Barbie in The 12 Dancing Princesses

"There's a difference only you can make."

-Barbie

Barbie in The 12 Dancing Princesses is the 9th Barbie movie. It's based on the Brothers Grimm's story The Twelve Dancing Princesses. The movie was released on September 19, 2006. It follows the story of Princess Genevieve and her eleven sisters as they go to a magical world where their wishes come true.

Official Description
"In Barbie in The 12 Dancing Princesses, Barbie will dance her way into your hearts in this fun and enchanting all-new adventure. Join Barbie as the beautiful Princess Genevieve and her eleven sisters dancing princess sisters as they discover a secret entrance to an amazing, magical world where wishes come true! But when their father is in danger of losing his kingdom and his own life, Princess Genevieve and her sisters must work together in order to save the day and their father. They learn that the power of family can overcome all obstacles!"

Plot
Barbie stars as Genevieve, a princess with eleven sisters: Ashlyn, Blair, Courtney, Delia, Edeline, Fallon, Hadley, Isla, Janessa, Kathleen, and Lacey. Each princess is beautiful and different, but the twelve sisters all have one thing in common: they all love to dance. They live in a castle with their widowed father, King Randolph. Randolph loves his daughters deeply, but at times can't understand them and feels that they should act more like "proper" princesses. The girls' adventurous and free-spirited natures are viewed as "unladylike" and "unproper" by other members of the royal society and often lead to them make rude comments about the princesses. This both disheartens and hurts Randolph. Believing his daughters need a woman's touch, the king summons his cousin, Duchess Rowena, to the castle to help raise them. However, Rowena has plans of her own, which include getting rid of Randolph and his daughters so she can take over the kingdom.

Sensing trouble, Genevieve and her sisters try to reason to with Randolph, but due to Rowen's interference, the king doesn't believe them and says they must listen to his cousin. Attempting to break the girls' spirits, Rowena makes the princesses' lives miserable by stripping the castle of everything they love and having them practice "proper" behavior, like fanning. She even banishes dancing and singing from the castle. Sad with the changes, the princess find comfort in their mother's favorite story, which tells of a magical kingdom where gold flowers grant wishes a princess could dance at an enchanted pavilion for three nights. They later discover that the story is true. Lacey, the youngest, sees that her lily matches the lily on the floor. Genevieve tells everyone to find a match on their book to a stone. Genevieve tries dancing from stone to stone; it doesn't work. She then tries dancing from oldest to youngest (which is actually stone-to-stone, only in an alternating up-down pattern). Lacey's stone didn't work, so she twirls three times, like the character in the story. They enter the magical kingdom and end up dancing the night away.

Lacey, the youngest, falls and scrapes her knee. Genevieve dabs water from a nearby fountain on the cut, and it instantly heals, revealing that the water there is magic. The next day, the girls are tired, and the duchess finds their new dancing shoes worn through. Suspicious, Rowena sees that they are covered in gold dust. Genevieve dances on the mosaic in the pavilion outside (the same dance that opens the magical door hidden their bedroom floor) identical to the one in their bedroom. While together, Genevieve asks Derek to find out what Rowena's true intentions are. The duchess continues to deprive them of any enjoyment and prevents them from visiting or singing to their father, who has suddenly fallen ill. The doctor gives Rowena gives a tonic for Randolph, which she quickly disposes of it, revealing that she is poisoning them.

That night, Rowena has her footman, Desmond, stand guard outside the princesses' room to find out where they go. The sisters sneak back to the magic realm and dance well into the night again. Meanwhile, Derek discovers that Rowena is stealing heirlooms from the castle and dealing with an apothecary (presumably for the poison). He hurries back to warn Genevieve and her sisters. The next morning, the sisters are still exhausted, and Rowena demands to know why. When she gangs up on Lacey, the girls tell her the truth, but she doesn't believe them and forces them into servitude. That night, she demands the truth again, but they tell her the same story. This makes Rowena even angrier, and she locks them in their room, blaming them for Randolph's failing health. Hurt by her cruel words, and due to a misinterpreted conversation between the king and Rowena, the girls can't help but feel that she's right and that their father would be better off without them.

