Barbie Fairytopia: Magic of the Rainbow (2007)
On October 13, 2023 by CrescentBarbie Fairytopia: Magic of the Rainbow is the last of the three Fairytopia movies. Unfortunately, this movie falls very short when compared to its predecessors. It’s a shame the trilogy had to go out on such a whimper after two good or great movies before this one.
Story
Elina has returned home after the events of Mermaidia, and her exploits of saving the world have spread far and wide. This renown has earned her a place among the apprentices of the Guardians as they prepare to release the first rainbow of spring. However, Elina struggles after arriving, especially once she makes a mistake that leaves the rest of her fellow apprentices in danger. She does everything she can to make the most of it though, eventually stopping Laverna for the final time and saving Fairytopia.
In theory, this storyline sounds fine. Elina’s insecurity has been a notable problem before, and the plot of this film compounds on that… But it’s not perfect. For one, a lot of the story feels contrived and strange in a way that the other Fairytopia movies have not. The setting is a school, and it feels very out of place narratively after multiple adventures spanning a variety of interesting locations. The newer characters are mean without any way to truly resolve it at the end of the story. Some things are just left hanging and never get a true resolution in a way that feels strange and almost unsettling.
I can commend this movie for having strong pacing at the very least. I don’t like the story very much, and it feels forced in countless ways, but everything moved at a good clip. I hated the subplot of Bibble, his loose tooth, and his love interest, but at least it wasn’t the focus for too long at once. I wish the plot had been better, but it was at least paced well enough to keep my attention the entire time.
The ideas here were strong, but the execution leaves a lot to be desired due to rippling problems in other areas.
Story: 4/10
Characters
The cast of Magic of the Rainbow is split roughly in half between new characters and old ones. Elina, Bibble, and Azura are back, though they’re all at their weakest here. Azura is a far cry from the eccentric mentor she was in the first movie, and Elina feels like she’s downgraded after her development in Mermaidia. Bibble, on the other hand, has a different problem entirely: he got a love interest. This should be fine, but it becomes all he’s ever onscreen for, so his dynamic with Elina goes right out the window. His subplot of finding love while losing a tooth is a waste of time that makes him so much worse than before. Bibble’s love interest, Dizzle, is just a distraction and a frustration when she’s on screen. I miss Bibble actually interacting with Elina. I really do.
The newer characters range from either boringly nice with no development or overly mean with a random 180-turn at the end of the movie to make them kind in time for the climax. It makes no sense, and it undermines the victory and makes it feel kind of unearned. Only two people there were nice to Elina. Why is everyone acting like they’re friends because they saved the world together? It feels forced and irritating after watching Elina suffer at the hands of her peers for the better part of an hour. The two characters who are nice to her get some of the least screen time of the cast too, and one of them is her very forced love interest. The two have no chemistry, but the movie wants me to believe they could work as a pairing. It’s very frustrating to see.
I appreciate this movie giving the Enchantress an expanded role at least. Having Laverna back as the main villain was fun too, though we never found out what happened to Max after the movie ended. Still, I think that’s a fine sacrifice if we can keep Laverna as our main villain. She’s so much fun, and I missed her, but she can’t carry the movie on her own.
Characters: 4/10
World Building
The world building of Magic of the Rainbow is a special case because it actually regresses on the development of the world in the other Fairytopia movies. The most obvious example comes in the form of the magic system. In the past, it was implied that only powerful fairies or those in the Enchantress’ innermost circle could use magic. Now, everyone can use it, and the implications of this are never discussed. There are different types of magic, yes, but it never really goes anywhere beyond a single plot point at the end of the movie.
The entire situation of the First Blush of Spring is contrived and obnoxious too. Why does this flower have the power to plunge the world into eternal winter if it isn’t cared for with extreme detail? It sets up for a potentially interesting storyline, but it feels like it falls flat in the end. All the wonder of the previous Fairytopia movies feels as if it has been thrown aside for a generic magical school plot line, and it really shoots the film in the foot.
The main problem I have with the world building is the complete lack of consistency. It feels like so many ideas from the previous two movies have been thrown out the window entirely, and it frustrates me to no end. The Guardians have changed around drastically from the first Fairytopia movie despite this film showing clips from its predecessors in the first few minutes of the movie as a recap. They couldn’t even keep the Guardians consistent when they appear in the opening montage and were a major part of the first Fairytopia movie. Fantastic.
The world building of Magic of the Rainbow is agitating and irritating with how inconsistent it is with the previous two movies, actively worsening the plot in the process.
World Building: 3/10
Themes
The theme of Magic of the Rainbow is that together, we are strong. As I mentioned in the characters section, a lot of the characters spend their time bullying Elina for seemingly no reason. They end up turning around and helping her at the very end, but what does it really amount to? It’s so overwhelmingly inconsistent, and it teaches dangerous lessons to kids too if you look closely enough. How can this be the theme of the movie when there’s so much bullying involved to get to this point? This theme is absolutely pathetic and is only barely redeemed by Sunburst trying to be a better person at the end.
Themes: 3/10
Production
Maybe it’s just me, but I feel like the animation has gotten worse since Mermaidia. Shimmer and Tourmaline in particular look very off-putting. They’re not the only ones though: everyone gets to look unsettling when they start dancing. Barbie movies in the past have used very good motion capture to ensure they animate the dances as accurately as possible, but this movie doesn’t seem to have had any. If they did use motion capture, then they didn’t do it well. The dances look horribly awkward and are downright unappealing to watch, especially in the climax.
The voice acting and soundtrack of this movie are fine as per the Barbie standard, but I noticed one thing in this movie related to the voice acting, sound effects, and soundtrack. There were a lot periods of stiff silence, and you could only hear sound effects then without any backing music. It was very jarring and kind of uncomfortable to watch. The sound effects in this movie feel so glaringly obvious because of how often the music cuts out. It’s bizarre in a way I couldn’t unsee once I had noticed it.
The animation and sound design are very strange here, and decent voice acting and a nice soundtrack are the only saving graces of this production. Their power is mighty, but it isn’t enough.
Production: 5/10
Overall
Barbie Fairytopia: Magic of the Rainbow is unfortunately the worst of the three Fairytopia films. Between strange storylines, jarring character changes, inconsistent world building, and outright dangerous messages to teach to children, there are a lot of failures in this movie. Nice voice acting, a good soundtrack, and the allure of returning characters isn’t enough to carry the film though. If you ask me, you should stop watching the Fairytopia movies after Mermaidia and just skip this one. It isn’t worth it.
Overall: 3.8/10
Silly Superlative: Barbie movie with the most flying sound effects
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