Barbie: The Princess & the Popstar

Barbie: The Princess & the Popstar
DVD Cover
Directed by	Zeke Norton
Produced by	Shelley Dvi-Vardhana Shawn McCorkindale
Written by	Steve Granat Cydne Clark
Based on	The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper
Starring	Kelly Sheridan Ashleigh Ball Lauren Lavoie Allison Warnyca Ellie King Leala Selina Ashlyn Drummond Christopher Gaze Adrian Petriw Peter Kelamis
Music by	Paul J. Smith
Edited by	Treg Brown
Production company	Rainmaker Entertainment Barbie Entertainment
Distributed by	Universal Studios Home Entertainment
Release date	August 27, 2012 (2012-08-27) (United Kingdom) September 11, 2012 (2012-09-11) (North America) [1] September 26, 2012 (India) [2]
Running time	73 minutes [3]
Country	United States Canada
Language	English

Barbie: The Princess & the Popstar is a 2012 American-Canadian direct-to-DVD computer-animated musical film produced by Rainmaker Entertainment and released by Universal Studios Home Entertainment. It is the 23rd entry in the Barbie film series and the 2nd Barbie film to be based on The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain (the first was Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper). The film features the voices of Kelly Sheridan, Jennifer Waris, Ashleigh Ball, Tiffany Giardina, Ellie King and Peter Kelamis. The film is about two teenage girls, the kind-hearted Popstar Keira and the princess of Meribella, Princess Victoria Bethany Evangeline Renee (Tori) (both portrayed by Barbie) who meet each other in Meribella. They find out that they're exactly alike and exchange places! However, things get a lot more complicated than they thought...

Plot

During summertime, Meribella, a magical kingdom, is going to have its five hundredth anniversary. Princess Tori and her younger sisters Meredith and Trevi are very busy, having to attend ceremonies and balls, and always be poised and proper. The princesses think it is hard work. Whenever they have the chance, they sneak away and play together. Before Meribella's five hundredth anniversary, the princesses have to greet royal visitors, who come to Meribella for the occasion. Tori wishes she could have an exciting, music-filled life like her favorite popstar, Keira. She wishes she could watch Keira performing near her palace.

Keira, a world-famous and popular, but kind singer-songwriter, is on the guest list and is going to perform at the festival for the Meribella's five hundredth anniversary. Keira enjoys touring, greeting fans and having extravagant, spectacular concerts. However, it leaves her with no time to do what she was passionate about: writing songs.

Keira thinks being a princess would be awesome. The next day, members of the royal court are invited to the palace in Meribella to meet the royal family. Duchess Amelia, Tori's strict aunt, forbids Tori to watch Keira's concert when she was supposed to be greeting guests. When Keira arrives to the palace for the festival, she meets Tori. They instantly become friends, and their pet dogs Vanessa and Riff, too. Tori gives Keira a tour of the palace and so they began joking about trading places. Keira tells Tori how she longs to be a princess and wear a tiara like her. Tori gives Keira her tiara to try it on. Keira takes out her magic microphone and magically turns her outfit into a gown and Tori then shows her magical brush to Keira. Tori uses her magic hairbrush, so she uses it to transform her hair into a different hairstyle. They then realize that they look just alike. Aunt Amelia walks into the room and drags Keira, who is disguised as Tori back to the ballroom, where an embarrassing encounter takes place. Keira accidentally trips and falls on Prince Liam of Stuffinsburg. They have an awkward conversation, smiling and blushing, after which Keira and Tori continue their tour. Tori convinces Keira to stay disguised as each other while she carries on giving Keira a tour of her palace. They enter a secret garden, where fairies tend to the plants. There is a diamond gardenia plant, which is used to pay for school and other things. Tori tells Keira that the Diamond Gardenia roots spread through the entire kingdom. Without it, Meribella's plants would die. The Diamond Gardenia makes the kingdom magical. Tori finds two tiny diamonds at the base of the Diamond Gardenia. The fairies put the diamonds on their necklaces, making them their friendship necklaces. Outside, Keira's manager, Crider, is tired of not being a star and comes to the palace to find valuables while getting a tour from Tori's aunt. Tori's aunt then notices that Tori has bought Keira to see the Diamond Gardenia and scolds her about bringing strangers into the secret area. Keira's manager, who has been secretly eavesdropping, plans to steal the diamond plant.

