Barbie and Her Sisters in a Pony Tale

"If you love something, set it free."

– Barbie

Barbie & Her Sisters in A Pony Tale is the 26th Barbie movie. It was released direct to DVD, Blu-ray and Digital Copy on October 22, 2013. The TV premiere on Nickelodeon was on December 8, 2013. The movie follows Barbie and her sisters Skipper, Stacie and Chelsea as they visit a horse-riding academy in the Alps, and Barbie encounters a legendary herd of horses.

Summary[]

"Barbie and her sisters set off on a Swiss adventure to the majestic Alps, where they're excited to spend the summer at a fun filled riding academy! Barbie can't wait to find a new horse to bring back to Malibu. Stacie is super excited to prove she's an amazing equestrian. All Chelsea wants to do is ride the big horses, and Skipper's more interested in writing about the great outdoors than experiencing it. The sisters' vacation gets off to a rocky start, but when Barbie discovers a mysterious wild horse in the woods, their visit becomes truly magical."

Plot[]

Barbie, Skipper, Stacie, and Chelsea are visiting their Aunt Marlene at the Alpine Riding Academy for the summer. Barbie wants to find a horse to take back to Malibu, Stacie wants to prove she’s great at equestrian, Chelsea just wants to ride the big horses, and Skipper is more interested in her tablet than riding. At the academy, Chelsea is matched with a little pony named Dash, much to her dismay. And Stacie’s horse Pepper, annoyed by her boasting, constantly humiliates her. Barbie ends up choosing a thoughbread named Finian. While on a walk lead by riding master Etienne, Barbie sees a mysteriou horse with a pink streak in its mane. That evening, Barbie sees the same horse on the academy logo and asks Etienne about it.

Cast[]

Kelly Sheridan as Barbie
Kazumi Evans as Skipper
Claire Corlett as Stacie
Ashlyn Drummond as Chelsea
Alex Kelly as Marlene
Tabitha St. Germain as Max
Shannon Chan-Kent as Marie
Colin Murdock as Monsieur Etienne, and the tournament announcer
Peter Kelamis as Monsieur Philippe
Maxine Miller as Madame Cheynet
Cole Howard as Jonas
Gabe Khouth as Albain
Theo Bell as Theo

Non-Speaking Characters[]

Majesty and the Majestique herd.
Marie and Max's dogs, Popcorn and Sebastian.
The Alpine horses - Pepper, Dash, Finian, Reynaud and Juniper.
Barnaby the goat.
Philippe's horse Hurricane.

Release[]

The film was initially released on October 22nd, 2013 on DVD, Blu-ray Combo Pack and digital copy. The bonus features are outtakes, a music video for the movie's theme song "You're the One" performed by Heavynn Gates, the music video for "Barbie Life in the Dreamhouse Theme Song" performed by Allie Feder, and the Barbie Life in the Dreamhouse episodes "Gone Glitter Gone - Part 1" and "Gone Glitter Gone - Part 2".

There is also a Trailer Gallery on the DVD and Blu-ray releases with trailers for Barbie: Life in the Dreamhouse, the Barbie Premium Experience only on Royal Caribbean International, Barbie: Mariposa & the Fairy Princess, Barbie in The Pink Shoes, Barbie The Princess & the Popstar, Barbie The Pearl Princess, Barbie in A Mermaid Tale, Barbie in A Mermaid Tale 2, Barbie Princess Charm School, Barbie A Fairy Secret, Barbie A Fashion Fairytale and the Barbie Movie Collection, which advertises all of the Barbie movies up to Barbie and The Three Musketeers (excluding The Barbie Diaries).

Barbie & Her Sisters in A Pony Tale did not get its own section on Barbie.com, but when it was released, the Barbie.com homepage advertised it and a Coloring Storybook was made available to print, but the link to it expired when the homepage changed. In the Videos section of Barbie.com as well as the official Barbie YouTube channel, the Bloopers, Music Video and Trailer were made available to watch. The teaser trailer was never added to Barbie.com or the YouTube channel, and was first seen on the Barbie: Mariposa & the Fairy Princess DVD and Blu-ray releases.

A launch event in the US took place in New York City on from 2-5pm on October 22nd called "Pony Up" and girls of all ages were invited to receive a Barbie-inspired ponytail. There were five options from Barbie's Look Book that were illustrated by designer Robert Best. Stylists from John Barrett Salon used a pop-up salon to create the looks. TimeToPlayMag.com covered the event in a YouTube video.

In the UK, Barbie and The Pony Club collaborated to have a Barbie Pony Tale Experience Day on Saturday 26th and Sunday 27th October. It was a free, interactive day for children aged 3-11 years old to learn about horses and horse-riding. No prior horse-riding experience was necessary to attend. Each class took photos and videos of their activities and were judged by The Pony Club. The winner got to meet Charlotte Dujardin, who won two gold medals for her horse-riding in the London 2012 Summer Olympics.

