Barbie in a Mermaid Tale 2 captures both of this summer’s movie obsessions
This summer’s slate of big movies is flanked by two huge girlhood hallmarks. On one end, we have The Little Mermaid, Disney’s latest live-action movie, which reimagines one of the most popular Disney Princesses. And on the other end, we have Barbie, the theatrical live-action debut of the most iconic doll in history.
It’s an exciting time to be someone who grew up with Barbie dolls and Ariel’s adventures on screen. But for anyone who likes to mix their pleasures, it’s an even more exciting time to remember that there’s a long tradition of Barbie as a mermaid across the dozens of direct-to-video Barbie releases out there. Barbie has been a mermaid in not one, not two, but five movies. While I won’t go into the details of all of them here (our big overview of Barbie movies is on the way soon enough), the best of them is Barbie in a Mermaid Tale 2, which isn’t just a good Barbie movie and a good mermaid movie, it’s a good movie in general.
Barbie in a Mermaid Tale 2 is the third of Barbie’s mermaid movies. (The first wasn’t the originalBarbie in a Mermaid Tale, but Barbie Fairytopia: Mermaidia, in which Barbie played a fairy who turns into a mermaid.) You actually don’t need to watch the first Mermaid Tale to follow the action — you just need to know that in it, surfer Merliah Summers (played by Barbie, voiced by Kelly Sheridan) finds out that she’s actually half-mermaid and the crown princess of an undersea kingdom. She saves that kingdom from her nefarious aunt, reconnects with her mermaid heritage and her mother, and launches a dual life as a surfing superstar who can turn into a mermaid via magical necklace.
In the sequel, Merliah is set to compete in a prestigious surfing competition — and reclaim her title from a
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