| Plot |
| Barbie's excellent musical debut features first-rate voices and songs, and a captivating story about love, responsibility, and freedom. Based on Mark Twain's The Prince and the Pauper, the 85-minute computer-animated adventure is about two almost identical girls who, though born into very different circumstances, are amazingly alike. A chance meeting between the young women becomes significant when Princess Annaliese is later kidnapped and (pauper) Erika suddenly becomes a crucial component in the search for the princess and her captor. The princess's confinement and Erika's glimpse into the life of a princess leads both girls toward a new compassion for the other and a serious contemplation of the conflict between one's sense of duty and the desire to be free. Adding to the general confusion is the princess's intended, the handsome King Dominick; her devoted tutor, Julian; and the Queen's evil advisor, Preminger. (Ages 3 to 9) --Tami Horiuchi |
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