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. 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 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. Dancing Princesses theme song, based on the theme from the Siciliana in Respighi's Ancient Airs and Dances.

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. Zacharias, Yvonne (17 May 2007). "Barbie animators dancing for joy; Jurists for the Leo Awards have nominated Rainmaker animators for several awards: [Final Edition]". Westcoast Life. The Vancouver Sun. Postmedia Network Inc. p.D14. ProQuest 242116980. Felix Mendelssohn's Fourth Symphony, the third and first movement (Played when the princesses are dancing on the first and second night respectively) Mendelssohn's Midsummer Night's Dream – Fairies' March (When the triplets fall asleep and the other girls dance)Ashlyn is the 22-year-old eldest sister. She is practical, calm and knowledgeable. She loves music, especially playing the flute and oboe. She is straightforward and cares for her sisters, for whom she tries to act as a role model. Her flower is the purple geranium and her gemstone is a garnet. She bears the most resemblance to her mother Queen Isabella, and wears a purple dress. Jill Stark of The Sunday Age rated the film 3/5 stars, calling it "good wholesome stuff, though the story sometimes plods." [8] Describing the plot as " Footloose in a fairy-tale setting", D. Liebenson of The Video Librarian wrote, " Barbie in the 12 Dancing Princesses serves up plenty of magic to enchant young, starry-eyed Barbie fans and aspiring dancers", and "the CGI animation sparkles, with each character boasting an otherworldly porcelain sheen." [9] a b "2007 Leo Award Nominees & Winners" (PDF). Leo Awards. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 November 2018 . Retrieved 18 April 2022. Gottschalk – Tarantella for piano and orchestra is played when Rowena and Desmond dance at the end. When Genevieve asks her sisters to match their books with the stones, Janessa is missing. When they have found their stones, she reappears.

King Randolph is the father of the twelve dancing princesses. He loves his daughters more than anything, but is determined to turn them into "proper princesses" with Rowena. Little does he know Rowena is slowly poisoning him in an attempt to steal his throne and that it is up to his "unruly" daughters to save him. Birthday Song" a song the older sisters sing to Janessa, Kathleen, and Lacey for their birthday party

The next day, the princesses appear tired and Rowena finds their new dancing shoes worn out, arousing her suspicions. King Randolph falls ill, so Genevieve asks the royal cobbler, Derek, to investigate Rowena's true intentions. That night, the princesses return to the magical land; Derek confronts a local apothecary and deduces that Rowena has been poisoning the King.

The film was directed by Greg Richardson and loosely based on the German fairy tale " The Twelve Dancing Princesses". [3] It is the ninth entry in the Barbie film series and features the voice of Kelly Sheridan as the Barbie protagonist. This is the first Barbie film to be distributed by Universal Studios Home Entertainment in North America, to-which Universal's international subsidiary already handled distribution to the previous films under a deal with Entertainment Rights. [4] Fallon is the 17-year-old 6th sister. She loves animals, plays the harp, and is a romantic who hopes everyone can find their happily ever after. She likes hearts, lace, and writing stories. Her flower is the camellia and her gemstone is a pearl. She wears a pink dress. Desmond is Rowena's large and ruthless footman. He seems to have a crush on Rowena, doing anything she says to please her. He is doomed to dance with her forever when he tries to free the cursed duchess. Chelsea as Lacey is the 5-year-old youngest sister. She is very close to her big sister, Genevieve and likes to collect teddy bears. Being the youngest, she is timid, somewhat clumsy and frequently needs help for the simplest things. Even though she loves her sisters and her father, Lacey often wonders about where she belongs in her large family. Her flower is the white lily and her gemstone is an amethyst. She wears a light purple dress. Brutus is Rowena's pet monkey, who is just as cruel and arrogant as his mistress. He loves making Twyla angry and often spies on the princesses to find ways to get them in trouble with Rowena.It is revealed that Lacey has saved some water from the magical Pavilion. She gives it to her father and thereby heals the dying king. Randolph explains 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 ends with everything made right as Genevieve and Derek dancing at their wedding. In the October 14, 2006 issue of Billboard, Barbie in the 12 Dancing Princesses debuted at number one on the Top DVD Sales chart. [6] The film sold nearly 500,000 units in its first week, 15% more than the previous princess-themed film in the Barbie franchise. [7] Critical response [ edit ] Twyla is Genevieve's pet kitten. She tries to act tough in front of her enemies and is constantly fighting with Rowena's monkey, Brutus. She is friends with Felix and believes that she is related to the tigers of India.

Reviewing the film for Common Sense Media, Teresa Talerico described it as "an innocent story about sisterly love and ballet dancing" but advised that the villain subplot and poisoning scenes may be frightening for young children. Talerico also wrote that the 12 sisters' characters weren't well developed. [10] Awards [ edit ] Arnold, Thomas K. (28 September 2006). " 'Wild,' 'Slevin' remain on top in slow week". The Hollywood Reporter. Vol.396. P-MRC. p.16. ProQuest 235346108. The girls' adventurous and free-spirited natures are viewed as "unladylike" and "unproper" by other members of the royal society and often lead them to 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 her own plans, which include getting rid of Randolph and his daughters so she can take over the kingdom. She does her lessons with the girls but gives them grey dresses, she doesn't take the time to learn the girls' names, rearranges everything in their room and has a strict bedtime rule.When Rowena and Desmond dance out of the castle, King Randolph disappears, though the blankets are shaped as though he's there.