After increasingly disappointing installments in the Barbie movies line (they had been going down since Mermaid Tale) Barbie has given us a glimmer of light. Princess Charm School (originally dubbed "Princess Prep School" but later changed to the more toddler-friendly "Charm") brings back so many of the wonderful, whimsical elements we've grown to love about Barbie. Blair is not a movie star, uber trendy and loaded with cash & fashion. She is not an overly preppy teen whose biggest flaw is that her dress isn't up-to-date. She is a very down-to-earth girl who works hard to keep her family afloat. She has problems that, with the help of a very likeable character, she works through.

Friendship, forgiveness, kindness, family bond, never giving up, discovering your own talents, and overcoming your own obstacles are all celebrated. The animation (Barbie's face in particular) shows great improvement. For the first time since the Three Musketeers, our heroine doesn't look like an alien Bratz doll with bug eyes and a pointy chin! And the ridiculous Sequin has been traded in for Prince, a cute golden retriever. Alexandria Privet is an excellent character, exhibiting confidence and good manners. She is ladylike and kind-- something you don't often see anymore. Blair, too, is humble and sweet. Towards the end, she begins to show a bit of an "attitude" and has the mindset that "the crown is mine, I DESERVE IT" which is a bit concerning, but she seems to be still worried about her family.

There are really no bad elements in the movie; the disappointments come more in opinion matters. I miss Kelly Sheridan's voice terribly...it's not that Diana Kaarina's voice is bad (although it comes across as annoying and teeny-bopperish), it's more that Kelly IS Barbie and no one- not Diana, not anybody- will ever replace her. Until Mattel gets its corporate head on straight and re-hires Miss Sheridan, Barbie movies will not be the same.
The animation, though with serious improvement, is still somewhat lacking. The faces are still stiff, and the lips and eyes are the only things that move. Hair looks as though it's carved out of stone. And even though all of the positive elements are here, Princess Charm School is aimed for a younger audience. It's sad but true...Mattel has officially decided to move in the Hannah Montana/Victorious/ANT Farm and other fame-crazed young audiences.

So I give it a 4/5. The trailers for the next two upcoming BMs look promising: Perfect Christmas especially, as it features the whole Barbie family. I'm sad though, that after years of Barbie's baby sister being "Kelly", she is now "Chelsea". (Seriously....what do they have against Kellys?) Barbie in a Mermaid Tale 2 is the other....not quite as excited about this one, although Mermaid Tale was a decent installment. So fellow oldschool Barbie fans, we can only hope and pray (and wait) for Mattel to listen up. Until then, PCS is a great movie that little girls will love. Older girls and mothers, reminiscent of the Princess and the Pauper or Nutcracker will be somewhat disappointed, but of course, we aren't the target audience. And the target audience will not be disappointed--not one bit.

My five year old daughter is particular about what she watches. Of the previous Barbie movies, she only liked the Mermaid movie and Fashion Fairy Tale. The last Barbie movie, the one where there were fairies did not appeal to her, but it had nothing to scare her. This new movie, Charm School, starts out pleasant, but when Blair gets home from work, and we discover her mother is sickly, and needs care, my daughter got concerned. And then when Blair actually leaves her sick mother and her younger sister to go to a school where she must live, she got upset. My daughter is dealing with going to kindergarten and being separated from me for the first time, so I think this hit too close to her current personal experiences. Then when Blair gets to the charm school, she isn't treated kindly by most of the other girls, and again, this upset my daughter. The "villain" of the show is a mother who wants her daughter to become the princess, and she is very unkind to Blair, says and does mean things, and by this point, my daughter wanted it turned off she we never finished it. As a grown-up, this movie seems to have potential, but if you have an easily upset child, especially one who doesn't want to watch anything mean, unkind or sad, this isn't for you.

After a rough patch of less than stellar animation and storytelling (diamond castle, fairy secret), Princess Charm School looks to have been given better production values. My 8 year old says this is definitely her favorite of the Barbie movies so far (though she misses the movies with songs a lot).

The story theme is simple: every girl has the potential to be a princess. Blair, an ordinary waitress at a pastry shop in a thinly disguised inner city NY type of location, wins a yearly lottery to attend a prestigious "Princess Academy". There, she deals with rivalry and class difficulties while befriending fellow 'outcasts' in her dorm. Her main rival, Delancy, and Delancy's mother provide the strife and adversity for Blair as she tries to fit in. The girls learn that there is a long lost princess and Blair fits the description - but she can claim the title only if she can beat Delancy and her avaricious mother to the throne on coronation day.

