Line #119 WesternAnimation/BarbieInTheTwelveDancingPrincesses


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/barbie_12_dancing_princesses_better_image.png]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:"[[TagLine There is a difference only you can make.]]"[[note]]Left to right: Ashlyn, Lacey, Edeline, Delia, Genevieve, Courtney, Blair. Not pictured: Fallon, Hadley, Isla, Janessa, Kathleen[[/note]]]]
3	''WesternAnimation/{{Barbie}} in the 12 Dancing Princesses'' is a 2006 DirectToVideo movie from Mattel about the story of 12 unusual princesses, based loosely on Creator/TheBrothersGrimm [[Literature/TheTwelveDancingPrincesses tale of the same name]].
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5	Franchise/{{Barbie}} stars in the movie as Princess Genevieve, the seventh of her kingdom's [[MassivelyNumberedSiblings twelve princesses]]. She, her eleven alphabetically-named sisters (Ashlyn, Blair, Courtney, Delia, Edeline, Fallon, the twins Hadley and Isla, and then the triplets, Janessa, Kathleen and Lacey) and their father, King Randolph, live their lives as happily as possible after the death of the Queen. However, the free-spirited and cheerful girls are looked down on for their "ungraceful" behaviors, so Randolph summons his cousin, Duchess Rowena, to serve as their chaperone. Rowena quickly seizes control of the court, bans the girls' beloved dancing and singing and, with her NumberTwo Desmond, begins to brew a plan where she will poison King Randolph to death, get rid of the princesses, and reign as Queen.
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7	The princesses find comfort in their late mother's favorite story, which tells of a magical kingdom where golden flowers grant wishes and princesses can dance at an enchanted pavilion for three nights. The princesses realize that the story contains clues about how to enter the magical kingdom from their own bedroom, by dancing on specific stones on the floor. Now inside the magical kingdom, the princesses discover that the water there possesses healing properties, which gives them hope to help their father, whose health is starting to fail. Soon they're joined by the handsome Royal Cobbler Derek, who has a huge crush on Genevieve, and his parrot Félix; together, the group must put the pieces of Rowena's plan together and stop her.
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10	!! ''Barbie in the Twelve Dancing Princesses'' shows examples of:
11	* AccidentalMisnaming: A RunningGag. Rowena never bothers to learn all the sisters' names (except Genevieve's). Forcing them all to wear the same drab clothing doesn't help her keep track of them, either. Courtney gets mistaken for Lacey, Edeline gets mistaken for Delia, and both Fallon and Kathleen get mistaken for Blair.
12	* AdvertisedExtra: Despite all the sisters being heavily featured in advertising, only two of the sisters, Genevieve and Lacey, get any decent amount of screentime or CharacterDevelopment. The rest of the sisters mostly serve as background characters with little development. You could remove around half of them, and the plot would not drastically change.
13	* AlliterativeList: At the beginning of the movie, there's a visitor from another kingdom and said visitor mentions several reasons his home kingdom is famous. All reasons start with the letter P.
14	* AlphabeticalThemeNaming: The sisters' names are all alphabetical, starting with A down to L. (Ashlyn, Blair, Courtney, Delia, Edeline, Fallon, Genevieve, Hadley, Isla, Janessa, Kathleen and Lacey).
15	%%* AmbiguouslyBrown: Desmond.
16	* AnimatedArmor: In the climax, [[spoiler:Rowena uses the magic flower to bring two suits of armor to life.]]
17	* AwardBaitSong: "Shine", a power ballad which plays over the closing credits. It's the first and only ''Barbie'' song to be nominated for a Daytime Emmy, but it lost to "Q Without U" from ''Series/BetweenTheLions''.
18	* BigDamnHeroes: Lacey saves some of the water from the magical world, which she uses in the climax to revive Randolph.
19	* BitchInSheepsClothing: Duchess Rowena. She acts nice to the princesses at first, especially in front of their father, but soon begins to treat them cruelly, including banning them from enjoying their favorite pastimes, replacing their brightly colored dresses with dull, drab clothing, and forcing them to do servants' work after catching them in [[CassandraTruth what she thought was a lie]].
20	* BlondeBrunetteRedhead: The triplets, Lacey (blonde), Janessa (brunette), and Kathleen (redhead).
21	* {{Bookworm}}: Courtney, the third eldest sister, is always seen walking around with her nose in a book.
22	* BugCatching: This is Janessa's hobby. A minor RunningGag is that her pet insects keep escaping and she has to chase them down.
23	* CassandraTruth: Rowena initially doesn't believe the girls when they tell her about the magical world and how dancing there was the reason why their shoes were worn out, instead believing that the girls were sneaking out to dance with princes. It's only when Brutus accidentally discovers the code to the gateway which leads Rowena there does the villainess realize the girls were telling the truth.
