I recently had a sick day, and as I was scrolling through YouTube, I came across a multitude of Barbie movies (the original flicks, of course). Almost all the films I used to watch as a kid are now on YouTube! Granted, they’re formatted to satisfy YouTube’s copyright rules, but it instantly brought me back to my childhood and I felt so nostalgic.
I absolutely loved these films! As a kid, I didn’t watch all of them—there’s over 36—but I personally owned seven and religiously watched each of them. I learned so many valuable lessons from these Barbie bops. They taught me how to be kind, brave and passionate. Even though Barbie usually portrays a princess in the flicks, those princesses are never portrayed as unintelligent characters. They show that girls can be clever and imaginative and they can find their way out of tough situations. Barbie is never a damsel in distress. Also, most Barbie films, if not all, have better girl-girl friendships and relationships than most TV shows and movies made for adults. This is probably because every single Barbie film has more female main characters than male. Every. Single. One.
Barbie movies also draw from classical influences in music and artwork. For example, in Barbie as Rapunzel, there is artwork from Leonardo da Vinci and a multitude of other artists shown in the palace scenes. Rapunzel also paints her own mosaics by using a magic paintbrush, she escapes to her freedom through art!
The music in every single showing is enriching and mostly classical. For example, Barbie in the Nutcracker and Barbie in Swan Lake both use the original Tchaikovsky ballets in the score. Barbie in the 12 Dancing Princesses has a score based on A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and the dance sequences use music from two Felix Mendelssohn symphonies.
Barbie movies showed me how to be a better person and taught me how to do it. Barbie is a major feminist icon, and anyone who says that she isn’t clearly has never seen the films I have. The Barbie shows are full of enriching art and music. You will definitely catch me jamming out to the Barbie songs and watching the movies many years down the line. Take a moment to reflect on your own favorite childhood shows and see how they’ve followed you to this day!