Barbie: A Perfect Christmas

This one is pretty different compared to the other Barbie movies as it introduces us to all of Barbie's sisters: Skipper, Stacie & Chelsea. It is set in the same world as Barbie A Fashion Fairytale & presumably A Fairy Secret due to the same continuity, but this one has no magic (well besides the cliched Christmas magic for the kiddies) like the other movies from this universe and generation. This one is also the first proper musical out of the third generation Barbie movies and has been the first musical movie since Barbie and The Diamond Castle (as far as I remember anyway) a few years prior. Anyway, can Barbie & some sisterly cheer make this movie feel like a perfect Christmas, or is it as bad as having a spat at Christmas? Let's find out!

Story: The main plot involves Barbie & her sisters' plans to go to New York for Christmas going array as an unexpected snowstorm causes their flight to go to Minnesota & they're left stranded. This leads to them to doing a Christmas pageant due to the hospitality of the people at the hotel they stay in as they realize that can actually make a perfect Christmas. But, there are some problems like filler, some contrivances & the characters in general (I'll mention more in the characters section) OK, I will say the message isn't as hand-fisted as past Barbie movies & it subverts the shallowness of what their perfect Christmases are as they spend time together as sisters rather than doing their materialistic plans. It is actually nice to see a movie just with Barbie & her sisters together & act like real sisters rather than a generic plot just made to promote overpriced toys & that it's not Barbie centric. I actually like that Skipper mentions how jealous of Barbie she is & how she really looks up to her & the conflict is more realistic & there actually isn't any villain in this at all. Yes, it's crazy & can be cheesy, but the heart of the movie is in the right place & it's nowhere near as pretentious or shallow as some past Barbie films!

 

Animation: Yeah, the animation is often one of the weaker aspects & this movie is no exception. The character designs are again, underdefined & it's pretty clear this time round they can only really do full grown women as the children are very creepy looking & all have dead-looking eyes. The character animation is also pretty stiff on the people, but it is better on the animals like the dogs & squirrel in one particular chase scene. While the backgrounds are creative & actually look good from a production design point of view, the texturing really makes it suffer. Nothing looks or feels what it's supposed to be, especially the snow & clothes, even if it is much better than previous attempts like A Mermaid Tale or Barbie in A Christmas Carol. Well, at least the rendering on the ice isn't utterly terrible. It does put you in that Christmas-y mood thanks to all the decorations, the wintery backgrounds & the hotel itself, I must admit. Overall, it's not all that great, but it is better than the second generation Barbie movies.

 

Characters: Barbie, this time round, is more the big sister type who tries to set things right and make sure all of her sisters have a perfect Christmas despite her own plans when in New York. Sure, she may still be perfect, but at least she's not in the spotlight & even shows what she's done isn't all that it's cracked up to be. Skipper is the second oldest and is music obsessed as well as realistic yet cynical & is the one who decides to do the pageant to prove she can be like her big sister. She's not completely hateable, just a bit annoying at times. Stacie is just a selfish annoying girl who does nothing but get annoyed at Chelsea during the whole movie. Speaking of Chelsea, the youngest of them, is just an annoying kid that loves sparkles & pink, states the painfully obvious & just wants to see sea lions at Central Park Zoo & copies Stacie! That's it! Christie Clauson, revealed to be Santa Claus' niece at the end, is the cheery happy go lucky owner of the hotel the girls stay in and thankfully isn't annoying despite her terrible song! That's about it for the characters because there aren't actually that many besides the people who work at the hotel & Aunt Millicent from A Fashion Fairytale that doesn't appear until the very end. The characters can get annoying (ESPECIALLY Chelsea), but they're not hateable or insufferable.

 

Songs: Oh God, what can I say about the songs? And yes, this is a musical! They are all awful! The opening song This Will Be My Perfect Christmas is just then singing about what they want to do in New York which we already knew at that point! Doesn't help that the singing is awful! Give Them Away may have a catchy tune, but the overall cheesiness & uninspired & stupid lyrics really bring it down. And it's pointless! Barbie's song about her wish for Christmas is just boring, pointless & annoying even if she wants to set things right for her sisters' sake! It doesn't help Barbie's singing voice sounds nothing like Diana Kaarina, which is odd considering she is a Broadway actress & was in Les Miserables! The fourth song is a reprise of the first song, but with lyrical changes as the events of the movie have changed and reflects the heart of the movie, sung by Skipper. It is better thanks to the instrumental changes, Skipper's singing & the lyrics being a much bigger improvement, but it can get repetetive. And the last one is a pop version of Deck The Halls...I think that speaks for itself & the scene itself just amps up the cheesiness. The songs are pretty bad, but they're not insufferably bad as past Barbie songs...they're just bad.

This is going to sound crazy, but this isn't all that bad. Sure, the animation is cheap, the characters can get annoying, the songs suck & the plot can get a bit contrived, but the heart of the movie is in the right place & it is nice to see a Barbie movie just about her & her sisters rather than a load of magical nonsense. I'm not sure who I really can recommend this to though. 5 year old girls would probably enjoy watching this at Christmas time & it is worth watching at least once if you can turn off your brain for it. It's nowhere near as bad as other Barbie movies, but it doesn't mean it's the best direct to DVD movie out there. Well, it would be better to get this than A Swan Princess Christmas anyway!
Story: 6/10
Animation: 3/10
Characters: 4/10
Songs: 3/10
Overall: 5/10