Bloopers[]

Popcorn jumps onto a haystack that Sebastian is lying on, which sends Sebastian flying into the air. Marlene catches Sebastian, and then catches Popcorn, Barnaby and a horse.
After Max delivers a line, a horse's tail whips him in the face.
When Barbie rides Majesty for the first time, Majesty jumps and then stops in mid-air and drops.
Take 1 of Philippe falling off his horse during the Pacific Steeplechase is shown and he lands on the ground in front of some manure.
While Barbie is riding Majesty, she gets knocked off by a tree branch and Majesty keeps running.
As Etienne begins to talk to Barbie about the Majestiques, a horse hits him in the face with its tail.
In the same scene, Philippe also gets hit in the face by a horse's tail.
Take 43 of Philippe falling off his horse is shown and he falls out of the shot.
When Marlene tells Skipper she may have to sell Alpine Academy, a horse tail whips her in the back of the head.
Take 91 of Philippe falling off his horse is shown and he hits some manure head first. Someone off camera says, "That's just weird."
After Barbie lets Majesty go free, Marlene says Majesty and Barbie will meet again. Immediately, Majesty appears grinning behind Barbie and Marlene, and they laugh.
Take 276 of Philippe falling off the horse is shown and he finally lands in the manure as planned, but is told to try it once more with "feeling".
In the Alpine Academy stable, the horses dance in sync.
Take 957 of Philippe falling off the horse is shown and it has become dark outside since Take 276. Philippe lands in the manure but someone says that they weren't recording.

Trivia[]

This was the first Barbie movie to be animated by Arc Productions, followed by Barbie & Her Sisters in The Great Puppy Adventure and Barbie: Star Light Adventure. Arc Productions also did pre-production for Barbie & Her Sisters in A Puppy Chase.
Arc Productions also animated the series Barbie: Life in the Dreamhouse from 2012 onwards. In the episode "Mission Impawsibble", there is a poster for Barbie & Her Sisters in A Pony Tale in a movie theater.
The Majestique breed was inspired by a real breed of horses which Hannibal used to cross the Swiss Alps.
"Pony Tale" is a pun on the word "ponytail".
The license plate on the camper is 1959, which is the year Barbie debuted.
This is the first movie to mention the Roberts' surname.
Marie mentions Kartoffelkuchen, which is potato cake.
The music heard during the dance is Mozart's "A Little Night Music".
Marie says "konnichiwa" to Etienne when he arrives at the dance party. It means "hello" in Japanese.
The other horses in the tournament are named King's Cross, Teacher's Pet, Prima Donna, Way to Go, Raclette, and Creme Brulee.
Stacie loses her competition to a girl named Stephanie Cota. When the movie came out, Stephanie Cota was the Mattel senior vice president for Barbie marketing. Stephanie Cota's name is in the end credits under "Special Thanks."
The plot has several similarities to similar to Barbie A Fashion Fairytale:
- Barbie's aunts' name begins with an "M".
- Barbie visits her aunt who lives in Europe and runs a business there.
- Barbie's aunt's business has financial trouble so Barbie and another character come up with a way to save the business from being shut down.
- The antagonist sabotages the business and the protagonists' efforts.
- Barbie and the other protagonists ultimately succeed in saving Barbie's aunt's business.

Goofs[]

Chelsea draws a picture at the beginning of the movie. When she shows it to Marlene later, the picture is different.
When Marie begins bringing in Stacie's luggage, it is pink. When the door opens to the Roberts sisters' room, the luggage is blue. At the end of the movie, the luggage is pink again.
In the scene where Skipper talks to Marlene about Alpine's future, Skipper brings her tablet with her but it is gone later in the scene.
When Barbie and her sisters are giving Marie a makeover for the dance, none of the clothing or shoes they use ends up in her final outfit.
When Philippe and Etienne argue at the dance, Etienne's jacket clips through his pocket square.
Jonas wears his riding outfit after Chelsea falls off the big horse, even though he was wearing a formal outfit moments before when he was indoors.
During the final race, Barbie's sisters wear their casual outfits. However, when the race is finally over, the sisters' are wearing their horse-riding outfits.
At the end, Marie says she and Popcorn packed the bags, but when Popcorn comes out of Stacie's bag, it is empty.
The direction of Skipper's face is wrong when she asked "Why on Earth?" to Chelsea, and yet her mouth didn't move in the first 2 seconds.

Also Known As[]

Croatian - Barbie i njezine sestre u priči o poniju
Hungarian - Barbie é Húgai: Um casal de namorados
French - Barbie et ses Soeurs au Club Hippique
German - Barbie und ihre Schwestern im Pferdeglück
Italian - Barbie e il Cavallo Leggendario
Spanish - Barbie y sus Hermanas en una aventura de caballos
Albanian - Barbie dhe Motrat e Saj në një Përrallë Kuajsh
Portuguese - Barbie e as suas Irmãs numa Aventura de Cavalos
Brazilian Portuguese - Barbie e Suas Irmãs em uma Aventura de Cavalos
Polish - Barbie i jej siostry w Krainie Kucyków
Turkish - Barbie ve Kız Kardeşlerinin At Binicilik Okulu
Czech - Barbie a Poníková akademie
Dutch - Barbie en Haar Zusjes in een Pony Avontuur
Russian - Барби и ее сестры в сказке о пони
Greek - Barbie & οι αδερφούλες της στην Ακαδημία των Πόνυ
Persian - باربی و خواهرانش در افسانه اسب سواری
Arabic - باربي وأخواتها في حكاية المهر
Thai - บาร์บี้ กับม้าน้อยแสนรัก
Chinese - 芭比姐妹与小马
Hindi - बार्बी एण्ड हर सिस्टर्स इन ए पोनी टेल
Tamil - Barbie & ஹேர் லிஸ்டேர்ஸ் இன் போணி டேல்
Sindhi - باربي اينڊ حر سسٽرس ان پوني ٽيل
Hebrew - ברבי ואחיותיה באקדמיית הרכיבה
Japanese - バービーと姉妹のポニーの大冒険