Barbie in A Mermaid Tale

Barbie in A Mermaid Tale
DVD cover
Directed by	Adam L. Wood
Produced by	Anita Lee Tiffany J. Shuttleworth
Written by	Elise Allen
Starring	Kelly Sheridan Kathleen Barr Tabitha St. Germain Nicole Oliver Emma Pierson Ciara Janson Nakia Burrise Maryke Hendrikse Garry Chalk
Music by	BC Smith
Production company	Mattel Entertainment Rainmaker Entertainment
Distributed by	Lionsgate Home Entertainment (original) Universal Studios Home Entertainment (re-release)
Release dates	March 9, 2010 (2010-03-09)
Running time	75 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Barbie in A Mermaid Tale is a 2010 computer animated direct-to-video movie and part of the Barbie film series. This is the first modern Barbie movie. It was released on March 9, 2010. This film is followed by a 2012 sequel, Barbie in A Mermaid Tale 2.

Plot

Merliah Summers is an avid surfer in Malibu. While participating in a surfing competition, Merliah loses concentration when her hair spontaneously streaks pink, and wipes out. While underwater, she discovers that she can breathe in water, and is approached by pink-purple dolphin named Zuma, who wants to talk to her.

Merliah tells Break, her grandfather, of the incident. Break explains that Merliah's mother is a mermaid, and that Merliah was given to Break as a baby to raise because she was born with legs. Merliah doesn't believe him and goes to her friends Fallon and Hadley, telling them the story.

Zuma appears to the girls, confirming that Merliah is half-mermaid. Zuma explains to Merliah that her mother is Calissa, previous queen of the underwater kingdom of Oceana. Oceana's current queen is Eris, Calissa's sister, who is a tyrant and took the throne when Calissa went missing years earlier. Zuma hopes that Merliah will claim her birthright and usurp Eris. Merliah refuses, and in her anger throws the necklace she'd been wearing since she was an infant. The smashed pendant reveals a magical image of Calissa, confirming that she is alive. Merliah agrees to go to Oceana in the hopes that Calissa can make Merliah normal again.

With Zuma as her guide, Merliah arrives in Oceana and meets Zuma's mermaid friends, Kayla and Xylie. Kayla and Xylie give Merliah an outfit to hide her legs, and together they visit the Destinies, three mermaids with prophetic powers. The Destinies tell Merliah that she needs to collect three items in order to succeed in overthrowing Eris: the Celestial Comb, a Dreamfish and Eris' protective necklace. The group search for the items, occasionally calling Fallon and Hadley for help with research. They find the Celestial Comb in an underwater cave and the Dreamfish in the Adenato currents.

In order to obtain Eris' necklace, Merliah, Kayla and Xylie approach Eris, performing a song and dance to distract her long enough for Merliah to grab Eris' necklace. In a rage, Eris creates a whirlpool to banish Merliah to the deepest depths of the ocean. While inside the whirlpool, Merliah calls the Dreamfish for help. The Dreamfish offers to grant Merliah's deepest wish and send her back to Malibu and erase her mermaid half for good. Merliah rejects the wish and accepts her responsibility as princess of Oceana. Due to this, Merliah is given a real mermaid tail, which she uses to escape the whirlpool herself. Merliah reveals her identity to the people of Oceana, proving her identity by brandishing the Celestial Comb. Eris rushes Merliah, and after a chase Merliah is able to lure Eris into the whirlpool. Eris is trapped and sent into the deepest depths of the ocean.

Merliah finds and sets Calissa free. Calissa is queen again, and makes Oceana healthy once more. In the aftermath, Merliah confesses that she misses her life as a human, and Calissa gives her a magical necklace that enables her to be a human or mermaid whenever she wishes. Merliah then returns to land, where she is reunited with her grandfather and wins the surfing competition.

Characters

• Merliah Summers - A girl from Malibu nicknamed "Queen of the Waves", whose father was a human, but her mother the queen of the mermaids. Her father died when she was a baby so her mother Queen Calissa gave baby Merliah to her grandfather to raise, thinking that she will be safer on land than in the ocean. She is a cool, modern and a little bit sassy girl. She is the main protagonist.
• Zuma - A sparkly pink dolphin who shows Merliah around the ocean kingdom and helps her save Calissa.
• Fallon - One of Merliah's best friends. She's sassy, outspoken and a little bit sarcastic, but she's a loyal, helpful and great friend. She has dark skin, black hair, and brown eyes.
• Hadley - Merliah's other best friend. She's prone to daydream. She is imaginative, funny and silly. Her personality makes her the first one to believe that Merliah is half-mermaid. Hadley has reddish-brown hair, green eyes, and tan skin.
• Kayla and Xylie - Best friends and super-stylish mermaids. They own a luxurious boutique under the sea where Merliah gets a mermaid makeover. They own Snouts, a sea lion pup. They help Merliah fight the evil Eris. Kayla has blonde hair with blue streaks, while Xylie has brown hair with purple streaks.
• Calissa - Merliah's mother. She was the Queen regnant Queen of Oceana, until her evil younger sister, Eris, stole the throne from her.
• Eris - Sister of Calissa and aunt of Merliah. She is the one who overthrew Calissa and became their new evil queen. Everyone in the kingdom is afraid of her. The main antagonist of the film.
• Break Summers - Grandfather of Merliah and father-in-law of Calissa. He is the one who raised Merliah and told her about her past.
• The Destinies - Three girls named Dee, Deanne and Deandra (their names are only shown in the credits) who own a hair salon and can also see the future. They tell Merliah the three tools she needs to defeat Eris and restore Oceana.
• Remo - A yellow-and-green striped seahorse who is Eris' sidekick. Remo is constantly abused by Eris. He leads Merliah to where Calissa is held as soon as Eris is defeated. He likes to blow through a shell.

Cast

• Kelly Sheridan as Merliah Summers
• Kathleen Barr as Eris/Snouts
• Tabitha St. Germain as Zuma/Deanne
• Nakia Burrise as Fallon
• Maryke Hendrikse as Hadley
• Emma Pierson as Kayla
• Ciara Janson as Xylie
• Garry Chalk as Break Summers
• Nicole Oliver as Calissa
• Alistair Abell as Remo/Pufferazzi
• Andrea Libman as Dee
• Shannon Chan-Kent as Deandra
• Alex Ferris as Dreamfish
• Ellen Kennedy as Lipstick Fish/Syrenka
• Scott McNeil as Syrenka's Pet Fish

External links

• Official website
• Barbie in A Mermaid Tale at IMDb
• Barbie in A Mermaid Tale at AllMovie
• Barbie in A Mermaid Tale at Rotten Tomatoes