Heartbroken and not knowing what to do, the princesses return to the magical kingdom. A furious Rowena finds the sisters gone the next morning. Later that evening, Derek finally makes it back to the castle but discovers that the princesses are missing. Determined to find Genevieve, he sneaks into their bedroom. Remembering Genevieve's dance pattern, but Derek enters the magic realm and reports his findings to the girls. Unfortunately, Rowena learns how to enter the magic realm due to her monkey, Brutus. Stealing some flowers that can give you whatever you want, she quickly returns to the castle and has Desmond destroy the mosaics that forms the gateway, trapping the princesses and Derek in the magical kingdom.

Thinking she had disposed of the princesses, Rowena then tricks the King Randolph into making her acting queen until he recovers. Trapped in the magic realm, the girls and Derek try to find a way out. Genevieve eventually learns that only by dancing with Derek she can open another entrance back to their world. As they dance, the couple and the rest of the princesses float into the sky and return home. However, this new gateway leads to their mother's dance pavilion (identical to the pavilion in the magic realm) instead of their bedroom. Once back, the sisters and Derek discover that Rowena is now queen, new guards (hired by Rowena_ have been ordered to capture any stray princesses, and the princesses overhear that their father is dying.

Using their diverse talents, the princesses disable the guards and enter the castle to confront Rowena. Ignoring Genevieve's orders, Lacey enters the castle to help but is seized by Desmond. Derek and Genevieve defeat the enchanted suits of armor that defend Rowena (using the magical flowers that she stole from the entrance to the Magic Pavilion), but the duchess has the upper hand when Desmond drags in Lacey. Nothing that Genevieve is the source of her sisters' resistance against her, Rowena uses the flowers to wish for Genevieve to dance forever and ever and ever. But as the flower dust comes towards them, Genevieve produces her fan and blows it back onto Rowena, who started dancing instead. Desmond soon joins her while trying to help, and the two villains dance their way out of the castle and down the valley.

It is revealed that Lacey had saved some water from the magical Pavilion. She gives it to her father and thereby heals the dying king. Randolph explained that Rowena was poisoning him and apologizes to his daughters for not believing them. He now truly understands them and realizes they will do great things and be wonderful princesses by just being themselves, just like their mother told him. The film ended with everything made right as Genevieve and Derek celebrate their wedding.

Cast and Characters

 * Kelly Sheridan as Princess Genevieve
 * Catherine O'Hara as Duchess Rowena
 * Nicole Oliver as Princess Ashlyn
 * Jennifer Copping as Princess Blair
 * Lalainia Lindbjerg Sterlau as Princess Courtney
 * Kathleen Barr as Princess Delia
 * Chiara Zanni as Princess Edeline
 * Adrienne Carter as Princess Fallon
 * Ashleigh Ball as Princess Hadley and Princess Isla
 * Britt McKillip as Princess Janessa
 * Maddy Capozzi as Princess Kathleen
 * Chantal Strand as Princess Lacey
 * Shawn MacDonald as Prince Derek
 * Christopher Gaze as King Randolph
 * Peter Kelamis as Brutus/Sentry #4
 * Nicole Oliver as Twyla
 * Gabe Khouth as Felix
 * Mark Oliver as Royal Butler, Fabian. Sentry #1, Guard #1
 * David Kaye as the Royal Doctor and Sentry #2
 * Jonathan Holmes as Ambassador of Bulovia

Other non-speaking characters include:

 * Queen Isabella
 * Thomas, the beetle
 * Richard, the spider
 * Harold, the caterpillar

Locations

 * King Randolph's Castle
 * Magical World

Music

 * The music of the film was composed by Arnie Roth.
 * The score features excerpts from Felix Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 4 (Italian), including:
 * Movement III: Con Moto Moderato
 * Movement I: Allegro Vivace
 * The score also features excerpts from Felix Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 5 (Reformation), including
 * Movement II: Allegro Vivace
 * The score also features another excerpt from Felix Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer’s Night Dream
 * Fairies’ March
 * Notturno

Other songs performed in the movie

 * "Derek's Tune" an instrumental piece played by Derek for the princesses to dance to.
 * "Birthday Song" a song the older sisters sing to Janessa, Kathleen, and Lacey for their birthday party
 * "Sacerdotes Domini" by William Byrd, an acapella song sung by the princesses as a way to cheer up King Randolph.
 * "Shine" by Cassidy Ladden, the pop theme for the movie, played during the end credits.

