Barbie: Princess Charm School

Barbie: Princess Charm School
DVD cover
Directed by	Zeke Norton
Starring	Diana Kaarina Morwenna Banks Nicole Oliver Brittney Wilson Ali Liebert Shannon Chan-Kent Tabitha St. Germain Kelly Metzger Kazumi Evans Anna Cummer Bethany Brown Brian Drummond Vincent Tong Derek Waters Miranda Ram-Nolte Cathy Weseluck Lee Tockar Rachel Franco
Music by	BC Smith
Production companies	Rainmaker Entertainment Mattel Entertainment
Distributed by	Universal Studios Home Entertainment
Release date	March 15, 2011 (2011-03-15)
Countries	United States Canada
Language	English

Barbie: Princess Charm School is a 2012 direct-to-DVD computer-animated film, directed by Zeke Norton, which was released on September 13, 2011, in the US and on August 28 in the UK. The film debuted on TV on October 22, 2011, when it was shown on Nick Jr..

Plot

In the kingdom of Gardania, teenage Blair Willows works as a waitress at a small café to support her sickly adoptive mother and younger sister Emily. Returning home, Blair is shocked to find out via a televised broadcast that she has won a lottery for a scholarship to become a Lady Royal — a princess’s advisor — at the prestigious Princess Charm School, a magical academy where princesses from different kingdoms are educated. Emily reveals that she signed up Blair for the lottery multiple times to ensure her selection. Blair's name was drawn for the lottery by Delancey, the daughter of Dame Devin, who is the sister-in-law of the late Queen Isabella. Devin explains, unprompted, that Delancey will be crowned princess and ruler of Gardania at the school's graduation ceremony. Despite Blair’s reluctance, her mother assures her that attending the school is a good opportunity.

Blair is immediately taken to school via carriage. She expresses some anxiety along the way when she accidentally spills tea and messes up applying lipstick in the moving vehicle. Blair soon makes her way into the lobby where a golden retriever named Prince finds and plays with Blair. Blair meets Headmistress Privet, who tells her that Prince is a very shy dog. Once Prince leaves the lobby, Blair is taken to the library and informed by Privet that each student is assigned a fairy to act as their personal princess assistant. Blair is assigned Grace, who accidentally smashes a cake against Blair's shirt. Grace explains that Blair is able to receive a makeover from her magical locker, and then throws a bottle of perfume. Blair catches it, but in doing so she accidentally sprays Delancey with the perfume. Delancey tells Blair that the lottery is a joke, and that commoners do not belong at the school. She chooses to hate Blair going forward.

Grace brings Blair to her dorm where she meets her roommates, Princesses Ila and Hadley. Ila is shy about sharing the electronic music she makes, and Hadley keeps playing sports indoors.

Blair struggles in her classes due to clumsiness and to both Dame Devin and Delancey taking a strong disliking to her, but improves when she receives special tutoring from Headmistress Privet. Blair meets Prince Nicholas in a courtly dance class, and the two disrupt the class by dancing to much faster music.

Two days before the coronation ceremony, the students are allowed to visit the royal palace. Before they can depart, Blair and her roommates find that someone broke into their dorm room and cut up their uniforms. They manage to sew the pieces together and create new uniforms. Dame Devin wants to expel them, but Headmistress Privet tells her there is nothing in the dress code disallowing customization, and the girls are allowed into the palace.

While exploring the palace, Blair and her roommates happen upon a portrait of a young Queen Isabella and note her striking resemblance to Blair. Upon seeing another portrait depicting the late royal family (including Prince as a puppy) and learning that Blair was found by her adoptive mother on the same day the royal family died in a car crash, Ila and Hadley deduce that she is Queen Isabella’s long-lost daughter, Princess Sophia, and the true heir to the throne. This discovery is overheard by Delancey. At dinner, Dame Devin announces a plan to demolish the poorer neighborhoods where Blair’s family lives and replace them with new parks. She attributes this plan to Delancey, who appears conflicted.

Blair decides to return home, but changes her mind. She becomes determined to find the legendary crown of Gardania, which is said to glow when worn by the rightful heir. On the night before graduation, Dame Devin plants jewelry in Blair’s room and accuses her and her roommates of stealing. The three of them are then ordered to be detained, only for the three friends to escape with the help of Delancey, who believes that Blair really is Princess Sophia. Blair, her roommates, Prince the dog, and Grace sneak into the palace vault, but are caught by Dame Devin, who takes the crown and locks the girls inside.

The next morning, Delancey attempts to stall her coronation, giving Blair and her friends enough time to escape. Ila is able to guess the pass code to the locked door and the girls escape. Blair arrives at the coronation and makes a claim to the throne. Blair, her friends, and Dame Devin struggle to grab the crown which eventually falls into Delancey's hands. To her mother’s dismay, Delancey places the crown on Blair’s head; the crown glows and magically dresses Blair in a new gown, confirming her identity as Princess Sophia.

Dame Devin angrily reveals that she orchestrated the deaths of Queen Isabella and her family so Delancey could inherit the throne. Dame Devin is arrested and Sophia/Blair elects Delancey as her Lady Royal. At a celebratory dance party that evening, Prince Nicholas arrives and joins in a group dance number, and Sophia/Blair is reunited with her adoptive family.

Cast and characters

• Diana Kaarina as Blair Willows/Princess Sophia, a waitress at "Cafe Gardania" who wins a scholarship to Princess Charm School. She is kind, clever, and diligent, but clumsy. It is later revealed that she is Princess Sophia, the long lost princess of Gardania.
• Morwenna Banks as Alexandra Privet, the headmistress of Princess Charm School.
• Nicole Oliver as Dame Devin, a vindictive school teacher at Princess Charm School, Delancy's mother, and sister-in-law of the late Queen Isabella. She attempts to sabotage Blair at every corner, due to recognizing her as Queen Isabella's lost daughter.
• Brittney Wilson as Delancy Devin, a student at Princess Charm School, Dame Devin's daughter, and the heir presumptive of Gardania. Despite her initially spiteful attitude, she chooses to do the right thing when she learns that Blair is the true heir to the throne.
• Ali Liebert as Princess Hadley, an athletic student at Princess Charm School and one of Blair's roommates and best friends. Liebert also plays Princess Portia, Delancy's airhead companion.
• Shannon Chan-Kent as Princess Isla, a music-loving Japanese student at Princess Charm School and amateur DJ, and one of Blair's best friends and roommates.
• Vincent Tong as Prince Nicholas, a prince who attends the neighboring Prince Charming Academy and later befriends Blair.
• Madeleine Peters as Emily Willows, Blair's younger sister and Miss Willows' second adopted daughter who signed up Blair for the Princess Charm School lottery multiple times.
• Ellen Kennedy as Miss Willows, Blair and Emily's adoptive mother on whose doorstep Blair was left as a baby after surviving the car crash that killed her birth parents.

Special guest star: *Miranda Ram-Nolte as Princess Miranda

External links

• http://www.barbie.com/princess-charm-school/