24	* ChekhovsGun: The water from the magical world which heals anything it touches. Lacey uses it to save Randolph from dying.
25	* ColorCodedCharacters: Each of the princesses' dresses is a distinct color:
26	** Ashlyn: Violet
27	** Blair: Red
28	** Courtney: Royal blue
29	** Delia: Green
30	** Edeline: Orange
31	** Fallon: Orchid pink
32	** Genevieve: Hot pink
33	** Hadley: Teal
34	** Isla: Purple
35	** Janessa: Sky blue
36	** Kathleen: Tangerine
37	** Lacey: Lilac
38	* CoolBigSis: Lacey looks up to Blair for her horseriding, Courtney for her literacy, Delia and Edeline for their sportsmanship, and Genevieve for her dancing.
39	* ContrivedCoincidence: This is how the girls find out that the magical entrance from their mother's story is real - when Lacey stumbles and drops her book, it ends up landing just by the corresponding flower on the floor, turning the girls' attention to the fact that all of them have a flower tile corresponding to their copies of the book.
40	* CuteClumsyGirl: Lacey, who trips and knocks things over several times throughout the movie.
41	* ChekhovsGun: The fans that the girls were forced to use by Rowena are used again when [[spoiler: Genevieve fans the flower's spell Rowena cast back onto her]]. Also, the magic water from the fountain.
42	* ChekhovsSkill: Almost all of the girls' talents come in real handy when they [[spoiler: invade the palace now run by Rowena.]]
43	** Blair loves riding, so she and Courtney [[spoiler: dismounts one of Rowena's guards, and she takes the horse to fetch the doctor for their father as fast as she can]].
44	** In their introduction, Delia and Edeline are playing croquet through the throne room, and Delia accidentally knocks off Randolph's crown by using "too much wrist" in the shot. In the finale they [[spoiler: weaponise this to knock out two of Rowena's guards]].
45	** Isla and Hadley [[spoiler: trick two guards into chasing them and running off a stone wall into a hedge]] using their stilts.
46	*** Even before they [[spoiler: return to the palace]], it's Courtney, the bookworm of the sisters, who reminds everyone that, according to their mother's tale, they could only go to the dancing pavilion three times before the world vanished.
47	* DaddysGirl: All twelve of the princesses adore their father and vice versa, but Genevieve and Lacey, are particularly close to him.
48	* DanceOfRomance: Performed at the end by Genevieve and Derek so that everyone can escape imprisonment in their mother's storybook land.
49	* DancePartyEnding: Fittingly, the movie ends with everyone dancing to celebrate Genevieve and Derek's marriage.
50	* DancingIsSeriousBusiness: The main plot kicks off because Duchess Rowena believes dancing in unladylike and bans the princesses from doing it.
51	* DeadpanSnarker: Derek's parrot, Felix, often to his owner. Derek gets back at him later when he sells his horse instead of the parrot for Genevieve's mother's goblet.
52	--> '''Derek:''' What's the matter, Felix? Nothing to say?
53	--> '''Felix:''' Uh...thanks.
54	* DisneyDeath: Randolph falls ill thanks to Rowena poisoning him, but before he fully passes away, he is healed by the water Lacey saved from the magical world.
55	* EntertaininglyWrong: When Rowena realizes the princesses have been out dancing, she immediately jumps to the conclusion that they're dancing with princes. This doubles as a ShoutOut to the original fairy tale.
56	* EstablishingCharacterMoment: The opening introduction of the princesses, where nearly all of them end up interrupting the King Randolph's audience with an emissary from another kingdom, who was inviting them to a ball. King Randolph takes it all in good humour, despite being a little thrown by their antics.
57	** The triplets -- Janessa, Kathleen and Lacey -- run in to show their father the blue beetle that they found. Lacey is chasing after the other two and trying to catch up, establishing her as the youngest and most insecure of her sisters.
58	** Delia and Edeline are playing croquet through the room, and Delia's shot accidentally knocks off Randolph's crown.
59	** Isla and Hadley enter on their stilts and end up toppling over when the triplets crash into them.
60	** The other sisters are introduced coming in to dinner: Ashlyn, the eldest and most demure, greets her father and sits down; Courtney bumps into a chair because she's got her nose in a book; and Genevieve is late but arrives in time to catch Twyla before she falls off the table.
61	* FaceplantingIntoFood: Hadley faceplants into her breakfast after staying up all night dancing.
62	* FlowerMotifs: Each of the princesses has a special flower they're associated with, and said flowers can be seen on their gowns and on their individual copies of their mother's storybook.
