Let’s start out with Barbie herself. She’s definitely in top form here. That’s due to three things, compassion, maturity, and understanding. She displays a great deal of all three towards just about everyone and just wants to inspire people with her message. A good example is at the beginning, when she’s trying to come up with ideas for a vlog with help from her parents George and Margaret (voiced by Greg Chun and Lisa Fuson) alongside Daisy. As two of her younger sisters, Skipper and Stacie (voiced by Kirsten Day and Cassandra Lee Morris), are playing with laser swords, the youngest sister Chelsea (voiced by Cassidy Naber) comes by and asks if she can play as a laser pirate princess. They don’t exactly say the nicest things by saying how dress up is for babies, but it’s kept pretty light, being more light teasing. Barbie then says how pirates can wear crowns the way that girls can use laser swords. This is definitely pretty nice of hear to say, showing how she’s open minded enough to see how everyone has their own way to play, and one way isn’t better than the other. This carries into the first song of the movie, “Try It On”, where she includes her family and Daisy to take part, showing how she’s inclusive to all. Another moment that stands out comes from when she’s meeting Amelia, and the latter asks her to switch places. She’s understandably hesitant given how this is a big decision. However, she’s also able to assert herself in a way that’s pretty mature. She says upfront how she wants to tell her friends about the switch, which Amelia agrees to as long as she doesn’t tell anyone else. This carries good development from Barbie: Dolphin Magic (the pilot movie for Barbie: Dreamhouse Adventures). In that movie, she inadvertently told her sisters about the existence of gemstone dolphins despite telling Isla that she wouldn’t tell anyone else, her justification being that you’re open with your sisters. This movie helps show how she retained that lesson by being upfront with her intentions right away. Even when she says how she wants to do this to help out her vlog, she also wants them both to say what they learned from the experience after this. You honestly can’t help but find her likable.

Of course, the movie knows how to show Barbie’s flaws in a way that still keeps her likable. In this case, it’s with how she can sometimes not think straight when she tries pleasing others. I mean, her first scene in the movie is her looking up to sky for a vlog idea as Daisy wonders what she’s doing. This can definitely show how she doesn’t always think straight when she feels strongly about something. It’s most notable in a later scene in the movie, where she wants to record how Amelia feels about her experience since your strongest feelings usually come from letting them out right away. Although she says that she won’t post about it until after the switch, she then shows it to Rose Ross, who uploads it online and edits it against her well. What ultimately helps make her more rash decisions more likable is with how we’re able to understand her thought process. Much of her character is baked with the idea of wanting to set a good example to others and not let anyone down. Even if we know that some of her decisions are wrong, she’s usually able to justify it to herself by thinking about others. Her behavior here is actually reminiscent of some of my favorite Dreamhouse Adventures episodes, those being “Virtually Famous” (also directed by Conrad Helten) and the 4 parter special “Magical Mermaid Mystery”. The former has her also conflicted about how to go about dealing with someone who cares a bit too much about status (in that case, Teresa, one of her best friends) while the latter has her not wanting to let down her new bosses at the water park despite them being big jerks. This movie combines elements from those episodes well to show her as someone who may not always be on the ball with every situation, but she’s at least trying.

Now let’s talk about Princess Amelia herself. Much like with Barbie herself, she’s shown to be very likable here. The beginning of the movie really helps to show why she wants to yearn for freedom in a way where you can understand her position. She’s a bit overwhelmed with the stardom and trying to keep up a pleasant facade for the camera. In this case, it’s because of a movie she’s shooting where everyone is trying too hard to pamper her. She’s at least still sympathetic here given how she doesn’t try too hard to object to this. Another moment that stands out is later on, when she’s trying to reason with her advisor Alfonso (voiced by Dave Fennoy). She tries to say how she’s 18 now and should start making her own decisions so that she can be her true self rather than having him do everything for her. However, she also says he trained her so well. This little detail really helps in making her likable. It’s proven again later on when she asks Barbie to switch places with her. She says how she wants to find herself and prove to Alfonso that he’s wrong, yet she also doesn’t dismiss the idea that he could be right. Not only that, she also makes sure that Barbie could gain something out of this, a bigger audience so she can spread her message. These little touches really help to show why we should root for her. Even if she makes some boneheaded decisions, like going out to various dance clubs without seemingly some place to stay and having a hard time hiding her identity, you can’t help but find her likable because of how she just wants a sense of freedom without hurting anyone.

I guess I should touch on Alfonso, though I don’t have as much to say about him compared to Amelia. However, he’s still pretty good too. He’s a bit overbearing and strict in thinking that Amelia needs to be constantly cared for even if she says she can make her own decisions. There’s enough emphasis placed on him thinking that he feels that Amelia can’t make her own decisions. Much like with Amelia, there’s little touches that help make him likable too despite his strict demeanor. It’s mainly in how he at least lets Amelia (and later Barbie when he finds out about the switch) get across their points without it turning into a shouting match. In fact, we see more of his strict, but well meaning demeanor when he finds out about the switch, but doesn’t punish Barbie for it. He’s not too much of a presence, but I like when he is on screen.

Now let’s talk about the music. It’s done here by The Math Club, who also did the music for Barbie Dreamhouse Adventures. While some episodes did have songs, this is very much a full blown musical. We have 6 songs in total: Try It On, Somewhere New, Not A Picture Perfect Girl, Life In Color, King Of The Kingdom, and This Is My Moment. While some of them are pop based like in the show, like Try It On, there are some that do have a more grand feel to them, such as Life In Color and Not A Picture Perfect Girl. They’re all really fun to listen to because of how all of them (well, except King Of The Kingdom, but I’ll elaborate later) help move forward the story and establish strong character motivations. I think that’s the key to any good song in a movie.