Greta Gerwig’s Barbie has commanded nearly all the attention surrounding the franchise for close to three years now. That said, before this live-action phenomenon could sweep over in 2023, and beyond the dolls themselves, what truly established the Barbie franchise over the last few decades were the animated movies and shows.
In fact, twenty years later, many of Mattel and Mainframe’s old animated Barbie movies remain classics, though this hasn’t made streaming them any easier. Fortunately, just as these movies were verging on becoming lost media, Mattel has made streaming classic Barbie movies easier than ever, starting with one of its most memorable hits.
Barbie In The 12 Dancing Princesses Is Streaming For Free On YouTube
Towards the end of May, Mattel took a major initiative towards making its Barbie animated catalog more accessible, uploading many of its newer movies and shows to the official Barbie YouTube channel. Of the classic Barbie movies, only Barbie and the Magic of Pegasus was available so far. However, Barbie in the 12 Dancing Princesses has also now joined the collection.
It’s Official: Barbie Is Getting Their Own Manga Thanks to Mattel’s New Deal
Mattel and TOKYOPOP have made a deal to create Barbie and Hot Wheels manga, set to release in 2026.
The 2006 classic is now available to stream completely for free on Barbie’s official YouTube channel and in full HD resolution. The same goes for Barbie and the Magic of Pegasus, which also includes the post-credit bloopers. In addition to these two classics, the channel has also added many of the newer animated films, series, specials, and spin-offs. The whole catalog currently available for free on YouTube includes:
- Barbie in the 12 Dancing Princesses
- Barbie and the Magic of Pegasus
- Barbie & Her Sisters in A Pony Tale
- Barbie & Chelsea: The Birthday Do-Over
- Barbie Best Friends Forever
- Barbie Happy Dreamday
- Barbie A Touch of Magic
- Barbie & Teresa: Recipe For Friendship
- Barbie And Barbie On Set
- Barbie Doll Adventures: Lost In Doll World
- Barbie Dream Besties
- Barbie Doll Adventures
- Barbie Dream Magic
- Barbie Fashion Stories
- Barbie Summer Adventure
- Barbie Dream Squad
- Barbie Fashion Fun For Everyone
- Barbie Camp Sister Switch
- Barbie Dreamtopia: The Series
Unfortunately, this list does not include the iconic 2012 Barbie: Life in the Dreamhouse series, which still remains a Netflix exclusive. Many of the other classic Barbie movies have also yet to be added to the YouTube catalog, though it’s likely more will be uploaded with time.
Barbie’s 2000s Animated Movies Are Still Just As Iconic
All in all, Mattel finally making its Barbie catalog more accessible is a major win for fans, especially as far as the older releases are concerned. Having been released two decades ago, Barbie’s old classics were on the verge of becoming lost media. There are many who grew up with these classics and still view them with great nostalgia, but until now there was realistically no way to revisit them anymore unless you just so happened to own them on a DVD from twenty years ago.
From Barbie in the Nutcracker to Barbie and the Three Musketeers, these classic movies released between 2001 to 2009 may not have been revolutionary as far as their animation is concerned; at least they may not seem so after all these years. However, Rainmaker Animation, or rather Mainframe Studios, did put a lot of very apparent care into these releases, with strong character designs and smooth motion capture animation that makes every dance sequence feel just as real today.
Furthermore, what these movies lacked in visuals they more than made up for with strong, well-written, heartfelt stories, solid characterization, memorable scores and songs, and meaningful messaging. So, with many of these movies set to come to YouTube for free soon, now’s the best time to dive back into Barbie’s classics, as they do certainly hold up after all these years, at least in the ways that matter most.
- TV Show(s)
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Barbie: Dreamtopia, Barbie: It Takes Two, Barbie: Life in the City, Barbie: Dreamhouse Adventures, Barbie: Life in the Dreamhouse
- Video Game(s)
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Barbie (1984), Barbie: Explorer, Barbie: Game Girl
- Created by
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Ruth Handler