Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper

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Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper

The DVD cover.
Directed by William Lau
Produced by Jesyca C. Durchin
Jennifer Twiner McCarron
Written by Cliff Ruby
Elana Lesser
Mark Twain (original story)
Narrated by Kelly Sheridan
Starring Kelly Sheridan
Music by Arnie Roth
Editing by Greg Richardson
Distributed by Lions Gate
Release date(s) 2004
Running time 85 min.
Language English
Preceded by Barbie of Swan Lake
Followed by Barbie: Fairytopia
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper is a 2004 direct-to-video computer animated Barbie film, and the first musical in the Barbie film series. It is directed by William Lau and stars the voice of Kelly Sheridan, who has been voicing Barbie in all the CGI films to date, as both Anneliese and Erika. The story is loosely inspired by the Mark Twain novel The Prince and the Pauper, but it is unrelated to the 1939 film The Princess and the Pauper.

Contents

[edit] Plot

In an unnamed mountain kingdom, a blonde princess and a brunette pauper are born at the same time and grow up unaware that, except for their hair color and the princess' birth mark, they are identical to each other. The princess, Anneliese, craves freedom from her royal duties, especially when she is informed by her widowed mother, Queen Genevieve, that she must marry the wealthy king of a nearby kingdom because their own royal treasury is nearly bankrupt. The pauper, Erika, craves a different sort of freedom, as she is an indentured servant at the bullish Madam Carp's dress emporium to work off her parents' debt.

Preminger, Queen Genevieve's advisor, is hatching a secret plan to become ruler of the kingdom. His minions Nick and Nack have been stealing the gold from the royal mines for some time, which is what led Queen Genevieve to believe she is nearly bankrupt. Preminger plans to announce his newfound wealth to Queen Genevieve, which he believes will allow him to marry Princess Anneliese. However, Preminger learns that Queen Genevieve has already approached King Dominick of the neighboring kingdom to marry Anneliese, and decides that a change in plan is in order. Preminger orders Nick and Nack to kidnap Anneliese, so that Preminger can stage his "rescuing" her, hoping that Queen Genevieve will be so happy that she will give him Anneliese's hand in marriage.

Back at the palace, Anneliese's tutor, Julian, is sad that Anneliese will be getting married in a few days. Anneliese and Julian have feelings for each other, but know that there is nothing that can be done about it. As a treat, Julian decides to take Anneliese out into the town for a last taste of freedom. There, Anneliese crosses paths with Erika. The girls are shocked to see how identical they are, except for their hair color and the crown shaped birthmark on Anneliese's shoulder. The two quickly become friends, but then Anneliese has to return to the palace.

That night, Anneliese is kidnapped by Nick and Nack, who plant a fake letter which states that Anneliese "ran away" in order to avoid being married to King Dominick. Julian suspects that it was a kidnapping with Preminger as the mastermind, so he asks Erika for help to impersonate the princess until he can rescue the real Anneliese. Erika agrees to the temporary ruse and surprises Preminger when she arrives to greet King Dominick's arrival. Dominick and Erika fall in love, despite Erika's fear of being rejected when she is revealed to be an imposter.

Meanwhile, Anneliese manages to escape from Nick and Nack, but is turned away from the palace by the guards, who believe that "Anneliese" is in the palace with Dominick and the Queen. Anneliese is then mistaken for Erika by Madam Carp, and she is locked in the dress emporium. Preminger, who has started to suspect that Erika is a fake, discovers that the real Anneliese is being held at Madame Carp's and takes her away to the gold mines, where a captured Julian is already being held prisoner.

Now realizing the truth, Preminger returns to the castle where he exposes Erika as a fraud and claims that she had conspired with Julian to kill and then replace the real princess. Erika, unable to prove her good intentions, is locked in the dungeon. She manages to escape, but then bumps into Dominick, who reveals that he doesn't believe that Erika is the person that Preminger says she is. Elsewhere, Anneliese and Julian work together to escape the mines.

Preminger, in the wake of Anneliese's supposed death, has convinced Queen Genevieve to marry him in order to save the kingdom. Queen Genevieve loathes him, but cannot see any other option. Just as the ceremony is about to go through, Anneliese arrives. The true story is revealed and Preminger gets his just rewards.

Anneliese confesses to her mother that she loves Julian and does not wish to marry King Dominick. She has also solved the problem of the kingdom's gold shortage; the rocks discarded by the miners are actually geodes and the mine is full of them. Dominick confesses to loving Erika for who she is and if she should choose to, he would be willing to marry her. With Madam Carp out of business (thanks to Anneliese taking her business elsewhere), Erika chooses not to accept just yet and achieves her dream of being able to sing around the world, discovering that the place she would really like to sing is among her friends. She returns several months later and marries Dominick while Anneliese marries Julian.

[edit] Voice cast

[edit] Soundtrack

This film is the first musical in the series of Barbie CGI films. An official soundtrack album has not been released to date. The songs in the film are, in chronological order:

  1. Free - Performed by Julie Stevens (Erika) & Melissa Lyons (Anneliese)
  2. How Can I Refuse? - Performed by Martin Short (Preminger)
  3. Written in Your Heart (opening) - Performed by Julie Stevens (Erika)
  4. I am a Girl Like You - Performed by Julie Stevens (Erika) & Melissa Lyons (Anneliese)
  5. To be a Princess - Performed by Alessandro Juliani (Julian) & Julie Stevens (Erika)
  6. The Cat's Meow - Performed by Julie Stevens (Erika)
  7. If You Love Me for Me - Performed by Julie Stevens (Erika) & Mark Luna (Dominick)
  8. Written in Your Heart
  9. I'm on My Way - Performed by Sara Niemietz

[edit] References

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[edit] External links

Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper at the Internet Movie Database

v • d • e
Animated films starring Barbie
Barbie and the Rockers: Out of this World (1987) - Nutcracker (2001) - Rapunzel (2002) - Swan Lake (2003) - The Princess and the Pauper (2004) - Fairytopia (2005) - The Magic of Pegasus (2005) - Mermaidia (2006) - The Barbie Diaries (2006) - 12 Dancing Princesses (2006) - The Magic of the Rainbow (2007) - The Island Princess (2007) - Mariposa (2008) - Diamond Castle (2008) - Sleeping Beauty (2009) - A Christmas Carol