Tori and Keira head back to Tori's room after Keira almost got into trouble. Tori and Keira realize they want to continue to be each other and agree to remain as each other for one more day. Tori teaches Keira how to be a princess and Keira teaches Tori how to be a popstar. Tori, under the disguise of Keira, gives autographs to people and enjoys it, but later learns about a drought that she should have been aware about. Meanwhile, Keira, under the disguise of Tori, learns to behave like a princess. She also learns a new song while playing with Tori's younger sisters, who discover Keira's true identity but promise to keep it secret. Later, Keira gets locked in Tori's room by Tori's aunt for not writing a commemoration speech, but Vanessa shows Keira a secret exit in the room through which she escapes. Meanwhile, Tori sings a song for the first time on stage.

Later, Crider and Rupert, Crider's assistant, uproot the Diamond Gardenia. The fairies try to stop them, but their efforts are not enough, as Rupert sprayed strawberry-scented spray all around Gardenia. Tori and Keira use their respective magic tools to change back into their true selves. Both stop the two, with the unexpected help from Keiram, and discover it is always best to be yourself. Crider tries to flee with the Gardenia using his airy coat but the girls imposed a heavy makeover on him using their respective magic tools, causing him to drop the plant and break it into pieces. Using the diamonds of their friendship necklaces, Tori and Keira plant a new Diamond Gardenia to revitalize the dead plants in the kingdom. Tori, now confident about her life, finally gives her speech. The two go back to the concert and end the film both as entertainers and as best friends.

Characters

• Kelly Sheridan (speaking) and Jennifer Waris (singing) as Princess Victoria Bethany Evangeline Renee (Tori) – The princess of Meribella, Tori dreams of becoming a popstar like Keira. Tori is a childish, naughty, fun-loving and disobedient teenage girl who always neglected her royal duties and just wanted to play around. When she and Keira met, Keira made Tori understand that she should be aware of the kingdom's condition, take care of it and work hard to fulfil her royal duties. With the help of Keira, she became responsible and put her duties before fun. She is portrayed by Barbie. Her appearance is blond hair with a pink heart-shaped necklace.
• Ashleigh Ball (speaking) and Tiffany Giardina (singing) as Keira – A famous, organized and talented popstar, Keira dreams of being a princess. Besides Tori, Keira is more calm,confident and has a gentle caring nature. She's compassionate and considerate. Keira is kind and has a strong personality. She is portrayed by Barbie. Her appearance is brown hair with a purple star-shaped necklace.
• Ellie King as Duchess Amelia – Tori's strict and dignified aunt.
• Peter Kelamis as Seymour Crider – Keira's greedy and ambitious manager and the main antagonist of the film.
• Jonathan Holmes as Rupert – Crider's dumb and bumbling assistant and the man who wants to be Crider's best buddy.
• Allison Warnyca as Nora – Keira´s organizer.
• Christopher Gaze as King Frederick – Tori's kind and fair father.
• Lauren Lavoie as Princess Meredith – Tori's younger sister. She is very smart and seems to be little bit serious. She is portrayed by Barbie's younger sister Stacie.
• Ashlyn Drummond as Princess Trevi – Tori's youngest sister. She is portrayed by Barbie's youngest sister Chelsea.
• Adrian Petriw as Prince Liam – The handsome prince of Stuffinsburg who was visiting Meribella with his uncle, Duke Trentino. He falls in love with Keira when she is disguised as Tori.Liam is kind, modest and has a great sense of humor. He's a major misfit who is shy around crowds. He is portrayed be Ken.
• Leala Selina as Vanessa Victoria Fluffypie – Tori's King Charles Cavalier Spaniel. She turns her nose up at Riff and is really dainty and girlish. She acts more like a princess than Tori, when she should be acting like a dog.
• Adrian Petriw as Riff – Keira's playful and lovingpug dog. He is very loyal and faithful. He loves to perform Keira's dance moves and is devoted to her. He likes Vanessa and always tries to impress her.

Soundtrack

A soundtrack album for this movie was released on August 28, 2012 . It is available on iTunes. It contains nine tracks, all of the songs featured in the movie.

References

External links

• Barbie: The Princess & the Popstar on IMDb
• Barbie: The Princess & the Popstar at AllMovie
• Barbie: The Princess & the Popstar at Rotten Tomatoes
• "Here I Am" on YouTube