DVD Special Features

 * Dancing on Air: The Making of Barbie in The 12 Dancing Princesses
 * Merry Memory Ballet Game
 * "Shine" Music Video

Awards
Barbie in The 12 Dancing Princesses was nominated in "Outstanding Original Song - Children's/Animated" to Arnie Roth (composer), Rob Hudnut (lyricist), Amy Powers (lyricist) for the song "Shine" in Daytime Emmy Awards 2007. The movie was also nominated in "Best Animation Program or Series" to Shea Wageman (producer) and Jennifer Twiner McCarron (producer) and "Best Direction/Storyboarding in an Animation Program or Series" to Greg Richardson, both of categories from Leo Awards 2007. This movie also wins both categories from Indonesian Movie Awards 2008.

Trivia

 * Some of the princesses from this film appear in Barbie as The Island Princess, as guests to Princess Luciana and Prince Antonio's wedding and also of Princess Rosella and Prince Antonio's wedding.
 * The first letters of the princesses' names are in alphabetical order, from eldest to youngest.
 * Genevieve's name was originally Jocelyn, as shown by this costume, this book, and these trademarks.
 * Princess Isla's name could have been Princess Ilana, as the trademarks were filed the same day as her twin sister Hadley's. This is assuming the alphabetical naming scheme was still used.
 * The same day the trademarks for Ashlyn, Blair, Fallon, Kathleen, Lacey, and Derek were filed, the trademarks for Princess Karissa and Princess Kristyn also appeared. Most likely, Kristyn and Karissa were preliminary names for two of the sisters. The name Kristyn was used for Barbie in the Pink Shoes.
 * Barbie in The 12 Dancing Princesses is the first-ever Barbie film to be distributed by Universal Studios Home Entertainment.

Goofs

 * While at the dining table, Courtney is reading, but her book is invisible.
 * At the dining table, the collar of the seven princesses is not seen.
 * When Genevieve arrives late, Courtney's top color is a different shade of blue.
 * Courtney's ribbon is often showed brown.
 * Fallon's ballet gown is sometimes changed with her usual gown.
 * When Rowena and Desmond dance out of the castle, King Randolph disappears, though the blankets are shaped as though he's there.
 * When the girls dance their last dance on the first night, Janessa, Kathleen, and Lacey are missing from the spot they're supposed to be sleeping. Next moment they are shown sleeping on the stairs.
 * When Genevieve asks her sisters to match their books with the stones, Janessa is missing. When they have found their stones, she reappears.
 * When Fallon greets Rowena, her sleeves are pink instead of gold.
 * While dancing away from the magical world, Princess Fallon is missing.
 * Technically the triplets are a little young for some of the dance moves they are shown doing.

Also Known As

 * German - Barbie in Die 12 Tanzenden Prinzessinnen
 * Hungarian - Barbie és a 12 táncoló hercegnő
 * Latin Spanish - Barbie y las 12 Princesas Bailarinas
 * Spanish - Barbie en las 12 Princesas Bailarinas
 * French - Barbie au Bal des 12 Princesses
 * Italian - Barbie in le 12 Principesse Danzanti
 * Albanian - Barbie dhe 12 Princeshat Balerina
 * Dutch - Barbie en de 12 Dansende Prinsessen
 * Brazilian Portuguese - Barbie em as 12 Princesas Bailarinas
 * Greek - Barbie στις 12 βασιλοπούλες
 * Russian - Барби и 12 Танцующих Принцесс
 * Croatian - Barbie i 12 rasplesanih princeza
 * Serbian - Барби и 12 принцеза балерина / Barbi i 12 princeza balerina
 * Polish - Barbie i 12 Tańczących Księżniczek
 * Finnish - Barbie ja 12 Tanssivaa Prinsessaa
 * Swedish - Barbie och de 12 Dansande Prinsessorna
 * Persian - باربى و 12 پرنسس
 * Turkish - Barbie Ve 12 Dans Eden Prenses
 * Czech - Barbie a 12 tančících princezen
 * Hindi- बार्बी 12 नाचती राजकुमारियाॅं में
 * Indonesian - Barbie di 12 Putri Menari
 * Hebrew - ברבי ו-12 הנסיכות המרקדות
 * Chinese - 芭比之十二个跳舞的公主
 * Japanese - バービーのおどる12人のおひめさま