Christmas tunes) and the cat Chuzzlewit. I did feel as though the animation went back a step from the last few Barbie movies...it could easily be mistaken for one of the older Barbie movies. For this reason, I rated it a 4/5. The writers do a good job in updating the original classic to make it more appealing to younger viewers. The original themes are still there, but the characters (especially the ghost of yet to come) are not nearly as terrifying as in the book. My daughter is three and was was able to sit through the entire movie without being scared (she was scared a few times in the Magic of Pegasus and Mariposa). I recommend this movie to anyone who loves the other Barbie movies or has a child that does.

******(SPOILER ALERT***** The part of Ebenezer Scrooge is played by Barbie (as Eden Starlight). She is a theater diva whose signature line is "In a selfish world, the selfish succeed". She lives her life by this and on Christmas Eve, she receives a visit from her Aunt Marie (dragging her chains of burden), who tells her that she will be visited by three spirits. She wants Eden to know that she made a mistake in raising her to believe that selfish people succeed. The first spirit appears (Spirit of Christmas Past) and takes Eden back in time to her childhood. We see her escaping the house she shares with her Aunt and sledding to visit best friend Catherine. The girls sing together for Catherine's family and are having a great time when there is a knock on the door. It is Aunt Marie, who goes in a tantrum. The spirit brings Eden back to present and Eden explains that she was never allowed any more Christmas get togethers with Catherine and her family. We begin to see why Eden is the selfish diva who hates Christmas so much. Not long after, the second spirit (Spirit of Christmas Present) arrives and brings Eden to several different places. First, to the backstage area where her crew are celebrating in spite of the fact that she demanded they didn't. They are throwing tomatoes at her picture (her friend Catherine included) and we see her begin to realize how demanding she is. Then, we are taken to the local orphanage, where Catherine has been helping the kids with Christmas caroling in hopes that the orphanage will not have to close come spring. One little girl in particular (played by Kelly) captures Eden's heart. We see some compassion from her and then she is taken back to her room for the last spirit. The spirit of Christmas future arrives (not scary at all) and tells Eden that she is going to show her the future based on the track that her life is following right now. We see Eden and Chuzzlewit at the backstage area, which is dirty and secluded. Eden wonders where her crew are and why everything appears the way it does. We learn that Eden fired her crew on Christmas for being late and since then lost her status as theater star. She is poor and alone in a selfish world. She discovers that Catherine has become a famous fashion designer and Eden decides to pay her old friend a visit. She is saddened to discover that Catherine has become the woman that Eden used to be(cold hearted and selfish). She begs the ghost to take her back. She wants to change! She awakens to find it is Christmas morning and that she can change her future. She gives her emplyees gifts, bonuses and the day off. She goes to the orphanage and adopts it in order to prevent its closing. She also makes up with Catherine and goes to spend Christmas with her and her family once again. The movie is narrated by Barbie (wearing the gown from the new Holiday Barbie series). She is telling the story to her little sister Kelly, who has thrown a fit and declared that she hates Christmas (she wants to stay at home on Christmas Eve instead of attending the hospital charity ball).

This is another real winner from Barbie! The story is well told and the music is wonderful classic Christmas songs that had everyone singing along. I wondered how they would handle The Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come without scaring the little ones, and they did it beautifully! The animation seems a little "flatter" than The Diamond Castle, but still very nice. This is a video the whole family can enjoy together. (Even my teenage boys hunkered down to watch!)

I bought this for my 5 year old daughter and she loves it. She has watched the movie 3 times in the 3 days that we've had it -- and I've lost count of how many times she's watched the DVD extras. The older she gets, the pickier she is about what she wants to watch more than once and she clearly wants to watch this one over and over. She is scared of a lot of movies (including some of the Barbie movies), but not this one.

The story has been masterfully re-crafted so that a younger kid can watch it without getting scared; yet the message of the original tale is beautifully preserved. The ending leaves one with a happy, positive feeling.

The music is great in this movie -- old Christmas classics like "We Wish You a Merry Christmas", "Jolly Old Saint Nicholas", etc usually sung by Barbie and Teresa. The smart people at Mattel figured out a great way to include the "I Feel Connected" song from Diamond Castle (which my daughter and her friends can't get enough of) in one of the special features. The song is used for a humorous scene introduced by Barbie and Teresa and starring those two little dogs (Lilly and Sparkles) from the Diamond Castle.

The disk includes:

* the movie
* a menu to choose one of the several songs from the movie (Carol-oke Party, the disk calls it).
* several trailers
* a "behind the scenes" video from the Diamond Castle showing the dogs dancing to "I Feel Connected"
* a nice documentary about how a Barbie Collector Holiday Doll is designed which is told using a mother and daughter getting a tour of the Barbie factory. Warning -- your daughter will probably want to start buying those expensive Barbie Collector dolls after seeing this.

This movie is a keeper. I can heartily (really!) recommend it.