barbie_mini-kingdom

2000's

Mini-Kingdom
by Mattel

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In the early 2000's, Mattel ventured once more into the miniature fashion doll market, responding to the sudden resurgence of popularity resulting from the introduction of Checkerboard's reproduction Dawn dolls. Once again riding on Dawn's coat-tails, Mattel proved yet again that they were much more savvy in the advertising and marketing departments.

Featuring Barbie as the star of her own series of direct-to-VHS and DVD movies, Mattel launched the Mini-Kingdom dolls with the release of "Barbie in 'The Nutcracker'" in 2001, a charming re-telling of the classic ballet with Barbie as Clara and Ken as the Nutcracker Prince. Sadly, no miniature Ken dolls were made for release. As a delightful side-note, Tim Curry provides the voice of the Mouse King.

Clara is shown at far left in front of the castle playset which was also made available, and above in the center photo she is shown in front of the "Crown" carrying case with her two additional fashions. Clara is the only Mini-Kingdom doll sold with anything other than what she stands up in. Her hair is set in cascading ringlets and are stiff to touch.

At far right above, you can see the body style of the Mini-Kingdom doll. The body is solid hard plastic construction in one piece with no twist-n-turn waist. The head sits on a ball-and-socket joint, allowing it to tilt and pose in any attitude. The arms are hinged at the shoulders allowing them to pivot away from the body. The legs are jointed at the hip only, and do not bend. The feet are formed as shoes which do not come off...pity.

The hair is rooted and styled, usually incorporating a crown or flower garland. Mini-Kingdom dolls do not have rooted eyelashes, and facial features are painted on. Since Barbie was the star of each movie, almost all the dolls are miniature Barbies, except for Erika and the African-American dolls, which use different face molds.

The second movie to feature Barbie was "Barbie as Rapunzel" (2002). As the fairytale tells us, Rapunzel is a beautiful girl kept hidden away from prying eyes by a evil witch. In the Barbie version, Anjelica Huston lends her voice to the witch Gothel, as Rapunzel discovers the truth about her heritage.

The Mini-Kingdom Rapunzel doll was produced in both AA and Caucasian versions, with floor-length hair. She is dressed in pink and purple in true Barbie fashion, with a pale gold crown on her head.

"Barbie of Swan Lake" (2003) dips into the classical ballet pool yet again (and yes, I did go for the pun) with Barbie starring as Odette, a simple peasant girl who is cursed by an evil magician to live as a swan by day and as herself by night.

Again, both AA and Caucasian versions of Odette were produced. Odette's gown is a tea-length dress of blue and pink with shimmery white swan wings attached to the back. Armbands of blue gauze simulate sleeves. A pink crown crested with a swan sits on her head.

"Barbie in 'The Princess and the Pauper'" (2004) was the fourth Barbie movie, putting a feminine spin on the Mark Twain classic. For those who don't know, Anneliese is a Princess who lives a sheltered life, yearning to move among her people to find out what life is like outside her palace walls. Erika is a struggling peasant girl who happens to look just like the Princess. As luck would have it, the two meet and switch places. But an unscrupulous courtier finds out and attempts to extort his way into power unless the two girls can find their way back to their proper places.

Two versions of Anneliese and Erika, African-American and Caucasian, were produced.

Anneliese is Barbie, of course, and wears a pink and white gown trimmed in gold, with a bright gold crown on her blonde head.

Erika is a Theresa head-mold, and wears a blue and white gown trimmed in pink, with a flower garland on her brunette head.

At left is Annika, from "Barbie and the Magic of Pegasus" (2005). This is an original story for the Barbie movie-makers, not based on any familiar fairytale. The story involves Annika's quest to break an enchantment placed on her family by an evil wizard.

Annika was only produced in a Caucasian version, like Clara (above). She wears a tea-length dress of sparkly purple with a small purple crown on her head.

At right is the "Birthday Barbie", made around 2005 or so. I don't remember exactly. Birthday Barbie was probably the last miniature "Mini-Kingdom" Barbies produced, as none of the successive Barbie movies had Mini-Kingdom dolls associated with them.

Birthday Barbie looks very similar to Anneliese (above) but came in a white and gold fabric dress, as well as a pink, plastic "snap-on" gown. I guess even velcro was too difficult for little girls to figure out. How did we manage, all those years ago, with buttons and snaps?

As shown at left, Mattel made the mistake of changing the size of Barbie's head in relation to the rest of her body, giving her a "fat-headed" look. This is reflected not only on the Mini-Kingdom Birthday Barbie, but on their full-sized girls as well.

Personally, I dislike the disproportion. It makes the doll seem top-heavy and unbalanced, and quite frankly, freakish. Real people do not walk around with disproportionately huge heads, and I don't care for the look in my dolls, either.