Barbie as Rapunzel

Barbie as Rapunzel is a 2002 animated fairy tale film co-produced by Mainframe Entertainment and Mattel Entertainment, and distributed by Artisan Home Entertainment.

An adaptation of the 1812 German fairy tale "Rapunzel" by the Brothers Grimm, it is the second in the Barbie film series, with Kelly Sheridan providing the voice of Barbie.

Barbie as Rapunzel was released on VHS and DVD on October 1, 2002, later making a television premiere on Nickelodeon on November 24, 2002. and was subsequently released overseas through Entertainment Rights and Universal Pictures Video. The film was nominated for eight DVD Premiere Awards, winning Best Original Score and Best Animated Character Performance for Gothel.

Plot
The story is told by Barbie to her little sister, Kelly, who is insecure in her painting abilities.

Rapunzel is a young woman with long, floor-length hair who lives as a servant to the wicked witch Gothel. Gothel claims she saved Rapunzel from abandonment as a baby, and resents Rapunzel's hobby of painting pictures of places she'd like to go someday. Gothel's manor is magically isolated from the rest of the world, so Rapunzel's only friends are Penelope, a young dragon, and Hobie, an anxious rabbit.

One day, Rapunzel and her friends inadvertently open a secret passage, where Rapunzel finds a silver hairbrush engraved with a message from her parents, affirming their love. This leads Rapunzel to question Gothel's story. They also find a mutilated portrait of a man. Following the secret passage, Rapunzel is led to the kingdom outside. She saves young Princess Katrina from a pit trap with the help of Katrina's elder brother Prince Stefan. He explains the trap was set by King Wilhelm of the neighboring country, who has an ongoing feud with Stefan's father King Frederick.

Rapunzel leaves in a rush without learning Stefan's name to avoid Gothel discovering her disappearance. However, Gothel's pet ferret Otto, who spies on Rapunzel for his mistress, tells Gothel all that happened. When Rapunzel insists she doesn't know Stefan's name, Gothel destroys Rapuzel's art and supplies, and transforms her room into a high tower. Gothel also threatens to punish Penelope's father Hugo if he does not keep Rapunzel prisoner. That night, as Rapunzel sleeps, the hairbrush magically transforms into a paintbrush.

When Rapunzel attempts to use the paintbrush on the tower wall, a portal to the kingdom magically appears. Rapunzel uses it to meet Stefan again, though she insists he never tell her his name for fear of Gothel. Stefan gives her an invitation to the masquerade ball that night. Returning through the portal to the tower, Rapunzel paints herself a beautiful costume, but is again betrayed by Otto. Gothel cuts off Rapunzel's hair, shatters the paintbrush, and destroys the tower side of the portal. When Rapunzel once again cannot give Stefan's name, Gothel puts a spell on the tower to never release its lying prisoner, and chains Hugo, intending to come back later and punish him.

With the help of Hugo, Hobie, and Penelope, Rapunzel escapes the tower; as she never lied about not knowing Stefan's name, the spell does not affect her. At the ball, Stefan is attacked by a disguised Gothel wearing Rapunzel's hair. King Wilhelm and his army also infiltrate the castle. Wilhelm accuses Frederick of kidnapping his daughter many years ago (the source of their feud); Gothel then reveals that Wilhelm was the man in the portrait. She loved him, but when he did not return her love, she destroyed the picture and kidnapped his child to start the feud, as revenge.

Gothel tries to kill Wilhelm, but Rapunzel arrives and Gothel attacks her instead. Wilhelm recognizes Rapunzel as his daughter, and Rapunzel and her friends trick Gothel and Otto into running through the Kingdom side of the portal. Gothel is trapped forever in the tower because of her lying heart, and her other spells are broken, releasing Hugo.

Rapunzel is reunited with her parents and marries Stefan. The feud ends, and the two kingdoms are united. In the end, Kelly feels better and begins painting after Barbie reminds her that creativity is the true magic in art.

