Barbie and Her Sisters in the Great Puppy Adventure (2015)
On November 20, 2023 by CrescentBarbie, Skipper, Stacie, and Chelsea return in Barbie and Her Sisters in the Great Puppy Adventure. This time, they are joined by a quartet of young puppies with a nose for adventure… Though the story would honestly be better if the canine friends were left at home.
Story
In Great Puppy Adventure, Barbie and her sisters are going back to Willows, a town they lived in as children. After arriving, they are all granted puppy companions. Barbie tries to reconnect with her old home as Skipper, Stacie, and Chelsea search for the famed treasure of Willows. All the while, a pair of carnival employees tail them to steal the treasure.
I really enjoyed this movie’s scavenger hunt plot. It fits perfectly with the aged and mysterious town of Willows. I liked solving the puzzle along with the characters to see where it all led… But the dogs felt like a distraction most of the time. Sure, they help out every once in a while, but it feels like they’re just here to pad out the run time. I would have definitely enjoyed this movie more if the dogs hadn’t been there.
The story is still fine with them around. For once, Barbie’s sisters take center stage while she’s busy with other things. I enjoy this new take on the sisters, and it’s my favorite portrayal of them by far. I had a lot of fun with this story… Though it’s a shame the titular feature doesn’t have much appeal.
Great Puppy Adventure is an enjoyable treasure hunt romp, albeit one that didn’t need the dogs in the name.
Story: 6/10
Characters
Since this movie is focused most on the town mystery, there aren’t many character arcs to speak of. Barbie learns to cope with change, but the other three sisters are fairly static. Skipper has a moment of struggle after her backpack is stolen, but she gets back up soon enough. Even though the characters don’t develop much, I thought they were fun to watch.
The dogs had much more pronounced arcs… Okay, one of them did. Taffy learned to be strong and brave by the end of the movie… But again, I don’t think this was necessary. The dogs don’t add all that much to the story, and Taffy–one of the four copy pasted dogs–getting the main character arc feels… Odd. I don’t know what the writers were trying to do with this. It doesn’t even tie in well with the theme of the story. I don’t understand it.
The villains of this movie are goofy but ultimately lackluster. Joe and Marty don’t do much, and they seem to be forgotten by the end of the movie. We don’t see what happens to them after they are attacked by the dogs, leaving the story feeling a bit incomplete. They don’t learn a lesson, and they’re not all that funny despite that being their purpose. The movie could have done without them too, and it would have been fine.
The characters of Great Puppy Adventure are fine, but a lot of them could have been cut from the plot, and it likely would have made the story more interesting.
Characters: 4.5/10
World Building
Since the town of Willows is so deeply intertwined with the story, we get a lot of history and world building. The rumored treasure is easily the most interesting part of this universe. Barbie and her grandfather tried to search for the treasure years ago, but she ultimately gave up halfway through. Willows is an old story with an intriguing history, and I loved learning more about it through the treasure hunt. The atmosphere went a long way here too, really helping the town to feel mysterious and run down after so many years of disrepair.
My one complaint here is that we don’t hear much about Stacie and Skipper’s thoughts about Willows from their past. Barbie did a lot while they were there, but Skipper and Stacie were old enough to remember their time in Willows too. I would have liked to get a bit more input from them about how the town had changed from what they remembered.
This nitpick aside, the world building of Great Puppy Adventure is interesting and weaves effortlessly with the story.
World Building: 8/10
Themes
Great Puppy Adventure doesn’t have a theme at the end of the credits. I find the message to be the same one repeated throughout the film: the best part of the adventure is the people you spend it with. I think this works well since the hunt brings the four sisters together. They begin to enjoy it fully when all of them are involved. This message doesn’t have much to do with the dogs though, and given their place in the title, it feels weird that they’re excluded. The theme is fine, but once again, the dogs remain a jarring outlier.
Themes: 5/10
Production
Great Puppy Adventure took yet another step into a new art style that would stick with Barbie movies for years to come. I think this is a massive improvement over Princess Power from earlier in the year, but I do have a few issues with the art style. For one, the characters are really skinny. I know Barbie has been criticized many times for her unrealistic beauty standards, but things are at their worst here. I feel like I could snap every character’s limbs like twigs. It’s a bit jarring and almost distracting. The animation looks good otherwise, but why is everyone so thin?
The voice acting also has a lot of problems, specifically with the dogs. These dogs really are causing a lot of problems, aren’t they? Ugh. The dogs’ voices sound forced, and they’re hard to listen to. I don’t want to hear them talk. I really wish the dogs weren’t a part of this movie. It would have been much easier to stomach for my ears. The rest of the characters sound fine, but the dogs… That’s another story.
The new animation of Great Puppy Adventure is largely fine, but the movie is held back by especially poor voice acting on the dogs.
Production: 7/10
Overall
Barbie and Her Sisters in the Great Puppy Adventure is a fun scavenger hunt story with strong world building and a compelling mystery. Unfortunately, the movie is held back by poor voice acting and lackluster character development. The movie is fine… But I don’t think I can say much more than that.
Overall: 5.1/10
Silly Superlative: Barbie movie with the most animal bites
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