Barbie of Swan Lake Reviews

Youthful Barbie fans will be jeteing in their toe shoes over this gaudily colored hybrid of classical ballet and fairy tale in which camp Counselor Barbie (voice of Kelly Sheridan) cheers up a homesick camper with the tale of Swan Lake. Assuming the role of the story's heroine, Barbie explains how a peasant girl named Odette (Kelly Sheridan) used to dance like a prima ballerina when she wasn't toiling in the family bakery. In a wealthier part of the kingdom, the Queen Mother (Gina Stockdale) is nagging her son, Prince Daniel (Mark Hildreth), about getting married. A unicorn named Lila (Venus Terzo) wanders into Town and Odette follows her into an enchanted forest. After Odette removes a magic crystal from a tree, Fairy Queen Lila (Kathleen Barr) and her talking-animal subjects hail Odette as their savior. But a wizard named Rothbart (Kelsey Grammer), who will brook no challenge to the throne of his fairy cousin, casts a spell on Odette: By day she's a swan, but by night she regains her human form. After the hawk-like Rothbart flies off with his cackling daughter, Odile (Maggie Wheeler), Odette meets the Prince; unaware of her affliction, he immediately plights his troth. Rothbart, however palms off Odile as Odette and settles in to await the Prince's marriage proposal to his daughter. Back at the camp, Barbie’s captivated listener awaits the happy ending she knows awaits. As this movie shifts between its presentation of a straightforward fairy tale and an animated version of a fully-choreographed ballet, it's hard not to wonder who its intended audience is meant to be: Balletomanes will be frustrated by the lack of real dancing, despite the fact that New York City Ballet dancers Charles Askegard, Maria Kowroski, Benjamin Millipied, Abi Stafford and Janie Taylor served as motion capture models for the ballet sequences. Aspiring Pavlovas, nowever, will probably be enchanted. The movie debuted on broadcast television.