My Top 5 Barbie Movies

In honor of the new Barbie (2023) movie coming out this July, I decided to rank my top 5 Barbie movies based on the movie quality but mostly on my own opinion. This will include the classic barbie movies from the early 2000’s until the mid 2010’s which I adored while growing up.

1. Barbie: Princess Charm School (2011) Despite there being other more objectively favorited barbie movies, this one is my favorite. Despite it’s runtime of an hour and twenty minutes, it proceeds to feel like a series with the complexity of the storyline and the characters. The costume design and costume animation really was ahead of it’s time and really well crafted. There wasn’t a single character outfit that I didn’t want to have. The music? One of the best soundtracks in the Barbie universe definitely. I LOVE On Top of the World It’s my favorite OST (original soundtrack) off of the barbie movies. Another thing that gets this move to this spot is the attention to detail. The animation in general was leveled up compared to past Barbie movies I had watched. I still remember my astonishment when I saw the intro to the movie for the first time. I thought it was the most groundbreaking movie. I still think it’s super cool and it’s well worth any love it gets.
2. Barbie as Rapunzel (2002) THIS ONE RIGHT HERE. initially biased because of the barbie dress up game in the DVD, this movie is so good. It tells the classic story of Rapunzel like no other movie. It really dominates and the animation style is very unique, as we know it was one of the first Barbie movies released so it makes sense it might be a bit flat and very heavily pixelated at times (we all remember that one background) but this whole movie is very memorable, and the magical brush is beyond praise. I really loved the dress transitions and just the overall vibe of the movie. The instrumentals in this film really made it special and lovable. Also, we can’t forget about Otto, a meme icon on the internet. The personality in this film is definitely there.
3. Barbie: A Fashion Fairytale (2010) You know i’m definitely going to put this movie in my top five as a fashion girly. This feels like a plot on top of another plot. I remember when I first rented it from RedBox, I assumed I got the wrong movie because of the first few minutes of the movie where Barbie was playing the part of the princess in The Princess In The Pea. After that first scene ends, we see Barbie seeing Barbie out of her usual “universe” in a trailer, where she has all of her past movies as posters hanging from a wall. We really see her as an actress here that makes this movie become different from the rest. was really strange but it felt intriguing, like i was watching a “hidden” movie. You know I was going crazy over Barbie’s fashion design, that last dress transformation in the fashion show? I loved that.. I also loved the graphics of the movie AND THE FLAIRIES? They were so cute and just overall amazing. Also I found the director more annoying than the actual two fashion villains, Jacqueline and her assistant Delphine. Their style was so good too.
4. Barbie and the Three Musketeers (2009) This is 1 hour and 20 minutes of comedic relief. The plot is a solid 8, and the action scenes aren’t as cheesy as I remembered. I love seeing the evolution of Barbie as a character in this film. I really think my favorite part of the movie is the outfits that go from ballgowns to musketeers. I really loved the fact that it ends with the four friends going to save the world, rather than a love scene which watching back now is refreshing. Ofc that doesn’t make a romantic relationship any less valid, I just really appreciated the last scene of the four girls riding off into the sunset.
5. Barbie: A Fairy Secret (2011) My favorite animation style and intro of all barbie movies. I also consider this the best pop OST from Barbie. The whole plot is top tier. I loved how all the characters travel to different parts of the world. What really made this movie for me is the relationship development of Barbie and Raquel. Although saving Ken was their main purpose, this is by far my favorite character development in any Barbie movie. I also found the “villains” of the movie rather annoying. The whole saving Ken mission felt really silly at times.