Unlike previous Barbie DVDs, the characters are unique to the story and do not look recycled from previous DVDs. Also, it was nice to see that the main rival, Delancy's mother, was not a red head (though she wore the typical green color of all of the villains in Barbie movies). And as with Princess Luciana in Island Princess, Barbie will win over the heart of Delancy and foil Delancy's mother's plans to steal the throne of the country.

The characters do resemble their dolls more - though the side characters still have little to do in the movie other than exist as a reason to be a doll. But the animation of the characters is greatly improved - the 3d animation is less distracting and 'unreal' than in previous DVDs. It's only until the last frames that the animation looks rushed and much less detailed (dresses move strangely and are lacking shading/realistic details).

The story churns along at a steady pace and has all the Barbie movie hallmarks: Barbie goes on a quest, Barbie encounters diversity, Barbie trains in a montage, Barbie uses friends and ingenuity to overcome obstacles. One thing that is clear is that they are appealing to a much younger audience this time: all the Charm School girls wear hairstyles suitable to 6 year olds (ponytails and such).

One big change is that the comic relief sidekick of the villain is actually funny this time - giving one-liners in a deadpan that does bring a smile.

In all, this is much better than the very weak "Fashion Fairy Tale" and the dolls that go with the movie are much better quality as well.

As a mom of 6 girls I am a pretty good judge of girl movies and we have always like Barbie movies. Some more than others, but this one was fun and everyone enjoyed it. From the 14 year old to the 2 year old. These movies are always well done and teach a moral about greed or pride and being kind to everyone. There were a lot of things I found similar to the other movies in this one. In an adults opinion I think they need to find a new writer. But my girls like it so I can't complain too much.

My daughters like all the Barbie movies, and this one is no different. It is pretty cute. The animations has greatly improved too. I'll just echo some previous reviewers; it is nice that the villianess isn't a redhead in dark green (what is that all about?), yea for no annoying talking animals, the funny sidekick is actually pretty funny, Barbie's new voice is growing on me, the story is kind of weak but enjoyable enough. Oh, and my three-year-old loves the short feature with the sisters camping, so I'm sure she'll be wanting the Christmas movie with them.

Ugh! Not one of the best in this franchise. Looking to start a Barbie movie collection? Go to the really good ones - Rapunzel, Princess and the Pauper, 12 Dancing Princesses, even Island Princess are all way better than this one. A strange retelling of the Anastasia lost princess story, this is really nothing more than a big toy commercial. Look - here comes the horse and carraige! Set in a strange world that has a Starbucks type coffee shop and elevated trains with graffiti AND a castle with dozens of princesses AND magic AND tiny little fairies that fly around, whose only real purpose is to, that's right, sell more toys! What's on the shelf at Toys R Us? Horse and carraige, fairy dolls with horses (?), Borbie as Blair with chageable dress, necessary Prince doll, who only appears in the movie for a few minutes, basically so they can make the doll. We really enjoyed making fun of this movie (how dumb is that readheaded girl?), but would n ot watch it again. My daughter is 11, and has watched every Barbie movie as it came out, from Nutcracker on. Maybe she's aging out, but she still watches the classics (mentioned above), as does the rest of the family on occasion, and they are sooo much better. Final word - Rent it.

I was horrified to have my two young daughters watch women and girls behave in the nasty, catty, cruel, undermining ways some of these characters did! Those are the LAST kinds of behavior I want modeled for my kids. One mother-daughter duo in this movie display the worst kind of bullying, mean-girl behavior. After watching this movie once, it went in our Freecycle bin; we won't be watching it again. I also agree with the poster who said the activities the girls learned in Princess Charm School were stereotypical, frivolous and stupid: hair, make-up, clothes...

Even though you bought this movie perhaps even at full retail price, they force you to watch all previews with no option whatsoever to otherwise just start the movie for your kids. That's an automatic 1 star. I'm going to have to rip and reburn the thing just to get rid of the garbage. FAIL

If you are looking for a Barbie movie that is just like every other Barbie movie, this is for you! Girlie. Girlie. Girlie. I have three daughters, so this was right up their alley.

My daughter is five, and she has 14 of the Barbie movies. She watches them a lot, and this one is the only one she didn't like. I think the whole "school bully" thing just did not appeal to her. She doesn't overly favor Fairytopia or it's spinoff titles. Maddie tends to lean more toward the princess and fashion movies. All little girls are different, and you can't tell by a review if your child will like it or not. My advice would be to rent it first, and if she likes it then buy her a copy.