63	** Ashlyn: Geranium
64	** Blair: Larkspur
65	** Courtney: Forget-me-not
66	** Delia: Sunflower
67	** Edeline: Honeysuckle
68	** Fallon: Camellia
69	** Genevieve: Pink rose
70	** Hadley: Narcissus
71	** Isla: Lily of the valley
72	** Janessa: Jonquil
73	** Kathleen: Daisy
74	** Lacey: White lily
75	* EveryoneCanSeeIt: Genevieve's sisters tease her about her obvious interest in Derek. Derek's parrot encourages him to confess his feelings for Genevieve but Derek believes he has no chance with a princess.
76	* EverythingsBetterWithSparkles: At the end of the DanceOfRomance, Genevieve's dress flares up with sparkles due to the magic.
77	* {{Facepalm}}: Derek does one near the end of the film when Felix says something embarrassing.
78	* FinishingEachOthersSentences: Hadley and Isla often talk like this.
79	* GemstoneMotifs: Each of the twelve sisters have a favorite gemstone that they are associated with.
80	** Ashlyn: Garnet[[note]]Love, courage, passion [[/note]]
81	** Blair: Ruby[[note]]Royalty, protection, friendship[[/note]]
82	** Courtney: Sapphire[[note]]Wisdom, intelligence, good fortune[[/note]]
83	** Delia: Peridot[[note]]Strength, willpower, responsibility[[/note]]
84	** Edeline: Citrine[[note]]Optimism, creativity[[/note]]
85	** Fallon: Pearl[[note]]Purity, patience, love[[/note]]
86	** Genevieve: Pink opal[[note]]Love, gentleness, healing[[/note]]
87	** Hadley: Topaz[[note]]Prosperity[[/note]]
88	** Isla: Emerald[[note]]Endurance, growth[[/note]]
89	** Janessa: Aquamarine[[note]]Creativity, confidence[[/note]]
90	** Kathleen: Pink diamond[[note]]Compassion, femininity[[/note]]
91	** Lacey: Amethyst[[note]]Positivity, peace[[/note]]
92	* GoodPrincessEvilQueen: The twelve heroines' departed mother, Queen Isabella, was described as a good queen and loving mother. They actually outrank the film's villain, Duchess Rowena, [[TheUsurper but Rowena's schemes lead to her on the throne]] and the twelve sisters have to work together to save their father and take back the kingdom.
93	* GodSaveUsFromTheQueen: Zig-zagged. Queen Isabella, the princesses' late mother, is described as a good queen.[[spoiler: Queen Rowena]], however, fits the trope perfectly, hiring her own mercenaries to serve as guards and ordering the princesses imprisoned on a flimsy pretext so they can't threaten her reign.
94	* GracefulLadiesLikePurple: Ashlyn has a lavender motif and is the most graceful of the sisters.
95	* HappyBirthdayToYou: The princesses sing a birthday song they made up to the triplets. It gets rudely interrupted when Rowena barges in on them.
96	* HealItWithWater: The water in the magical world possesses healing powers; Genevieve uses it to heal a cut on Lacey's foot, and [[spoiler:Lacey saves some of it to heal Randolph from Rowena's poison]].
97	* HeldGaze: Derek and Genevieve have one where they stare into each other's eyes before coming together for a [[DanceOfRomance dance]].
98	* HighClassFan: One of Duchess Rowena's lessons for the princesses is how to gracefully flutter a hand fan. Most of them succeed, though Fallon struggles to open her fan, and Courtney flutters hers too hard.
99	* IJustWantToBeBadass: Twyla believes that she is a descendant of Indian tigers.
100	* IJustWantToBeSpecial: Lacey admits that she feels inferior to her older siblings with their wealth of talents. Compared to them, she doesn't think she has anything unique to offer.
101	* InvoluntaryDance: At the end, [[spoiler:Rowena tries to inflict this onto Genevieve]], but she [[HoistByHisOwnPetard uses her fan to blow the spell back.]]
102	* LongingLook: Derek gives this frequently to Genevieve, most often when she isn't looking.
103	* LoopholeAbuse: Using the bedroom portal to the magical world was the only way the princesses could escape their room without Desmond seeing them.
104	* MagicalSeventhSon: Genevieve is the seventh of the girls ''and'' TheHeroine.
105	* ManiacMonkeys: Brutus, Rowena's pet monkey, causes nothing but grief to the princesses and Twyla. He tends to laugh maniacally while causing trouble.
106	* MassiveNumberedSiblings: As in the original fairy tale, the story focuses on twelve royal sisters, which includes two sets of twins ''and'' a set of triplets.
107	* MissingMom: Queen Isabella, the princesses' mother, died before the movie begins.
108	%%* MrFanservice: Derek.
