Every Barbie Movie Ranked Worst To Best (2024)

There isn't a more iconic toy than Barbie, and she has sparned a franchise where every Barbie movie seems to be completely different from the ones that came before. Anyone who has never seen a Barbie movie likely has no idea what they could be in store for if they sat down to watch the best ones. However, this ranges in time, as there have been four different eras in Barbie movies. The movies started in 2001 and featured some of the zaniest and out-of-this-world stories with Barbie going into space, to the depths of the ocean, and living a life that subverts any idea of what an animated princess is all about.

However, things changed in the early 2010s when Barbie became an actress, and the movies showed roles that she played, with the two prominent ones as a mermaid and a fairy. These ended up followed by a series of movies that took the entire franchise and geared it toward very young kids of pre-school and elementary levels, with life lessons told in more straightforward stories. However, in 2017, things changed again when Netflix began airing every Barbie movie and offered a mix of zany and kid-friendly options. With a new Barbie live-action movie coming soon, the best might be yet to come.

RELATED: 16 Ken Costumes Ryan Gosling Wears In The Barbie Movie, Ranked

42 Barbie In Princess Power (2015)

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  • Rent on Prime Video & Apple TV

This Barbie movie involves a few themes that don't seem like they fit together: a princess and a superhero. The princess and the superhero, Super Sparkle have to fight the villain Baron Von Ravendale to save the kingdom. The biggest problem with this movie was that the great animation that every Barbie movie is known for was not on display here. The plot here was also rather generic, although as with all Barbie movies, it had solid lessons about friendship and working together. This was the time period when Barbie movies dropped in quality, leading to Netflix eventually taking over.

41 Barbie And The Secret Door (2014)

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  • Rent on Prime Video & Apple TV

In this film, Barbie plays Princess Alexa, who finds a secret door in her castle garden that leads to a magical world outside the only one she's ever known. She has to battle with the evil Malucia, who wants to take over control of the lands. The setup here was that it was a coming-of-age movie, where Princess Alexa could learn more about herself and grow. Instead, it is just about her leaving her home and finding magic and not really learning anything in the process. On the positive side, the Barbie villain Malucia was a treat and had the best lines and songs in the movie.

40 Barbie Diaries (2006)

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  • Rent on Prime Video & Apple TV

This film answers the question, "What if a diary could grant the wishes of a high school sophomore?" When Barbie discovers that her diary can do just that, she uses it to get ahead in her dream of being on the high school TV station and getting together with Todd, her rival's ex-boyfriend. This was unusual compared to every Barbie movie because here Barbie is a typical American teenager and that really took away what makes her special. It also is highly comparable with better romantic comedies of the same era, and this animated movie falls short in that aspect.

39 Barbie Spy Squad (2016)

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  • Rent on Prime Video & Apple TV

Totally Spies may be one of the better shows of the early '00s Cartoon Network, but Barbie Spy Squad is its Mattel equivalent. Barbie and her friends suit up to fight crime as a trio of spies solving a gem robbery in this fun flick. Honestly, the best description is that this is a Barbie version of Charlie's Angels, with three Barbies in action fighting crime. However, unlike that movie (and before that television) franchise, this is mostly a generic action movie with Barbie and her friends using acrobatic skills to stop bad guys and that is about it.

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38 Barbie Princess Adventure (2020)

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  • Streaming now on Netflix

In a movie that is a lot like the Princess Switch Trilogy, Barbie switches places with Princess Amelia to see how the royal half lives. Although, instead of another Barbie lookalike trying to sabotage things, it's a prince from another land. Sadly, this movie brought back memories of the 2004 Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper movie, which was better in just about every way. While Netflix has done well since taking over every Barbie movie, this was a slight letdown, as it felt more like a Disney Princess movie and less like the Barbie movies that subverted those tropes.

37 Barbie: The Pearl Princess (2014)

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  • Rent on Prime Video & Apple TV

Barbie plays a mermaid named Lumina who has the power to change the color of pearls and make them dance. She was raised by her aunt and by a mishap and an adventure, she discovers that she may actually be the lost princess of the kingdom. The movie has the basic themes that fans of the franchise want, from a princess who doesn't know her roots, a magical land with animal (or fish) friends, and friends that seem to love each other. However, the franchise was not at its best here, and there are many Barbie movies that are more entertaining to watch.

