Classic Barbie Movies Are Back: Here’s How You Can Stream ’12 Dancing Princesses’ and More
2000s kids rejoice; Barbie is back
Mattel began releasing straight-to-VHS (and later, DVD) Barbie films in 2001 with “Barbie in the Nutcracker.” The company kept making Barbie-branded movies and TV shows for the past 25 years, even making deals with Netflix for exclusive streaming rights for newer titles.
But those original Barbie movies—the ones you grew up with if you’re in your late twenties, early thirties—never really made it to streaming. You could find them on video-on-demand (VOD) well enough, but you couldn’t just open a streaming service and watch them, much less for free. Sometimes you could count on an unofficial YouTube reupload, but those were always at the mercy of Mattel’s copyright lawyers.
Until this year. On April 25, Mattel officially uploaded the entirety of “Barbie and the Magic of Pegasus” (2005) to the Barbie YouTube channel. And it didn’t stop there. A few days ago, on May 30, Mattel checked off the next movie on its list, uploading the entirety of “Barbie in the 12 Dancing Princesses.” Not just clips! The full movie.
I know I’m going to pull out my old dolls and prepare for a throwback movie night. Keep reading to find out how you can do the same.
How to watch ‘Barbie in the 12 Dancing Princesses’ (2006)
“Barbie in the 12 Dancing Princesses” was Mattel’s ninth Barbie movie, and was based on a fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm. In the movie, Genevieve and her 11 sisters all love to dance ballet. But their new governess, the Duchess Rowena, arrives to make their lives miserable, so they retreat to a magical refuge where they can dance to their hearts’ content.
It helps that they’re all friends with a cobbler who can replace their worn-out shows.
You can watch the entire film using the embedded video below, or at this link. Then continue your marathon with our guide to watching every Barbie movie.
What other Barbie movies are coming to YouTube?
It seems like Mattel plans on uploading about one classic Barbie movie per month. But we don’t know which films will be included, or in what order. “Magic of Pegasus” and “12 Dancing Princesses” were the sixth and ninth Barbie movies, respectively.
It also seems like Mattel is sprinkling in some more modern Barbie films. They technically began this effort with “Barbie & Her Sisters in A Pony Tale” (2013) on January 24 and “Barbie: Big City, Big Dreams” (2021) on March 14. But the latter released on Netflix, so its YouTube premiere feels less exciting.
According to an announcement Mattel made earlier in the year, all of this nostalgia is meant to lead up to the “Barbie in the Nutcracker” reboot airing later this year on Netflix. So we know that “Barbie in the Nutcracker” (2001) will be in the mix. But we don’t know if the uploads will end once the new movie airs.
Regardless of how many movies Mattel uploads, I’d be willing to bet it’ll include “Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper” (2004). The Barbie YouTube channel has already uploaded the first two minutes of the film, and if they’re aiming for social media success, there’s no Barbie character more viral than Martin Short’s Preminger.
Well, maybe Bibble. So I wouldn’t be surprised to see “Barbie: Fairytopia” (2005) up there as well.
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