109	* MusicalisInterruptus: The princesses' birthday celebration for the triplets is suddenly interrupted when Rowena barges in on them.
110	* MythologyGag:
111	** Rowena assumes the princesses have been sneaking out to dance with princes. In the original fairy tale, the princesses really were dancing with princes, though in the movie they're just indulging in a beloved pastime Rowena has forbidden.
112	** At one point, some of the princesses wish for princes to dance with. The magic obliges by animating statues to act as partners for them.
113	* NoHuggingNoKissing: A common element in the Barbie movies. We don't even see Derek and Genevieve kiss at the end at their wedding.
114	* MisplacedAccent: All the characters talk with Canadian or British accents (or an Indian accent in Felix's case). The story is based on a German fairytale.
115	* ParrotPetPosition: Derek's pet parrot Felix, naturally.
116	* PimpedOutDress: The princesses all wear brightly-colored dresses with lace trim and flowers before Rowena forces them to change into drab clothes. They later get slightly modified versions of these dresses back when they ask the magic of the hidden world to outfit them for ballet.
117	* ThePowerOfLove: This is implied to be what frees the princesses when [[spoiler:Rowena destroys the gateway and traps them in the magic world. It takes a DanceOfRomance between Derek and Genevieve to open a new exit.]]
118	* PrincessClassic: Most of the princesses are modeled on this, Genevieve most of all. They might be active and sporty to the point where their father brings in a tutor to make them more ladylike, but they love their father and take their duties as princesses seriously.
119	* PrincessesPreferPink: Genevieve and Fallon both wear pink dresses.
120	* ProperLady: Ashlyn, the eldest sister and therefore the heir to the throne, is very demure and polite.
121	* TheQuietOne: Ashlyn and Courtney rarely speak -- Ashlyn is implied to be a demure ProperLady, while Courtney is always lost in a book.
122	* RaceAgainstTheClock: The last third of the film becomes this as the poisoning tea Rowena gives Randolph becomes worse and more effective.
123	* RackFocus: During the birthday scene, we get a close-up of Twyla which shifts its focus to Brutus spying on the princesses from outside the door in the background.
124	* RidiculouslyCuteCritter: Twyla. She wouldn't be as marketable otherwise.
125	* RuleOfThree: The magical world can only be visited three times, then it will vanish forever.
126	* SameSexTriplets: Janessa, Kathleen, and Lacey, the youngest of the twelve princesses, are triplets. While they look very alike, they don't seem to be identical since they have different hair colors.
127	* ShipperOnDeck: Fallon is ecstatic when she realises that Derek and Genevieve have to dance ''together.''
128	--> '''Fallon''': Oh, how romantic!
129	* SingleMindedTwins: Hadley and Isla are basically a unit, and usually speak by one starting and the other ending.
130	* StandardHeroReward: This trope is implied to be the reason [[spoiler:Princess Genevieve's father allowed her to marry Derek the royal cobbler]].
131	* SubordinateExcuse: Desmond obviously has ''something'' for Rowena. She has nothing but contempt for him.
132	* TalkingAnimal: Derek's parrot Felix. Also Twyla and Brutus, [[AnimalTalk but only when humans are not around.]]
133	* ThemeNaming: The princesses, from oldest to youngest, have names beginning with consecutive letters of the alphabet: '''A'''shlyn, '''B'''lair, '''C'''ourtney, '''D'''elia, '''E'''deline, '''F'''allon, '''G'''enevieve, '''H'''adley, '''I'''sla, '''J'''anessa, '''K'''athleen, and '''L'''acey.
134	* TheOneGuy: Derek's the only male on the princess team. Well, if you don't count the parrot.
135	* TrueBlueFemininity: Courtney, Janessa, and Hadley all wear shades of blue.
136	* TomboyPrincess: Blair, Isla, Hadley, and Janessa all have hobbies that aren't particularly feminine. Blair likes riding horses, Isla and Hadley run around on stilts, and Janessa collects insects. Justified in the case of the latter three, as they're among the youngest princesses and it would be odd if they ''didn't'' act like rambunctious kids at least some of the time.
137	%%* {{UST}}: Between Derek and Genevieve.
138	* UptownGirl: Royal Cobbler Derek loves Princess Genevieve but doesn't believe he has any chances with her. "She's a Princess."
139	* WhamShot: The scene where Rowena dumps the elixir meant to help Randolph into a plant, which reveals she's poisoning him.
140	* YouHaveToBelieveMe: The princesses, especially Genevieve and Lacey, to Rowena when she brushes off their claims about the magical world.
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142	->''There’s a difference only you can make.''

Context WesternAnimation / BarbieInTheTwelveDancingPrincesses