Barbie as Rapunzel
Year: 2002
Director: Owen Hurley
Starring: Anjelica Huston, Ian James Corlett, Kelly Sheridan & Cree Summer
Runtime: 83 mins
BBFC: U
Published: 28/04/23
Director: Owen Hurley
Starring: Anjelica Huston, Ian James Corlett, Kelly Sheridan & Cree Summer
Runtime: 83 mins
BBFC: U
Published: 28/04/23
The release of Barbie in the Nutcracker saw sales of the attached toy line rocket, producing one of the best financial years for Mattel in years. Their gamble had paid off, and they needed to continue to replicate that success. The sales growth was visible very early on following the release of Nutcracker, and so a sequel was quickly put into production for release the following year based around the next line of Barbie dolls. Continuing the princess theme, but ditching the ballet premise, Barbie’s next adventure would see her become one of the most iconic fairy tale princesses of all time.
Rapunzel (Barbie (Kelly Sheridan)) is the live-in maid for the witch, Gothel (Anjelica Huston). Unable to leave the grounds because of a magic spell, Rapunzel befriends the dragon Penelope (Cree Summer), and a rabbit Hobie (Ian James Corlett), with whom she frequently explores Gothel’s castle and grounds. When Rapunzel discovers a hairbrush that was gifted to her from her birth parents, that magically transforms into a paintbrush, Rapunzel finds a way to escape Gothel’s castle and mingle with the local villagers. Gothel soon discovers Rapunzel’s secret and locks her away in a tower, but still able to escape using the magic paintbrush, Rapunzel forms a relationship with Prince Stefan (Mark Hildreth), and must work with him to unite the warring kings Wilhelm (Christopher Gaze) and Fredrick (Russell Roberts) to free her from Gothel’s slavery.
Rapunzel (Barbie (Kelly Sheridan)) is the live-in maid for the witch, Gothel (Anjelica Huston). Unable to leave the grounds because of a magic spell, Rapunzel befriends the dragon Penelope (Cree Summer), and a rabbit Hobie (Ian James Corlett), with whom she frequently explores Gothel’s castle and grounds. When Rapunzel discovers a hairbrush that was gifted to her from her birth parents, that magically transforms into a paintbrush, Rapunzel finds a way to escape Gothel’s castle and mingle with the local villagers. Gothel soon discovers Rapunzel’s secret and locks her away in a tower, but still able to escape using the magic paintbrush, Rapunzel forms a relationship with Prince Stefan (Mark Hildreth), and must work with him to unite the warring kings Wilhelm (Christopher Gaze) and Fredrick (Russell Roberts) to free her from Gothel’s slavery.
I’m not overly well versed on the story of Rapunzel, with the majority of my knowledge stemming from Disney’s Tangled, which I know is an adaptation that takes significant artistic liberties with the source material. But I found the story of Barbie as Rapunzel to be somewhat lacklustre. The reason as to why Rapunzel is so content with being Gothel’s servant is never addressed, and it’s not exactly clear as to what Gothel stands to gain from the two kings going to war with each other. How the hairbrush/paintbrush came to be imbued with magical properties is also unexplained, and so I feel that the story of Rapunzel in this version leaves me with more questions than answers.
That being said, it does what it set out to do which is be a reasonably entertaining animated toy commercial, and I’m sure that much like Barbie in the Nutcracker, the film will be enjoyable for younger children, particularly those with an interest in princesses, fairy tales, and of course, Barbie.
Rapunzel’s greatest strengths lay in the same areas that Nutcracker excelled in, most notably the voice acting. Similar to Tim Curry before her, Anjelica Huston provides an excellent performance as the villainous Gothel, and turns this reasonably one-dimensional character into one that is not only a pleasure to have on screen but also someone you can really despise.
Sheridan similarly continues her strong leading performance, and I do feel that this time around Barbie is given more agency in the story which means Sheridan can show new sides to the character that weren’t possible in Nutcracker.
I do feel that the performances of Corlett and Summer lagged behind the rest of the cast, but I think this mostly comes down to them being the comic relief in a kid’s film and coming off as more irritating than endearing. But they do at least give decent effort in their performance, which for a film with this kind of production value is admirable.
That being said, it does what it set out to do which is be a reasonably entertaining animated toy commercial, and I’m sure that much like Barbie in the Nutcracker, the film will be enjoyable for younger children, particularly those with an interest in princesses, fairy tales, and of course, Barbie.
Rapunzel’s greatest strengths lay in the same areas that Nutcracker excelled in, most notably the voice acting. Similar to Tim Curry before her, Anjelica Huston provides an excellent performance as the villainous Gothel, and turns this reasonably one-dimensional character into one that is not only a pleasure to have on screen but also someone you can really despise.
Sheridan similarly continues her strong leading performance, and I do feel that this time around Barbie is given more agency in the story which means Sheridan can show new sides to the character that weren’t possible in Nutcracker.
I do feel that the performances of Corlett and Summer lagged behind the rest of the cast, but I think this mostly comes down to them being the comic relief in a kid’s film and coming off as more irritating than endearing. But they do at least give decent effort in their performance, which for a film with this kind of production value is admirable.
Nutcracker also amazed with some impressive motion capture animation, and Rapunzel also continues this tradition meaning that characters move with lifelike precision and in ways far more complex than most big budget animated films of the time. However, because of the lack of dance sequences it does feel as though this technology is somewhat wasted, and perhaps could have meant a greater investment in the quality of the assets to make characters and environments appear less plasticky and smooth. But credit where it’s due, Rapunzel’s human character models do move in far more convincing ways than even industry leader Pixar’s characters did at the time.
Barbie as Rapunzel is not the gold standard of cinema, but similar to Nutcracker it does go above and beyond what you would expect from a glorified toy commercial. The voice performances are strong despite the mediocre script, and the motion capture animation is impressive even if it is bogged down by plain and texture-less environments. It doesn’t impress me as much as Barbie’s first animated film, but Rapunzel is still better than you’d expect it to be.
Barbie as Rapunzel is not the gold standard of cinema, but similar to Nutcracker it does go above and beyond what you would expect from a glorified toy commercial. The voice performances are strong despite the mediocre script, and the motion capture animation is impressive even if it is bogged down by plain and texture-less environments. It doesn’t impress me as much as Barbie’s first animated film, but Rapunzel is still better than you’d expect it to be.