Barbie & the Diamond Castle

Barbie & the Diamond Castle
DVD cover art
Directed by	Gino Nichele
Written by	Elana Lesser Cliff Ruby
Produced by	Nancy Bennett Luke Carroll
Starring	Kelly Sheridan Cassidy Ladden Maryke Hendrikse Kathleen Barr Jeremy From Noel Johansen
Edited by	Tim Jones
Music by	Arnie Roth
Production companies	Mattel Entertainment Rainmaker Entertainment
Distributed by	Universal Studios Home Entertainment[a]
Release dates	September 7, 2008 (2008-09-07) (Nickelodeon)[1] September 9, 2008 (2008-09-09) (DVD)
Running time	78 minutes
Countries	Canada United States
Language	English

Barbie & the Diamond Castle is a 2008 direct-to-video animated musical film directed by Gino Nichele and produced by Mattel Entertainment with Rainmaker Entertainment. It first premiered on Nickelodeon on September 7, 2008,^[1] and it was later released to DVD on September 9, 2008.^[2][3]

The thirteenth entry in the Barbie film series, the film features the voice of Kelly Sheridan as Barbie and the cover of the song "Connected" recorded by Katharine McPhee. It follows the story of Liana and Alexa (the in-universe roles of the dolls, Barbie and Teresa)^[4] on their journey to find the mysterious diamond castle.^[5][1]

While Barbie and Teresa are playing music, Barbie’s sister Stacie storms in, having had a fight with her friend Courtney. Barbie and Teresa tell Stacie a story to teach her the power of friendship.

Liana and Alexa are two friends who share a love for music, and live in a cottage where they grow and sell flowers for a living, but have very little for them to eat. One day, they find two heart-shaped stones and make them into necklaces to symbolize their friendship. That evening, a storm occurs, destroying their garden. The next day, Liana offers her food to a poor, old woman who gives them a mirror in exchange. Later, the two hear a voice from the mirror and find a girl inside it named Melody. The trio bond over music and Melody teaches them a song; but they are soon attacked by a dragon named Slyder. They manage to escape him, but their cottage catches fire and burns down.

Melody explains that she was once the apprentice of the three Muses, Dori, Phaedra, and Lydia, who lived in the Diamond Castle. Lydia turned evil and planned to take the Diamond castle for herself. After hiding the castle and entrusting Melody with its key, Lydia turned the other Muses into stone; Melody, fleeing Slyder, hid and inadvertently trapped herself inside the mirror. Melody tells Liana and Alexa that Lydia can be defeated if they play the Muses' instruments. Liana insists on helping Melody and Alexa reluctantly agrees. On their journey, Liana and Alexa adopt two puppies, naming them Sparkles and Lily. The girls are confronted by Lydia who orders them to hand over Melody. When they refuse, Lydia attempts to hypnotize them with her flute but they are shielded by the stones on their necklaces (revealed to be from the Diamond Castle). The girls escape with the help of twins Ian and Jeremy who join them on their journey; but are separated when Liana and Alexa are carried off by a magic bridge.

Liana and Alexa arrive at a mansion and are greeted by its hosts who, hypnotized by Lydia, tell them that they are the mansion's prophesied owners. Alexa suggests abandoning their quest and remaining in the mansion, causing her and Liana to argue. Liana and Melody leave and Alexa angrily takes off her necklace, whereupon she is captured and hypnotized by Lydia. Liana and Melody are abducted by Slyder. Alexa is ordered to leap off a ledge if Melody does not surrender the castle's key. Melody agrees, to save her and Liana; but as she and Lydia leave, Slyder knocks them off the ledge anyway. Liana manages to hang on to the ledge and Alexa, before returning Alexa's necklace and breaking Lydia's spell.

After reconciling, Liana and Alexa reunite with the twins and go after Lydia. While the twins distract Slyder, Lydia creates a whirlpool and orders the girls to drown themselves; they feign being hypnotized, enabling Liana to grab Lydia’s flute. Lydia threatens to break the mirror, but Melody shatters it from within to stop her. The mirror is thrown into the whirlpool but is saved by Sparkles and Lily. When Lydia's flute drops in the water, she wades in to get it; but the waterlogged flute backfires and Lydia seemingly disappears.

