Barbie Fairytopia: Magic of the Rainbow – Barbie Fairytopia: Magic of the Rainbow (2007)

Directed by: William Lau | 74 minutes | animation, family, fantasy | Original voice cast: Kelly Sheridan, Kathleen Barr, Venus Terzo, Lee Tockar, Christopher Gaze, Tabitha St. Germain, Andrew Francis, Sharon Alexander, Peter New, NHancy Screl, Saffron Henderson, Andrea Libman, Lalainia Lindbjerg, Alistair Abell, Cathy Weselick | Dutch voice cast: Laura Vlasblom, Marloes van den Heuvel, Hetty Heyting, Lee Tockar, Cathy Weseluck, Fred Butter, Henk Dikmoet, Lasca ten Kate, Ruud Drupsteen, Nienke Brinkhuis, Tony Neef, Rosanne Thesing, Lizemijn Libgott, Beatrijs Sluijter, Cynthia de Graaff, Marijn Klaver, Frederique Sluyterman, Anneke Beukman

Accepting and respecting the differences of others and still being able to work together for the desired result: that’s pretty much the message that ‘Barbie Fairytopia: Magic of the Rainbow’ gives little girls. The animated film from Rainmaker Animation is the third in the series about Fairytopia, a magical fantasy world where Barbie (as Elina), a sweet and brave fairy, lives with the other Fairytopia residents. In the first movie about Elina (‘Barbie: Fairytopia’, 2005), Elina didn’t have wings yet, so she was teased by the other fairies. Her friend Dandelion always stood up for her. Fairytopia was threatened in this film by the evil sister of the Sorceress, Laverna, who causes all the fluttering creatures to get sick. Elina was spared and managed to save Fairytopia and her inhabitants. As a reward she got wings. The Canadian animation company released a sequel a year later, ‘Barbie: Mermaidia’, in which Elina voluntarily gives up her newly acquired wings to save her boyfriend Nalu, the merman prince. Of course, this adventure also ends well, but the fairies are not finished with Laverna…

‘Barbie Fairytopia: Magic of the Rainbow’ begins with a short summary of Elina’s life history, so that little Barbie fans for whom this is their first introduction to Barbie’s films can also follow the film. Elina, the heroine of the story, is a friendly and helpful fairy, with whom every girl can identify. Her uncertainty as to whether she can handle it all is very recognizable and it is therefore easy to imagine that children Elina are completely crazy about the blond Barbie fairy. The fluffy ball Bibble is again very cute, although the unintelligible babbling does cause annoyance (but that will not be so bad with children) and the intended audience can naturally sympathize with his experiences around his loose tooth. The encounters that Elina has with other student fairies when she goes looking for her room at the Fairy School are also recognizable: Elina is a bit nervous and finds it difficult that the other fairies are so unkind to her. Fortunately, she finds a girlfriend in Glee.

It is funny that a number of clichés have been (willfully) avoided: for example, the most vain figure in the film is not a female character but a boy and not everyone makes sweet friendships at the end. The animations are sufficiently developed, with the bright pink, purple, blue and green colors especially striking. ‘Barbie Fairytopia: Magic of the Rainbow’ is a real target group film: if you fall outside the group for which the film is intended, there is a chance that you will find the film terrible. Until about the age of ten, however, girls will count the film among their absolute favorites.