Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper is a 2004 direct-to-video computer animated Barbie film, and the first musical in the >Barbie film series. It is directed by William Lau and stars the voice of Kelly Sheridan, who has been voicing Barbie in all the CGI films to date, as both Anneliese and Erika. The story is loosely inspired by the Mark Twain novel The Prince and the Pauper, but it is unrelated to the 1939 film The Princess and the Pauper.

Songs for the movie are written by Amy Powers, Megan Cavallari and Rob Hudnut, who also Executive Produced the film.

Plot

In an unnamed kingdom, a blonde princess and a brunette pauper are born simultaneously and grow up unaware that their facial features are identical to each other. The princess, Anneliese, craves freedom from her royal duties, especially when she is informed by her widowed mother, Queen Genevieve, that she must marry the wealthy king of a nearby kingdom because their own royal treasury is nearly bankrupt. The Pauper, Erika, craves a different sort of freedom as she is an indentured servant at the Madam Carp's Dress Emporium to work off her parents' debt.

Unbeknownst to the royal family, the royal advisor Preminger is responsible for their near-bankruptcy. His minions Nick and Nack have been stealing gold from the royal mines for some time, which is what led Queen Genevieve to believe she is nearly bankrupt. Preminger plans to announce his newfound wealth to Queen Genevieve, which he believes will allow him to marry Princess Anneliese. When Preminger learns that Queen Genevieve has approached King Dominick of Dulcenia to marry Anneliese, he decides a change of plan is in order. Preminger orders Nick and Nack to kidnap Anneliese, so that Preminger can stage his "rescuing" her, hoping that Queen Genevieve will be so happy that she will give him Anneliese's hand in marriage.

Anneliese's tutor, Julian, is sad that Anneliese will be getting married; Anneliese and Julian have feelings for each other, and have kept it secret, including from each other. As a treat, Julian decides to take Anneliese into town for a last taste of freedom. There, Anneliese crosses paths with Erika. The girls are shocked to see how identical they are, the only differences between them being their hair color/style and the crown-shaped birthmark on Anneliese's right shoulder. The two become friends, but Anneliese has to quickly return to the palace.

On the same night, Anneliese is kidnapped by Nick and Nack, who plant a fake letter stating Anneliese "ran away" in order to avoid being married to King Dominick. Julian suspects that it was a kidnapping with Preminger as the mastermind, so he asks Erika to impersonate the princess until he can rescue the real Anneliese. Erika agrees to the temporary ruse to help her friends, and surprises Preminger when she arrives to welcome King Dominick. Dominick and Erika fall in love, despite Erika's fear of being rejected when she is revealed to be an imposter.

Meanwhile, Anneliese manages to escape from Nick and Nack. Julian however doesn't know that and is on his way to free her. When there, he discovers Preminger's plan. He is on his way back to inform the Queen, but Preminger catches him before he leaves. Then, Julian is captured by Nick and Nack. Meanwhile, Anneliese is turned away from the palace by a guard, who believes "Anneliese" is in the palace with Dominick and the Queen. Anneliese is mistaken for Erika by Madame Carp, and she is locked in the Dress Emporium. Preminger, who has started to suspect that Erika is a fake, discovers the real Anneliese at the Dress Emporium and takes her away to the gold mines, where Julian is already being held prisoner.

Now knowing the truth, Preminger returns to the castle where he exposes Erika as a fraud and claims that she had conspired with Julian to kill and replace the real princess. Erika, unable to prove her good intentions, is locked in the dungeon. She manages to escape, and bumps into Dominick, who reveals that he doesn't believe that Erika is guilty of Preminger's accusation. Elsewhere, Anneliese and Julian confess their love for each other and work together to escape the mines.

Preminger, in the wake of Anneliese's supposed death, has convinced Queen Genevieve to marry him in order to save the kingdom. Although Queen Genevieve loathes him, she cannot see any other option. Just as the ceremony is about to complete, Anneliese arrives. The true story is revealed and Preminger gets his just rewards.

Anneliese confesses to her mother that she loves Julian and does not wish to marry King Dominick. She has also solved the problem of the kingdom's gold shortage; the rocks discarded by the miners are actually precious geodes and the mine is full of them. Dominick confesses to loving Erika for who she is and if she should choose to, he would be willing to marry her. With Madam Carp out of business (thanks to Anneliese taking her business elsewhere), Erika chooses not to accept just yet and achieves her dream of being able to sing around the world, discovering that the place she would really like to sing is among her friends. She returns several months later and marries Dominick while Anneliese marries Julian in a double wedding.

Voice cast

• Kelly Sheridan as the Narrator, Anneliese (speaking), and Erika (speaking)
• Julie Stevens as Erika (singing)
• Melissa Lyons as Anneliese (singing)
• Mark Hildreth as Dominick (speaking)
• Mark Luna as Dominick (singing)
• Alessandro Juliani as Julian
• Martin Short as Preminger
• Ellen Kennedy as Queen Genevieve
• Pam Hyatt as Madam Carp
• Kathleen Barr as Serafina
• Ian James Corlett as Wolfie
• Lee Tockar as Ambassador Bismark
• Brian Drummond as Nick
• Jan Rabson as Nack and Midas