Product Details

• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• ASIN: B0006LYK4U
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #297,497 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars So 80's! Spotty Yet Fun -- and with Paula Abdul!, April 16, 2006

By 

RetroRhythms (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Barbie Dance Club (VHS Tape)

As saccharine as it may be, you will find lots of fun in this video if you have a penchant for all-out 80's hair, makeup, dance styles, settings, AND PAULA ABDUL!

Mattel has always been known to capitalize on the Barbie doll with various avenues ranging from CD's to books to workout videos, etc. This one, "Barbie Dance Club," works, because it is very simple in concept and doesn't rely on making Barbie dolls seemingly accomplish unbelievable feats (as in the "Dance Workout with Barbie" video); but rather, focuses on appealing to Barbie's primary audience by prominently featuring everyday young girls. This is mostly in the form of these girls - along with a generous handful of young boys for good measure - dancing and displaying various 'in-fashion" outfits to original songs, in a "dance club" setting. We see the kids dancing individually, in small groups, and later on in the video, participating as duos in a dance contest which has some talented youth dancers, but seems poorly judged.

The songs are deemed on the back of the video's cover to be "written for Barbie." This is a good way to describe the songs, as opposed to saying outright that they're "performed by Barbie." It keeps a little mystery, but it's still believable to youngsters that "Barbie" (at least the one of 1989!) would enjoy these songs. In addition to the dancing, the hostess of the program, named Dawn, interviews some of the kids about their favorite dancers and their dreams. The latter is ultra-fluffy, but balances out the dance segments.

Barbie the doll and her many friends, of course, do appear - mostly in the form of commercials for various doll configurations and sets that are interspersed between the dancing segments (and also in "semi-dancing" poses and moves that occasionally flash on the screen during the musical numbers). But the culmination of everything is when 80's pop sensation Paula Abdul comes "into the club" to teach everyone how to do "The Barbie." Abdul has the right personality for this type of gig, and it's fun to see her dancing with the kids. Practically speaking, though, her lesson is too fast, as are the shots of kids doing it once they've "learned" it (in other words, it would be hard for the average kid at home to pick up all the moves without rewinding several times!). By the way, they are doing the dance to a song called "Doin' the Barbie"!

All in all, a fun and colorful 80's experience with a few inconsistencies!