We are officially in the top three! Barbie Fairy Secret is one of only three movies on this list where Barbie is actually named Barbie! In this universe, Barbie is a famous movie star with boyfriend Ken, who is abruptly stolen by fairies and brought to the fairy world, Gloss Angeles, to be married to fairy royalty, Graciella. What Barbie doesn’t know is that her two best friends and assistants, Taylor and Carrie, are both also fairies, and Graciella was placed under a love potion, which is why she stole Ken. Barbie, Taylor, Carrie, and rival Raquel all journey to Gloss Angeles to break Graciela’s love spell and bring Ken home safely.

This movie is very interesting because it serves as the unofficial sequel to the #2 movie on this list, which is the only Barbie movie duo I can think of that does this. While there are plenty of Barbie movies with sequels, this one simply exists in the same universe and references things from the original movie, incorporating the same canons. When I was little, realizing how these movies tied in together was so cool, and the first time I had seen Barbie do something like this. This movie is also very often overlooked because it isn’t a part of the “original” Barbie movies like Rapunzel or Diamond Castle, which came out in the 2000s. Fairy Secret, by comparison, came out in 2011. I actually distinctly remember seeing commercials for this movie saying “Coming to DVD in Spring 2011” and BEGGING my parents to get it for me. I’m pretty sure this was the first present I opened on my sixth birthday, and I remember unwrapping it in the car. The second I saw those rainbow wings I was so excited. This was also the birthday I received an entire collection of Disney Princess Barbies that I still have to this day. Seriously this day is ingrained in my head it was so iconic.

I found that this movie is the perfect amount of predictable- it’s not too complex but it also has a decent plot twist. Spoiler warning, just in case you were planning on binge watching Barbie movies, but it turns out that Taylor and Carrie’s other fairy friend, Crystal, who is also friends with Graciella, gave Graciella the love potion because Crystal is in love with Graciella’s fiance, Zane. In Gloss Angeles, there is a rule that if a human marries a fairy, they have to stay in Gloss Angeles forever, which is why it was so urgent for Barbie to save Ken. At the end of the day, however, Graciella breaks free and marries Zane instead. I do like, though, that at the beginning we’re supposed to see Raquel as the villain but by the end we see that it’s actually Crystal and Raquel becomes a good guy.

While it seems like this movie is heavily focused on romance, it’s actually not and that’s what I like about it. In the climax of this movie, Barbie and Raquel are stuck in one of Graciella’s indestructible fury spheres and it looks like they will not be able to save Ken before he is married off. The two have a deep conversation about why they have disliked each other for so long, and it results in them becoming friends and hugging it out, with friendship being what breaks them free from the fury sphere and allows them to go from their temporary wings to permanent wings, which are absolutely beautiful. Plus, in the movie it is revealed that there was a rift between Graciella and Taylor and Carrie that got Taylor and Carrie banned from Gloss Angeles, but the three are able to reunite as friends. I love how this movie incorporates relationships, but it’s main focus is female friendships and overcoming differences, which I think is important to teach little girls.

There is actually a big plot twist at the end, however. It is a threat to fairies that Raquel, Barbie, and Ken, all humans, know about the fairy world, so they are essentially all hypnotized to wake up and think that it was all just a dream. They begin talking in a cafe about how they all had the exact same weird dream, and Taylor and Carrie wink in the camera before flying off, indicating that it is viewers turn to keep the fairy secret. I just thought this was a very creative way to end the movie.

Lastly, this movie is just really funny. Ken specifically is just a total goofball and has some very hilarious one-liners that my sister and I quote all the time. All the characters have great chemistry and it is the perfect balance between drama, friendship, and comedy, which is why Fairy Secret secured its top 3 spot on my list.