As in all of the Barbie movies, a strong female lead does the right thing and saves the day, with a little help from her friends. Positive messages about teamwork, family loyalty, and good winning out over evil. My four year old was disturbed at the thought of someone poisoning the father, but many young kids will miss that plot line. My daughters love to dance while the movie plays, and are not glued to it mindlessly. It may be hard for some parents to sit through, but it's aimed at young girls, not moms and dads. I can count on Barbie movies to spark conversations about topics like love, family, doing what's right even when it's hard, bravery, and kindness and compassion.

This is my favourite Barbie film. I've seen it countless times and it still enchants me. Why don't they make them like this anymore? It's beautiful. I love all the dancing and magic. Contains NO singing (yay!) and the whole 'secret' of them running off to dance is still thrilling to me at my age.

I personally love this movie, as do all of the children that I have viewed it with while babysitting. Little girls especially love dancing along with the gorgeous classical score, and I have even bought the rest of the songs ("Shine" in particular) to listen to on my own! What sets this Barbie movie apart is that there is a variety of strong female characters, as opposed to having only a cookie-cutter Barbie protagonist. My younger cousins each have a different favorite princess with interests that match their own; there are tomboys, girly girls, bookworms, and dancers, and even an amateur ichthyologist! The movie has positive messages about family, bravery, and making sacrifices to do what is right. It also has inspired some little girls I know to take dance lessons- exercise! Five years after its release, this movie is still watched frequently in my household.

I love how this movie shows how close the 12 sisters can be despite the age difference and the different things that they like. My daughter has decided she loves to dance like the main character and it has prompted her do want to do dance again. Any movie that promotes children to want to do physical activity during and continue doing after it, gets a plus in my books!