Thinking the Diamond Castle can bring Melody back, the girls realize that the song Melody taught them is the key. They sing together and the Diamond Castle reappears. Stepping inside, Liana and Alexa are magically given new dresses and Melody is freed from the mirror. The girls enter the music room, but Lydia returns with Slyder. The three of them play the Muses' instruments and sing together, overpowering Lydia and turning her and Slyder to stone. The other Muses are freed and Lydia's spells are all undone.

Liana and Alexa are crowned princesses of music and Melody becomes a Muse. Melody invites them to live in the castle, but they choose instead to return to their old life with their new pets; the Muses give the two magic seeds which blossom instantly into golden flowers. Back to the present, Stacie realizes nothing can break true friendship and goes to apologize to Courtney; Barbie and Teresa happily resume playing music.

• Kelly Sheridan as Barbie/Princess Liana – Barbie stars as Princess Liana, a peasant girl/princess of music who shares a cottage in the forest with her best friend Alexa. Liana is loyal and brave. She's not afraid of tricky situations (except for thunder and lightning) and she loves to sing.
• Cassidy Ladden as Teresa/Princess Alexa – Teresa also stars as Princess Alexa, a gardener/princess of music who lives in a cottage with Liana. They are best friends, though Alexa often wishes that they could live in grand style, so they won't have to worry about anything. She believes in magic, and she has a silly sense of humor. She has a beautiful singing voice.
• Maryke Hendrikse as Melody – Melody used to be an apprentice to the two Muses of Music who live in the Diamond Castle. She was trapped inside the magic mirror while trying to hide from Lydia. She loves to sing in harmony with Princesses Liana and Alexa.
• Jeremy From as Jeremy and Noel Johansen as Ian – Jeremy and Ian are twin musicians who sing and play guitar. They befriend Liana and Alexa and help them battle with Lydia on their way to the Diamond Castle.
• Kathleen Barr as Lydia – Lydia is an evil former Muse and current sorceress who wants Diamond Castle for herself, with the intention of making it gloomy. She plays her flute to use her evil spells. She is the main antagonist.
• Mark Acheson as Slyder – Slyder is a clumsy, flying serpent and assistant of Lydia. He is the second antagonist.
• Veena Sood as Sparkles/Lily – Sparkles, a cocker spaniel pup, and Lily, West highland terrier pup, are a pair of adorable puppies. Liana and Alexa adopt them while on their journey to the Diamond Castle.
• Nicole Oliver as Dori and Heather Doerksen as Phaedra – The Muses of Music, who reside in the Diamond Castle and are gifted with magical musical abilities. Though there are only two of them, their numbers originally included Lydia, who cast a spell that turned all the residents in the Diamond Castle to stone.

A soundtrack for the film was released on September 2, 2008.^[7][8] The soundtrack's track list is as follows:

1. "Connected"
2. "Two Voices, One Song"
3. "We're Gonna Find It"
4. "Believe"
5. "Two Voices, One Song (Movie Version)"
6. "Wonderful Me"
7. "We're Gonna Find It (Movie Version)"
8. "Double Vision"
9. "Connected"
10. "I Need to Know" (Bonus Track)
11. "Shine" (Bonus Track)
12. "I'm On My Way" (Bonus Track)

• The songs "I Need to Know" and "Shine" were originally from Barbie as the Island Princess and Barbie in the 12 Dancing Princesses, respectively.
• "Connected" is an English cover from Mexican pop group RBD's song "Tenerte Y Quererte", from their 2004 album, Rebelde.
• Johannes Brahms's Symphony No. 1 is played by the Three Muses during the telling of their story, and when Liana, Alexa, and Melody enter the Diamond Castle.
• A sneak peek of Barbie & the Diamond Castle aired on Nickelodeon.

• List of Barbie animated films
• Barbie (media franchise)
• Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper
• Barbie as the Island Princess
• Barbie and the Secret Door

• Barbie & the Diamond Castle at IMDb
• Barbie & the Diamond Castle at AllMovie
• Barbie & the Diamond Castle at Rotten Tomatoes