Your favorite Barbie movie

I wonder how many people here watched Barbie movies as a kid, or even watched them for fun as a grown-up or out of curiosity in their own time. This is my own theory, but I think your favorite Barbie movie says a lot about you - whether it's in its cheesiness, humor, the twists on classic stories or even the themes explored in them. They're fun for what they are, and I think finding what makes them compelling to watch or what even gets the best laugh out of you can say something about what you like and what tickles that childlike sense of wonder.

What's your favorite Barbie movie and who's your favorite character?

When I was a kid, I watched a number of Barbie movies on DVD and some of these include Barbie in the Nutcracker, Barbie as Rapunzel and Barbie of Swan Lake, to the best of my memory. Throughout the years I also watched other movies like Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper and Barbie in a Christmas Carol.

Of course, these aren't all the Barbie movies but they were definitely the ones that have a place in my heart. My favorite Barbie movie would be Barbie in the Nutcracker since it was my first Barbie movie, but also just the one I watched the most and had fun with.

When I think about it, Barbie in the Nutcracker is meant to be a Christmas movie - and I don't even celebrate that - but I still enjoy it nonetheless. I guess I'm incredibly biased for liking Barbie in the Nutcracker because it also just happens to be first ever Barbie animated movie ever made. It was something new for the franchise and it was exploring how far they could go for something like that in 2001. Sure, the animation and quality looks like aged milk by now, but it's still quite endearing to me. So why am I attached to it despite its flaws and limitations?

Barbie in the Nutcracker is a movie that I simply just memorized and I could even quote it. I know what my favorite parts were and I knew the parts that used to scare me (it's the weird rock monster, the old CG makes it look so unnatural). There's a lot to like about this movie - maybe it's the Tim Curry Mouse King who always has a gag to spare, the weird bickering that Captain Candy and Major Mint do, or maybe it's the nutcracker being really sweet despite knowing that other people will judge him harshly. It used to make me feel tense when the characters were being chased or inevitably got trapped, there was also the sense of dread and sadness when Barbie would have to disappear as she was waking up from her dream. For child-me it was a ride, but at least it had a happy ending.

This movie is also one of the main reasons why I was interested in the nutcracker's original story itself and looked into its different adaptations (ballet, animation, movies, etc.). While I had not been aware of the original story being different, I really liked what the Barbie movie did; it gave us a twist on the nutcracker tale and gave us more of an adventure with fun character dynamics between the protagonists as well as a different and fun take for the villains.

I'm not exactly sure why I typed this all out, but I thought it would be an interesting thing to talk about. While I don't consider myself a girl or in any way feminine, Barbie is still something I enjoy. Perhaps I'm also trying to find some solace out of the stressful weeks that I've been enduring and thinking about the things that brought me comfort and fun as a child. After all, these movies still make me happy.