Songs from Fairytopia

by Heather PharesThe computer-animated Barbie movie Fairytopia has inspired books, dolls, and a stage show, Barbie Live in Fairytopia. Songs from Fairytopia is the show's original cast recording, and it feels far more like one than any of the previous Barbie soundtracks. Songs like "I'm Flying" and "Goin' to Azura's Cottage" sound like show tunes instead of the pop songs on the Barbie Hit Mix albums or the Disney-like songs featured on Barbie Sings!: The Princess Movie Song Collection. The cast, headed by Erin Elizabeth Coors as Barbie and the fairy princess Elina, gives game performances, and while the songs aren't especially distinctive, they're pleasant. "Rise Above It" is sweetly soaring, and the story's villainess, Laverna, gets a couple of wickedly fun songs, "Laverna's Formula" and "Laverna's Checklist." This is the most ambitious soundtrack associated with any Barbie production to date, and it could work well as a "my first original cast recording" for young fans of musicals.