Barbie Mariposa and Her Butterfly Friends

We pre-ordered the Mariposa DVD because we like the Fairytopia series so much.

First off, its a story-within-a-story. The first ~10 minutes and last ~5 minutes are Elina telling the story to bibble. My girls love Elina and Bibble so they are of course happy to see them again.

The movie itself follows the Fairytopia formula very closely. Instead of Laverna, you have Henna. Instead of bibble, the bunny. Instead of fungi, you have Skeezites. Its a race against time. Its a formula that worked very well before, and could work again.

But whats missing? Gone are the bright uplifting moments, like the appearance of the crest of courage, the changing from fairy to mermaid and back, Bibble talking funny after eating magic berries, and other things that made the other movies more fun. My kids react nicely to the best movies, but not this one. There is a lot of drama, but not very much happiness to balance it out.

A bit more about the drama: Most of the Fairytopia movies are driven forward by mock drama and very plain and pale threats (a weed grabbed me, yikes! A firebird is chasing me! I have to hide from some bumbling Fungi, who might do very little to me!). This works well for 3 to 5 year olds, who don't need a serious reason for the drama that older children do. Mariposa is dramatically different: most of the action and drama in this movie is the constant fear of death. I wish they could have been a bit more inventive.

The plot follows a similar vein: in other Fairytopia movies, the driver of the plot was that everyone was getting sick because of laverna, that Elina then had to save mermaidia from getting sick, that if they didn't stop laverna there would be 10 years of winter. Death was in those movies, but it wasn't laid out as the absolute reason for everything. In Mariposa, the deal is that if the queen dies the light goes out and then everyone is in fear of death because the skeezites EAT EVERYONE. So the fairies have to put themselves in fear of their own life, and have concerns they will die.

There is nothing wrong with death in children's films. Its a part of life. What I am saying is it the main concept of this film to the point that I felt that it was used as a crutch. They could have devoted more time to something more entertaining for children, like when the fairies try to make the first blush of spring bloom in the third Fairytopia. Something more enjoyable for them to watch.

Oh, and my 4 year old daughter said it was Nori talking, not Mariposa. Guess they used the same voice actress but its disappointing that it was so obvious. But, she had watched mermaidia a few days before.

Should you let your child see this movie? Sure. Its not awful. They put some effort into the production and the values are admirable. There is nothing bad in it.

But, unlike previous fairytopia movies, this one falls a bit flat. Keep your expectations low. My children didnt finish the movie saying 'oh wow!', and 2 days later they are moving on to other things. Its clear they like the other fairytopia movies better.

I eagerly bought this movie for my four year old. We were expecting to enjoy it as we LOVED The Island Princess. We were also disappointed. The skeezites are scary and my daughter also asked me to skip those parts. The eating of the fairies wasn't necessary, and could have been done differently. This movie will definitely be shelved for a while. That being said, the imagery and colors of the movie are beautiful, which would be the only reason we would dare to watch it again.

My daughter waited for the latetest Barbie title, Mariposa only to be disapointed when it was released. The Butterfly Fairies are constantly being chased by creatures (Skeezites and a sea beast) which are trying to EAT them through the whole movie. There is also a Butterfly Fairy that betrays the queen and helps the Skeezites to try to eat all her friends. This is in a movie that is meant for little girls, I can't see how this was approved for release. This movie doesn't have the attributes of the other movies, it's too scary. My daughter keeps asking for us to "skip this part" because it's too scary. This movie only teaches our children they are too small and someone is always tryng to get them.

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