36 Barbie & Chelsea: The Lost Birthday (2021)

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  • Streaming now on Netflix

Another Barbie movie featuring her family, this film follows Barbie and Chelsea as they try to celebrate Chelsea's seventh birthday which gets skipped by the two traveling over the international dateline. This is a movie meant for the little kids, which is a little unusual for the Netflix releases. However, the lessons learned are important, as this is about giving children autonomy on their own decisions and then crediting them when they do well. As with almost every Barbie movie on Netflix, it is well-animated and has a good lesson, but it just falls a little below the rest in terms of storytelling.

35 Barbie Presents: Thumbelina (2009)

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  • Rent on Prime Video & Apple TV

Countless classic fairytale stories have been retold set in the modern-day, and Barbie added her version to the roster and added their own spin to the story. Thumbelina has to save her home from being dug up at a construction site, with a message about preservation. The movie is mostly aimed at younger kids, as the themes in this tale are self-belief and that even the littlest of people can still make a difference in the end. That is also shown when Barbie, a teacher, narrates the story to her class.

34 Barbie: A Perfect Christmas (2011)

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  • Rent on Prime Video & Apple TV

Even Barbie needs a trope-filled holiday rom-com. Barbie, Skipper, Stacie, and Chelsea want to go to a rock concert to see their favorite band during the Christmas holidays, but the snowy weather causes them problems. This is a different tale, with Skipper as a blogger who writes songs and hopes that some band will agree to play them. The movie is a sweet and cheery Christmas tale, and the main message here is that being together with loved ones during the holidays will help make everything alright.

RELATED: 25 Best Christmas Movies On Netflix

33 Barbie And Her Sisters In A Puppy Chase (2016)

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  • Rent on Prime Video & Apple TV

When Barbie and her sisters Chelsea, Skipper, and Stacie travel to Hawaii with their pet puppies for Chelsea's dance competition things go awry when their furry friends suddenly go missing. There are some problems with this movie and that is specifically product placement, which seems almost overkill in a movie meant to basically sell toys anyway. However, it does have talking puppies, and that is always fun. It also has great dialogue, realistic obstacles getting in the hero's way of succeeding, and realistic characters that aren't just stereotypes. It is a decent release in an otherwise lackluster period for every Barbie movie.

32 Barbie: A Fairy Secret (2013)

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  • Rent on Prime Video & Apple TV

There's a bit of a love triangle in this Barbie movie, which is a welcome surprise to long-term fans. Shortly after finding out that fairies are real, Barbie has to save Ken from fairy princess Graciella, who has her heart set on him. This is an interesting tale, as Ken is with Barbie's fairy friends - but they are hiding their true nature from him. This story, unlike many others, is about friendship and romance and that makes it different from every Barbie movie. It is also good for kids, as it teaches that all friends have good and bad moments and actions have consequences.

31 Barbie Fairytopia: Magic Of The Rainbow (2007)

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  • Rent on Prime Video & Apple TV

In this Fairytopia sequel, Barbie travels all the way to the School For Fairies to hone her magical skills in anticipation of the season's first magical rainbow. This means Barbie returned as Elina, the good fairy who earned her wings. However, this is also a movie that is best suited for younger kids, with a simple story and characters without much depth. With that said, for the younger kids, the battle of good vs evil and the always entertaining Bibble makes this something that should make them happy.

30 Barbie & Her Sisters In The Great Puppy Adventure (2015)

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  • Rent on Prime Video & Apple TV

The Roberts girls go to visit their grandma in their hometown, Willows. When they get there, they discover an old treasure map in their grandma's attic and take their pet puppies as they try to follow it to the end. This takes Barbie, Skipper, Stacie, and Chelsea to the town where they were born and allows them a chance for an adventure in a very different place than usual. This is a fun movie, but as with most releases in the 2010s, it was meant more for the little kids with a simple story and life lessons, a slight step down from the previous decade's releases.

