bonus: a journey through the bcu - part 1
(that's the barbie cinematic universe)
Last week, it hit me. I should watch all the Barbie movies that I haven't seen yet before I see Barbie (2023) on the 19th of July. I made this decision on the 4th of July, giving me just over 2 weeks to complete this journey. I then made the decision that I was also going to do a bonus newsletter to talk about every Barbie movie. I then realised it wasn’t going to fit into just one email and it would need to be sent in two parts. It has been a big 2 weeks.
Please bear in mind, I was a huge Barbie fan as a child, but I stopped keeping up with the BCU (Barbie cinematic universe) around 2008. So despite being a certified girlie, I had a lot of movies to watch. There are 42 Barbie movies (not including the two Rockers episodes from the 80s) and I had only watched 13. Barbie movies famously keep to a tight 80 minutes and the plots aren’t too hard to follow, which I appreciate endlessly.
This edition of SWC is a little bit different as I’m not recommending this. In fact, the actions taken to write this newsletter were executed by a professional and should not be undertaken.
Note: In Barbie movies she is sometimes Barbie, who is an actress and sometimes she’s Barbie acting as a character (its very meta) and sometimes it seems to just be someone else who looks like Barbie, in later Barbie movies she is always Barbie - but for clarity I’m just going to always refer to her as Barbie, and Ken as Ken even though he’s also often not Ken.
Phase 1
In Phase 1, Barbie is mostly part of retellings of other stories, they are generally traditional ballets or fairytales and aren’t set in a modern world. Many of them follow the format of Barbie telling her little sister a story in order to comfort her or teach her a lesson. There are a few that are exceptions such as the Fairytopia triology, which are original stories, and Barbie Diaries which is an anomaly across the whole Barbie franchise, being set in a high school with no real magical elements.
Barbie in the Nutcracker (2001)
The original Barbie!!! This looks so old, but the story is very good. A classic tale. Ken is the brave Nutcracker who helps Barbie on her journey, and his movie doll comes with a second head to put on. Iconic consumerism.
Barbie as Rapunzel (2002)
Barbie is Rapunzel except her hair isn’t that long at all. Her magic comes from a paintbrush, which is a weird addition to the original tale. Also, the villain is voiced by Anjelica Huston of The Witches (1990) and The Addams Family (1991) fame, which is outstanding.
Barbie of Swan Lake (2003)
This is a classic, although wasn’t my favourite as a kid. The dress is very fabulous though and I’m sure sold lots of dolls.
Barbie as The Princess & the Pauper (2004)
This is my favourite Barbie movie!!! The songs are so good, the story is so good, the romance is great, there’s high stakes in a kidnapping plot, it has one of the best villains.
Barbie: Fairytopia (2005)
Barbie plays a fairy without wings, and when all the other fairies lose their ability to fly she is the only one who can save them, kinda like the plot of Encanto (2021). She also wins the award for most insane sidekick, Bibble.
Barbie and the Magic of Pegasus (2005)
Barbie is a princess and an ice skater. I love ice skating movies, so this one is a fave. Her older sister has been turned into a pegasus and they have to save her and the kingdom together so it’s a nice sister story. Her sidekick is the cutest polar bear in the world called Shiver, bless :’)
Barbie Fairytopia: Mermaidia (2006)
I like mermaids but I just don’t like the Fairytopia trilogoy. This is the villain and his name is Fungus Maximus:
The Barbie Diaries (2006)
This movie is controversial because its terrible, but I quite like it. Barbie is in a high school band and she wants to be a journalist and has a crush on the most popular guy in school, but actually ends up with her dorky best friend who’s been there all along!! She has a magical diary that makes her dreams come true, but it’s likely not actually magical and the power to make her dreams come true has just been within her all along!!
Barbie in The 12 Dancing Princesses (2006)
I loved this movie as a kid, I think because there are 12 sisters who each represent a different interest and all have unique beautiful dresses and are always there for each other. If that’s not the dream I don’t know what is. They also all share a room like in Madeline despite living in a giant castle.
Barbie Fairytopia: Magic of the Rainbow (2007)
This one is set at fairy school, which brings a new energy to the trilogy even though the villain remains the same and again I just don’t really like Fairytopia.
Barbie as the Island Princess (2007)
This movie is meant to be a Tarzan type vibe, but we barely get feral Barbie and hardly spend anytime on the island before being whisked to a castle, such a shame!
Barbie Mariposa (2008)
Fairly unmemorable, it’s a Fairytopia spin off narrated by Fairytopia Barbie telling a story to sidekick Bibble about some butterfly fairies.
Barbie And The Diamond Castle (2008)
I started my actual watching journey last week at Barbie And The Diamond Castle (2008). This movie is famously one of the most sapphic Barbie movies, as Barbie and her friend live in a cottage together, sing songs about how much they love each other and mostly ignore the men who try to help them. In one scene the gals get on a rainbow bridge and fly away together, leaving the boys behind. Historians will say they were just friends.
Barbie In A Christmas Carol (2008)
Their take on the Dicken’s tale was fine, but doesn’t have anything on The Muppets version, which I do recommend.
Barbie Presents: Thumbelina (2009)
I didn’t like this one.
Barbie and The Three Musketeers (2009)
The Three Musketeers was a highlight! Ken was an all time “he’s just Ken”, an incompetent prince who must be saved by the female musketeers - who he has previously told can’t be musketeers because they’re women. Grow up Ken, Barbie can be anything! Also Barbie has a cat called Miette who dreams of being a MusCATeer, you cannot make this stuff up!
Phase 2
In Phase 2, the creators wished to move away from the classic stories and into more modern themes, focusing on surfing, music, fashion, family etc. You know, the pillars of modernity. There’s still lots of princesses and magic though.
Barbie in A Mermaid Tale (2010)
I have always been partial to a mermaid movie. Barbie is half mermaid princess, half human pro surfer which sounds exactly like what I would play at the beach. The thing that made this movie great was the world building that went into Oceana. They quickly establish stores like Seaphora and Bloomingtails, and that there are famous mermaids who are chased by the pufferazzi (pufferfish paparazzi), who wears a little green fedora.
Barbie: A Fashion Fairytale (2010)
This was okay. Barbie is an actress who gets fired from her production of Princess and The Pea, dragged on social media and then Ken breaks up with her (he doesn’t actually, don’t worry). I didn’t know bad things could happen to Barbie! She then goes to Paris and has to save her aunt’s fashion house. The highlight is the B plot which follows Ken’s odyssey to Paris, in the least convenient way possible, to get Barbie back.
Barbie: A Fairy Secret (2011)
This movie bizarrely is in the same universe where Barbie is a famous actress, and it loosely references the events of Fashion Fairytale. Except in the first one there are magical creatures called Flairies (who give clothes more flair, duh) but in the second movie she is shocked that fairies exist. Where’s the continuity?
Part 2 of the review coming soon… and then I promise to move back to regular programming!
We can do anything, right Barbie?
Linley x