Cast

 * Kelly Sheridan as Barbie / Rapunzel
 * Chantal Strand as Kelly / Princess Katrina
 * Anjelica Huston as Gothel, the witch
 * Mark Hildreth as Prince Stefan
 * Cree Summer as Penelope
 * David Kaye as Hugo / General
 * Ian James Corlett as Hobie / Palace Guard
 * Peter Kelamis as Otto / The Skinny Swordsman
 * Christopher Gaze as King Wilhelm
 * Russell Roberts as King Fredrick
 * Terry Klassen as The Baker / The Fat Swordsman
 * Britt McKillip as Melody
 * Jocelyne Loewen as Lorena
 * Danny McKinnon as Tommy
 * Dale Wilson as the Silversmith

Production
Barbie as Rapunzel was the second film produced by Mainframe Entertainment for Mattel, following Barbie in the Nutcracker (2001). Barbie as Rapunzel was produced over a nine-month period. The characters were animated using Softimage V.3.9, with Maya used for special effects. Performances for the 15 human characters were motion-captured over 16 days, and created using Motion Analysis, EVA and Kaydara Filmbox. Motion capture data was also purchased from LocoMotion Studios in Wimberley, Texas for use in animating a CGI horse. The rest of the animal characters were animated using keyframe techniques. Motion capture performer Cailin Stadnyk portrayed Barbie's movements.

Rapunzel's paintings are real art works by Amanda Dunbar digitally inserted into the film. Dunbar agreed to participate in the project because she "like[d] that the movie encourages art as a use of expression."

Music
Barbie as Rapunzel features the original song "Constant as the Stars Above", written by Rob Hudnut and Arnie Roth, and performed by Jessica Brown. The song is heard as a 30-second lullaby in the film and reprised as a 2-and-a-half-minute version during the closing credits, after Samantha Mumba's "Wish Upon a Star". "Rapunzel's Theme" is performed by Becky Taylor. Roth composed the score, which was performed by the London Symphony Orchestra.

The film makes use of Antonín Dvořák's Symphony No. 9, "From The New World" (also known as the New World Symphony), while the music playing when Rapunzel is visiting the village is "Volte", from Michael Praetorius’ Terpsichore.

Release
The DVD and VHS was released on October 1, 2002.

The DVD bonus features include the 26-minute documentary, "The Artist in Me", which profiles artist Amanda Dunbar along with interviews of children commenting on art and what inspires them. The DVD also has two interactive features: dress-up game "Dress-Up Rapunzel", and "Rapunzel's Art Gallery", a visual tour of paintings by famous artists teaching the difference between landscape, portrait and other styles of painting.

The film was distributed overseas by Entertainment Rights, who acquired distribution rights in March 2002 following the immense success of Barbie in the Nutcracker. Universal Pictures Visual Programming acquired worldwide video rights in May 2002, also following on with the success, while ER's home video subsidiary Right Entertainment handled video distribution in the United Kingdom and Ireland through its own separate deal with Universal.

Commercial reception
Barbie as Rapunzel and associated merchandise sales grossed US$200 million in 2002.

Critical response
Eileen Clarke of Entertainment Weekly rated Barbie as Rapunzel a "B−". Praising the film as "terrific storytelling", Lynne Heffley of the Los Angeles Times wrote, "the artwork is gorgeously rendered and the characters are quirkily brought to life through the multilayered story and voice talent". Grant McIntyre of The Globe and Mail called the film "a delight", writing that it "has all the excitement, idyllic landscapes, gallantry, magic, deceit and romance that have made the [fairy tale] genre a favourite for centuries."

Reviewing the film for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, Scott Hettrick found "The animation is more sophisticated, the colors are far more vibrant, and the feature is filled with more characters, story lines and overall activity" than the previous year's Barbie in the Nutcracker. Hettrick praised the film's characters as engaging, and noted "in addition to Rapunzel, the story incorporates elements of everything from Cinderella, Romeo & Juliet and Dragonheart to Harold and the Purple Crayon".

A reviewer for Parenting called Barbie as Rapunzel "a truly charming update" to the original fairy tale, liking how "This time Rapunzel uses her head-not her hair-to gain her freedom." Los Angeles Daily News critic Chris J. Parker similarly praised the film's message and Barbie's character as a positive role model for young girls, and opined, "The movie is enhanced by its soundtrack, which features music performed by the London Symphony Orchestra. The computer-generated animation is still a bit clumsy, especially in this post-Shrek era. But it's watchable, especially for younger viewers."

K. Lee Benson of The Video Librarian called the film "A contemporary twist on a classic fairytale that will captivate Barbie's worshipful younger fans (though few others)". Rob Lowing of The Sun-Herald rated it 3 out of 5 stars, writing, "The Shrek-ish animation makes everyone resemble a doll, but pre-teens will like a chatty dragon and plenty of magic. The slightly twee result still has personality". Reviewing the film for Common Sense Media, Tracy Moore advised that parents "may want to offer a counter to the traditional fairy tale narrative here, but can still likely appreciate the focus on Rapunzel's good naturedness, her big heart, her emphasis on following her dreams, and her message about believing in yourself."