Barbie of Swan Lake (2003)
On October 4, 2023 by CrescentFollowing the success of Nutcracker, Mattel attempted to capture the success of the first ballet adaptation in the form of Barbie of Swan Lake in 2003. Unfortunately, this formula was much less successful the second time around.
Story
Much like with Nutcracker, Swan Lake is based on the ballet of the same name. However, Swan Lake is a much darker ballet than Nutcracker, so a lot more of the story had to be changed to fit the younger audience… And unfortunately, it doesn’t hit the mark as well as its predecessor. In this version of Swan Lake, Odette is introduced to the forest as an outsider with the ability to save its sprites and creatures from the tyranny of the evil Rothbart. In the end, her true love with the prince of the kingdom, Daniel, helps her to break the curse set on the forest and lay Rothbart low.
The original ballet ends in tragedy with the two main characters dying when Rothbart is defeated. Since the darkness of its source material needed to be avoided, Swan Lake struggles to fill its runtime, instead introducing many side characters to try and flesh it out. The characters are interesting, but they stall the story when the focus shifts in their direction, and that leads to the story’s biggest problem: its pacing.
The movie struggles massively with pacing and feels slow and bogged down. A lot of time is spent on reaction shots that didn’t need to be there, and the story seems to stop at awkward points as a result. For example, the major dance sequence before the ball feels strange because of how suddenly the plot stops for it.
This movie is an adaptation of a far darker source material, and as a result, it had a lot of ground to make up. While it does maintain the idea of the original story, the slow pacing makes it incredibly hard to keep your attention locked on the movie for long.
Story: 5/10
Characters
The leading characters of Swan Lake are Odette and Daniel. She’s the daughter of the town baker and he’s the prince of the kingdom. Odette has an interesting arc that ties in with the stated theme of the movie about bravery, and she comes into her own enough to find her footing as an individual by the end of the film. She’s far more timid than most other Barbie protagonists, and it’s nice to see her learn to stand up for herself. Daniel is considerably less interesting, and while he wants to explore the world, we don’t know much about him beyond that. Their chemistry is kind of hard to believe, and as much as I like seeing them triumph, I wish there was more to Daniel to make him more compelling. I would have liked to see their relationship develop over a longer timeframe too since it feels very rushed here.
The villains of the film are Rothbart and Odile… And it’s impossible to discuss them without mentioning their antisemitic characteristics. The two are negative Jewish stereotypes, and after you notice that, it’s impossible to see them as much of anything else. This bigotry is enough to taint the rest of the movie in my eyes, and others I know have expressed that they feel the same way. Rothbart is imposing as a villain, but he seems almost too strong to the point that defeating him in the end feels somewhat unearned and almost impossible. Odile has much more presence here than in the ballet, and she’s notably more obnoxious rather than imposing.
The side characters make up a lot of the runtime around the middle of the movie. In fact, save for the four characters I already mentioned, none of the characters in the supporting cast are from the original ballet. Starting off, I wish we saw more of the Fairy Queen’s relationship with Rothbart given their history together. Lila is a fine enough sidekick, and her headstrong nature makes her fun to watch. Ivan and Carlita have lovely chemistry, and they’re tons of fun when they’re onscreen. Erasmus is less interesting than these three though and takes up quite a bit of time in the middle of the movie.
As a whole, the cast of Swan Lake ranges wildly in quality, but the side characters get more time than the main cast in the middle of the movie, and that contributes massively to the pacing issues of the film.
Characters: 6/10
World Building
The world of Swan Lake has two major components: the kingdom and the forest. The kingdom is more of a set piece than anything else, and it lacks the intrigue of the forest setting. The kingdom does what it needs to, but it lacks an interesting history that would help it to feel more real and three dimensional.
The forest, on the other hand, is a nice setting with a storied past that explains how we got to the point we are at when the movie first begins. The tale of Rothbart and the Fairy Queen is interesting, and it makes me wish we got the chance to see them talk a bit more extensively about their tense shared past. The forest is a better background than the kingdom, and it’s not even close.
There’s one big problem with the forest though, and that’s the lack of definition in the magic system. Magic very clearly exists, but the limits of it are difficult to understand. Rothbart is all powerful, and the Fairy Queen–seemingly his equal and opposite–lacks the strength needed to stand up to him. What’s the difference between them? Why is the gap in their skills so massive? I think more backing to the world’s magic system would go a long way to fleshing out the world.
The kingdom of Swan Lake is on the lackluster side, and while the forest is a much more captivating location, it lacks explanation behind its magic that leaves the world feeling muddled.
World Building: 4/10
Themes
The theme of the movie as stated at the end of the credits is that you are braver than you think. Within the framing of Barbie telling this story to a young Shelly, this makes sense. This is what Shelly needs to hear in a time when she’s afraid. In many ways, Odette’s story is about finding her bravery after a life spent in timidity.
However, the theme of this movie feels a lot more like love than bravery in practice. In the end, love is what wins the day, not courage. Both themes work well in the story… At least as much as Odette and Daniel’s relationship works, though it is somewhat lackluster on his side. This is one movie where I think the mileage of the theme for the audience will vary wildly depending on their opinions on Odette and Daniel’s relationship.
The bravery theme is fine, but it feels secondary to the idea of love, though that falls short as well due to Daniel’s involvement.
Themes: 7/10
Production
Just as in Nutcracker, Swan Lake largely takes its score from the ballet its title comes from. The music in this movie is lovely, a strong adaptation of its source material. The score is soothing and subdued, feeling more like a dream than anything else. Given the magical world of the movie, this makes perfect sense, and the instrumentals work wonderfully in that way.
The animation is alright, but it’s nothing special. I will give props to the animators for the crisp and lovely swan model they gave to Odette. The animation takes another hit though for so openly making Rothbart and Odile antisemitic stereotypes. Rothbart’s dramatically large nose is a sign of the bigotry of the crew that cannot be ignored. The animation is fine enough most of the time, but this bias is difficult to ignore after you notice it.
The voice acting is strong, but there’s one problem with it: the audio mixing. The movie is bizarrely quiet, and you need to turn the volume up very high in order to hear it. At times, the stunning music can overpower the dialogue of the quieter characters, especially with Rothbart. The voice work is good, but the audio mixing makes it difficult to understand what is being said.
The production has its boons and banes in the form of music and audio mixing respectively. Every good thing has its drawback that makes the movie a bit harder to watch.
Production: 5/10
Overall
Barbie of Swan Lake is a middling movie that struggles in as many things as it succeeds at. The fine adaptation of the story is held back by poor pacing, and the gorgeous music is chained to poor audio mixing. If you are interested in this movie, feel free to watch it, but I cannot recommend it as enthusiastically as other films in the franchise. I can see how it became so nostalgic for viewers in the 2000’s, but its issues become glaringly clear on repeat viewings.
Overall: 5.4/10
Silly Superlative: Barbie movie with the most reaction shots
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