Barbie: A Perfect Christmas

For my sins, I am watching random movies all with 'Christmas' in the title until the Great Day itself. My first two choices were disappointing to say the least... So what's next out of the hat? Well, let's see. Oh dear. Oh dear, indeed. Well, let's look at the positives shall we? Animated films are usually short, right? So It'll all be over before I know it. Plus, my nails are getting kinda long. I could always give them a trim with my teeth. Aanndd... I'm struggling. Lord help me. I'm not even a drinking man... Which is a shame, as a bottle of whiskey would make watching this 'thing' a whole lot less painful. In the end, I just grabbed a note pad and made... notes about every sappy song, each in-your-face moral about FAMILY BEING THE MOST PRECIOUS GIFT OF ALL at Christmas and all the appearances from cute critters till the blessed end. And let me just say... There was a LOT of them. As for the characters... Barbie is perfect, her younger sister Skipper(?) idolises her, there are two bratty kids who squabble, yet make up at the climax.(OF COURSE) and... that's about it. My other scribbles seemed also be along the lines of "WTF A pink Christmas Tree!!" and "References to GPS and blogs... OMG Barbie you so modern". Nothing too cohesive, but it was a darn sight more intelligible than this lobotomized, lifeless, dead-on-arrival pap. Let your daughters stick with the plastic figures... They could create a more interesting story in one wet afternoon than is present here. And 'wet' is most definitely what we're going to be getting this year I'm afraid... 2/10

Barbie: A Perfect Christmas is adorable! It centers around Barbie and her sisters this time around and is different. I have no idea why a lot of people hated this movie. It's super fun and has some great music! I enjoyed the voice acting and the story. The whole idea of having the perfect Christmas where your loved ones are is terrific. Although, Chelsea was super annoying. Definitely one of the better Barbie movies!

This movie isn't a masterpiece by any means. The animation is a bit odd and the humor doesn't always work. However, at least it has a good message done well and characters you can actually root for. Barbie is motivated to give her sisters a good Christmas. It's simple, but it works. There's a cheesiness to the tone, but everything is so earnest and sincere that you don't mind it. I call this solid.

I have made no secret of having a soft spot for the Barbie movies. Neither of them are perfect movies or among the best movies I've seen, but they're charming and mostly have their heart in the right place. I had mixed feelings on A Perfect Christmas. It is better than A Fairy Secret and Fashion Fairytale, but not as good as Nutcracker, Diamond Castle, The Prince and the Pauper and Island Princess. What I didn't like very much were the character designs which consist of big heads and eyes and tiny mouths(though thankfully Barbie doesn't look as anorexic as she did in Fashion Fairytale for instance) and the singing which not only sounded forced but completely different to the voice actors. Regarding the voice actors they aren't as stilted as in Fairy Secret and Fashion Fairytale but lacking the fluency of Rapunzel for example(plus Kelly Sheridan is sorely missed). And there are times where the dialogue is corny, though thankfully less "bad-attitude" driven Fairy Secret and Fashion Fairytale. However, the character designs aside, the backgrounds are less rough and more colourful though still not as stunning as Nutcracker, Swan Lake and Diamond Castle, and the music is very sweet and catchy. I also admired the story, which had more heart than especially Fairy Secret, and the message is of the importance of Christmas, a step in the right direction compared to the hate and vanity that Fashion Fairytale seemed to promote. The characters are well-meaning and cute in general, not as spirited as in earlier entries(Rapunzel, Three Musketeers and Nutcracker as examples) but not the stereotypical brats from Fairy Secret and Fashion Fairytale. So overall, passable, not among the best or worst of the Barbie movies. By all means it could've been better, but compared to Fairy Secret and Fashion Fairytale it could've been worse as well. 6/10 Bethany Cox

Disappointing The storyline and message is passable but the voice acting leaves much to be desired and the singing is TERRIBLE. I understand that they wanted Barbie to be more "modern" so they had a casting change from the original woman who voiced Barbie. But if she is going to sing she should still have a gorgeous, stunning voice. The singing voice of Barbie (and every other character) is disappointing. The songs had so much potential but I can barely stand listening to these average voices. Especially considering the singing voice Barbie used to have (Kelly Sheridan). What a let down, I hope the producers take note. Barbie is supposed to be what everyone else deems as the perfect person...good at everything...except apparently singing. Sure, her voice is more raspy and "modern" now but being modern doesn't mean you need to sing like an amateur. And what's with the child's voice? She is what, 6 or 7? Why isn't a child of that age portraying her? The animation has also gone downhill since A Mermaid Tale and Fashion Fairy Tale. I hope this is a one time flub and Mermaid Tale 2 will bring back the awesomeness of the other films. And please, if she's going to do another film where she is singing, BRING BACK KELLY SHERIDAN. What you have done to Barbie is not awesome, cool, trendy or modern. You are making her boring, average, shallow and untalented.