Barbie in The Nutcracker
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Movie Reviews of Barbie in The Nutcracker
Movie Review: Great movie and DVD extras
Summary: 5 Stars
Some people expect a 40 million dollar production from the Barbie movies! These are "low" budgeted movies for little girls not 3 year productions like snow white.
The background graphics are good not great. The foreground graphics and the dancing is where they spend their money! The overall graphics are good enough for the age group. I did not hear my two daughters complained about the graphics! They love this movie the music and the ballet dancing. I am sure it got my 2 year old interested in Ballet. Yes, it is a little violent, (in a benign way), but so are most fairy tales. (You should read some of the original stories that Disney used to make their movies out of.) The writers of this movie did a great job of putting the heroes in jeopardy and to get them to be brave, the moral of the story. Which is another point, virtually every Barbie movie if not all, has a moral to the stories; Disney's most popular movies do not!
The dancing of the snow and flower fairies was fantastic, very realistic. Ballet looks so natural being done by flying fairies! We have the DVD which was has bonus of a look at ABT and interviews and following around a few selected ballet students.
I am a Nutcracker Ballet fan since a kid and Tchaikovsky is my favorite composer and the nutcracker suite it my favorite classical piece. I like this movie as well. The original story by E.T.A. Hoffmann was not written for children but more about them and the Nutcracker Ballet that we are most familiar with is nothing like it, (thank goodness), some people need to do some research before doing reviews.
I might add Ballet Companies have done two versions of the Ballet, one with a Sugar plum fairy with Clara and the prince siting through the ballet and another version without a Sugar Plum Fairies where Clara does the Sugar Plum Fairies dances with the prince. They both have their strong aspects. The writers of this movie were very imaginative creating a story that brought Clara as a "main" character and heroine, without making it too long or complicated for little children and adding a little mystery for those of us that have seen the ballet a "few" times.
This is a great movie for the little ones at a good price, (most DVD's are $20). I have been very surprised with the quality of the Barbie movies, "The princess and the Pauper" was the best, I like musicals, see my review. They could have been a lot worse like the cheap anime animation.
If you wanted to see the Nutcracker Ballet then rent a DVD of a Ballet company production, there are plenty in both versions. This is not the Nutcracker ballet!
Movie Review: Ten years on, and still the best Barbie movie ever made
Summary: 5 Stars
Before I go any further into this review, I want to make one thing clear: THIS IS NOT THE ORIGINAL BALLET, NOR WAS IT EVER INTENDED TO BE. Don't buy this if you want to show your children the original Nutcracker ballet; several people on here have already made this mistake and given this movie a low rating that, in my opinion, it does not deserve.
It's a pretty solid adventure story about Clara and her Nutcracker going off to save the Land of Sweets from the evil Mouse King (voiced by Tim Curry). They intend to do this by finding the Sugar Plum Princess, who is also the only one able to get Clara home. It may not sound like much on here, but it works a lot better in action, trust me. Unfortunately, this comes at the cost of some of the dancing scenes, but they did get some ballet in. The Snow Fairies and Flower Fairies are here, among other things, and music from the ballet is featured throughout, so while it's not identical to the Nutcracker ballet, it works as a way of getting your children interested. I'm speaking from experience here; if it weren't for this movie, I wouldn't have gone to see the ballet.
Why do I think this is the best Barbie movie? Well, there's actually been some effort put into it, especially in contrast to the newer ones. The music was performed by the London Symphony Orchestra, the dance scenes were performed by dancers from the New York City Ballet and the voice acting is extremely impressive (Tim Curry, Christopher Gaze and Kelly Sheridan were particular highlights). The story is entertaining enough and doesn't talk down to children. The characters are likeable and interesting - my personal favourite is Major Mint, probably one of the most well-rounded characters to ever show up in a Barbie movie. Even the Mouse King's a pretty effective villain.
That said, it's not without its flaws. The animation's not perfect (they don't seem to have got the hang of long-distance backgrounds yet) and while the Mouse King is a good villain, he's almost too good at his role. I can definitely see why small children would find him terrifying. This film's also quite dark in contrast to the others, which doesn't really bother me but it might be worth checking this out for yourself before showing it to your children.
But overall, I'd say it's great. If you have to watch any Barbie movie, pick this one.
Movie Review: I adore this movie!
Summary: 5 Stars
This is the very first Barbie movie and it is great! Yes, they do change the story line a little. I watched this when I was 4 or 5 years of and I did not think it was scary. I first watched this at my big sister's birthday party when turned 7. We watched the real nutcracker ballet on stage, I don't remember much, though. We didn't see it all because my sister's friends kept talking and we found it pointless. We watched this movie and we loved it. She got the doll for her birthday, as well. It is an awesome movie. I think it is better with the changed story line, actually. Of corse, there are people who don't like change and they don't want their kid's growing up thinking that the Nutcracker is how Barbie puts it. I like all of the barbie movies, but I give Barbie in the Nutcracker, Barbie of Swan Lake Barbie as Rapunzel and Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper the top 5 stars! They are better than Disney movies to me. My mom liked them a lot as well! She thinks they teacher better morals. This movie is really imaginative and just amazing. Even if you don't like the story line, the scenes are very cool.Movie Review: Excellent Musical Fantasy Adventure
Summary: 5 Stars
"Barbie" is a fantastic musical fantasy adventure movie for kids (particularly girls) that is well made and which my young daughter (5 years) watch very often (in fact she has started ballet lessons). This is a wonderful animation which is a pleasure for the kids to watch.
The story begins when Barbie (playing the role of Clara) receives a beautiful wooden gift from her aunt. During the night when Clara was asleep, the Nutcracker comes to life to fight off an evil Mouse King. However, the mouse casts an evil spell on her. An excellent action packed adventure unfolds when Clara and the Nutcracker embark on a journey to find the Sugarplum princess who is the only one who can break the evil Mouse king's spell.
The movie has some marvelous ballet dance scenes and eye-catching landscapes. The classical music was delightful and smooth. The story has a beautiful theme for children namely that one needs to be kind hearted and brave, qualities which can result in exceptional achievements.
Movie Review: Forget Stanwyck, Bush and Streisand: Barbie's Your Ballerina
Summary: 5 Stars
I'll admit I probably wouldn't be giving the world's two most spectacular grand-daughters, aged 3 and 4 respectively, Barbie dolls were it not for the lure of the "forbidden." Only colleagues who have spent their lives in academia might understand how Barbie would fall into the category of the illicit, but P.C. policing continues to be pernicious even among fellow members of the A.C.L.U. (on the whole, an organization deserving every American's support). Most importantly, Barbie comes through as a princess with boundless flair, invention and autonomy in the eyes of my granddaughter, who called me to say she'd watched the movie 3 times since receiving it (I swear I ordered it from Amazon the day before!). And the evaluation comes from someone who has seen the Baryshnikov tape many times as well as attended the production by the Philadelphia ballet. Never underestimate Barbie (Rumor has it, she's about to become Barbara. Say it isn't true, Babette!)