Barbie in the 12 Dancing Princesses

Barbie in the 12 Dancing Princesses is a 2006 animated dance film. It premiered on Nickelodeon on September 10, 2006, and it was later released to DVD on September 19.
The film was directed by Greg Richardson and loosely based on the German fairy tale "The Twelve Dancing Princesses". It is the ninth entry in the Barbie film series and features the voice of Kelly Sheridan as the Barbie protagonist. This is the first Barbie film to be distributed by Universal Studios Home Entertainment in North America, to-which Universal's international subsidiary already handled distribution to the previous films under a deal with Entertainment Rights.
Music for the film was composed by Arnie Roth. "Shine", the end title song written by Roth, Amy Powers and Rob Hudnut, was nominated for a 2007 Emmy Award.
Genevieve (played by Barbie) is one of twelve princesses who share a passion for dancing and live in a castle with their widowed father, King Randolph. Unbeknownst to the princesses, other people consider them improper for having unique but unladylike hobbies and interests. King Randolph summons his cousin, Duchess Rowena, to turn them into proper ladies. However, the Duchess removes all color, music, and joy from the palace, trying to break the girls' spirits.
On their youngest sisters' birthday, the other sisters gift them a copy of their late mother's favorite story, wherein a princess discovers a magical land and dances there for three nights before it vanishes. Looking at the story and the tiles on their bedroom floor, Genevieve discovers how to open a portal into the magical land. Upon entering, they dance the night away. They learn the hanging golden flowers grant wishes, the statues can come to life, and the water has healing properties.
The next day, the princesses appear tired and Rowena finds their new dancing shoes worn out, arousing her suspicions. King Randolph falls ill, so Genevieve asks the royal cobbler, Derek, to investigate Rowena's true intentions. That night, the princesses return to the magical land; Derek confronts a local apothecary and deduces that Rowena has been poisoning the King.
The next morning, the sisters are again exhausted. Rowena, refusing to believe the sisters when they tell her the truth, forces them into servitude. After overhearing Rowena maneuver the King into referring to his daughters as burdens, the heartbroken princesses return to the magical land for a third time, and Rowena finds them missing the next morning.
After learning that the princesses are missing, Derek figures out how to open the portal and makes his way into the magical land. Rowena's pet monkey, Brutus, spies on Derek and leads Rowena through after him; she steals one of the wish-granting flowers. The princesses decide to go home and help their father; however, Rowena returns to the palace ahead of them and has her henchman, Desmond, destroy the portal. Derek and Genevieve figure out how to activate another portal by dancing together, freeing the group.
Once home, they find out that the King is dying and that Rowena has taken over as Queen. The Duchess uses the golden flower to wish for Genevieve to dance forever without rest, but Genevieve blows the magic dust back at her with a hand fan, forcing Rowena to dance uncontrollably. When Desmond tries to help Rowena, he is pulled into the spell, and the two dance their way out of the castle. Lacey uses the healing water she took from the magic land to revive her father. King Randolph affirms his unconditional love for his daughters and Genevieve and Derek celebrate their wedding.
Each of the 12 Princesses is designated with a gemstone and a flower. Each princess' flower appears on their dresses, the book gifted to each of them, and on the stones on the floor of their bedroom, and each of the princesses' names begin with the first 12 letters of the alphabet.
The film's ballet scenes feature the movement of New York City Ballet dancers, computer animated through motion capture imaging.
The songs featured in this film are:
In the October 14, 2006 issue of Billboard, Barbie in the 12 Dancing Princesses debuted at number one on the Top DVD Sales chart. The film sold nearly 500,000 units in its first week, 15% more than the previous princess-themed film in the Barbie franchise.
Jill Stark of The Sunday Age rated the film 3/5 stars, calling it "good wholesome stuff, though the story sometimes plods." Describing the plot as "Footloose in a fairy-tale setting", D. Liebenson of The Video Librarian wrote, "Barbie in the 12 Dancing Princesses serves up plenty of magic to enchant young, starry-eyed Barbie fans and aspiring dancers", and "the CGI animation sparkles, with each character boasting an otherworldly porcelain sheen."
Reviewing the film for Common Sense Media, Teresa Talerico described it as "an innocent story about sisterly love and ballet dancing" but advised that the villain subplot and poisoning scenes may be frightening for young children. Talerico also wrote that the 12 sisters' characters weren't well developed.
The line of tie-in Barbie in the 12 Dancing Princesses products included dolls, playsets and accessories. Dolls of each of the 12 princess characters and Derek were released, as well as a "Magic Dance Castle" dollhouse, a princess vanity for the 12 dolls, a horse and carriage set that can seat all 12 dolls, and two Twyla plush toys.
Video games were released by Activision to tie in with the film on different platforms such as the Game Boy Advance, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo DS and PlayStation 2.