29 Barbie: Dolphin Magic (2017)

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  • Streaming now on Netflix

Barbie plays detective again in this ocean-themed film after a rare Gemstone dolphin goes missing at Ken's summer internship. She and her new friend, Isla, have to try to figure out what happened and locate the missing sea creature. This was the first Barbie movie on Netflix as the streaming giant became the home to the brand starting in 2017. This was also different from other recent Barbie movies because Netflix ensured they remained shorter in running time. The animation is great, and that was just the start for Netflix and every Barbie movie it released.

28 Barbie & Her Sisters In A Pony Tale (2013)

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  • Rent on Prime Video & Apple TV

Barbie is with her sisters again in this equestrian escapade to the Swiss Alps. Barbie is looking for a horse to bring back to Malibu while her sisters get themselves into some shenanigans and compete in a horse-riding tournament. This sees Barbie and her sisters, Skipper, Stacie, and Chelsea, go to Switzerland to visit their Aunt Marlene, who runs a horse stable. This continued the track of every Barbie movie released in the 2010s of focusing on the little ones and not giving too much drama, all while helping introduce younger fans to the Barbie doll lines.

27 Barbie: The Princess And The Popstar (2012)

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  • Rent now on DirecTV

The first of the more well-known Barbie movies is The Princess And The Popstar. Barbie plays Tory, who is a princess of Meribella and wants to pursue music instead of attending to royal duties. Her favorite popstar, Keira, visits the castle and the two discover that they can magically switch places. The movie has great voice acting and the songs are some of the best in the post-2010 releases. It also has great animation and really did things better than many movies released around the same time in this specific franchise.

26 Barbie Video Game Hero (2017)

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  • Rent on Prime Video & Apple TV

There are quite a few amazing Barbie video games for fans to play, but this takes the concept further and places Barbie inside the videogame world for a feature film where she's transported into the pixellated universes of three different games. This movie showed that Barbie was not only resourceful, brave, and loyal, but she was also really smart and picked up programming and video games instantly. The animation was also a huge step up from other movies released around this time, and the video game callbacks in the changing styles were brilliantly rendered.

25 Barbie In A Mermaid Tale 2 (2011)

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  • Rent on Prime Video & Apple TV

Merliah is a surfer girl, but also a magical mermaid princess in this aquatic adventure. When her magic necklace is stolen, her home city of Aquellia is in danger at the hands of the evil Elis--all while trying to compete in an Australian surf competition. The animation was fine, although not as good as movies released in the previous decade. The story was also good, but it did take a little while to get to the point, and then it just flew to the end, making it seem like you missed out on something. However, compared to many of the movies over the next few years, it was still a fun watch.

24 Barbie: Mermaid Power (2022)

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  • Streaming now on Netflix

Netflix began streaming every Barbie movie in 2017, and in 2022 they took on the classic Barbie movies in the mermaid world. Malibu and Brooklyn Barbie turn into mermaids in this movie to save a sea kingdom when Isla calls them for help. This movie takes on an interesting take for mermaid movies, as it has each mermaid learn if they are mermaids of Earth, Air, Water, or Fire - each coming with different powers. The story shares the themes of every Barbie movie, as it is a tale of friendship, adventure, and bravery. It is a fun adventure for modern-day Barbie movies.

RELATED: John Cena's Barbie Movie Role Confirmed (And He's No Normal Ken)

23 Barbie Mariposa And Her Butterfly Fairy Friends (2008)

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  • Rent on Prime Video & Apple TV

In the magical fairy city of Flutterfield, Fairytopia, Queen Marabella falls ill. It's up to Mariposa and her fairy friends to travel outside the city to find a cure for the queen and stop her envious attendant Henna from taking over Queen Marabella's place. The animation throughout the 2000s was beautiful, and that was no different with this movie. The story was also a nice one, as a quest was underway and that always makes every Barbie movie better in the end. It also helped that Mariposa was just a common fairy, making her more relatable to the kids watching at home.

Every Barbie Movie Ranked Worst To Best (2024)
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