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Barbie & Chelsea: The Lost Birthday
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Wikipedia article
'Barbie & Chelsea: The Lost Birthday' is a 2021 computer-animated adventure comedy film directed by Cassandra "Cassi Simonds" Mackay and written by Ann Austen and Nathaniel "Nate" Federman from a story by Charlotte Fullerton.
First released on April 16, 2021, on Netflix in the United States, it is the 38th entry in the Barbie film series and the second to feature Barbie's family and/or friends based on 'Barbie Dreamhouse Adventures' after 'Barbie: Princess Adventure'. The film plot centers on Barbie's in-universe youngest sister, Chelsea Roberts, as she goes on a fantasy-themed adventure on a jungle island to save her 7th birthday she thinks is lost whiles with her family on an adventure cruise ship which by one late night crosses the International Date Line.
Following its film launch, the film rolled out to Netflix in other territories and on global kids-focused television channels and streaming services including Cartoonito (Italy), Pop (UK & Ireland), 9Go! (Australia), Neox Kids (Spain), Super RTL (Germany), Carousel (Russia), MiniMini+ (Poland) and iQIYI (China). The film release was accompanied by its soundtrack album, 'Barbie & Chelsea: The Lost Birthday and More!', which was released on global digital music streaming platforms.
Plot
The Roberts family goes on an adventure cruise for Chelsea's seventh birthday. Margaret is busy but promises Chelsea that the next day will be dedicated to her. So Chelsea, with her stuffed toys and sisters; Barbie, Skipper, and Stacie, search for the perfect place on the ship to celebrate the birthday. First, Stacie finds a basketball bouncy house, but the Activities Director says that Chelsea's height isn't tall enough to enter. Then, Skipper finds a club and thinks it's perfect, but the Activities Director tells them that the club is only for teens and tweens, not for four-year-olds. They try to talk to the Activities Director, and he suggests talking to Arlene, who shows the sisters a place with pools and water slides, with a special place for birthdays.
Chelsea finds it perfect and then Arlene asks them to go ahead and make a splash. The girls keep their things on a beach chair and dive into a pool. Someone picks up Kelsie, Chelsea's plush toy elephant, and makes it get stuck in the pool's wave controls. The Activities Director blames Chelsea for the incident, but George supports her and believes she would never do that. Chelsea goes back to her room, and her sisters follow her. Chelsea hugs Kelsie, while Barbie appreciates her for taking care of her plush toy elephant so well. Chelsea goes to sleep so that her birthday comes sooner.
At midnight the criuse ship they were on crosses the International Date Line. By morning when they woke up, Chelsea jumped up and down in delight as her birthday had finally arrived. Barbie and Stacie joined the pre-celebration until Skipper wakes up and checks her phone. She is shocked upon seeing the date tells them that it was the 11th while Chelsea's birthday falls on the 10th. Stacie at first thought that she was pranking them like before until Barbie checked her phone to see it for herself. Shocked and surprised to hear the confirmation, Chelsea speeds out with her plush toys to ask everyone what day it was whiles her older sisters chase after her, but they end up getting blocked by their cabin's entrance. Everyone says it's 11th, and Chelsea finally admits that her birthday is lost. Then, Chelsea finds the Activities Director, who tells her that they had crossed the International Date Line. Disappointed about her birthday being lost forever, Chelsea hides under a tent and talks to her plush toys about it, but instead, a talking parrot appears and tells her about a magical gem that grants wishes hidden in a jungle island. Desperate, she leaves her plush toys and ziplines her way to the jungle island. Chelsea goes through the forest and finds a glowing waterfall and unusual but beautiful flowers. Her sisters searched everywhere for her on the ship, but to no avail.
Barbie, Skipper and Stacie goes to check from Arlene whether she knows of Chelsea's whereabouts. She replied negatively much to their downcast but cheered them up by encouraging them to think like Chelsea, which led the three to assume she had gone into the nearby jungle island. Meanwhile, at that island, Chelsea starts to discover the real-life forms of her plush toys; first up, she finds a baby elephant named Kelsie crying. Chelsea asked her what was wrong and she replied that she is lost and misses her family. Chelsea tells her about the gem and the two become allies. They both find a giant talking flower who asks them a riddle. Chelsea tells Kelsie to follow the river. Meanwhile, not far off where they are, Barbie, Skipper and Stacie go to the island and take a jungle tour to find Chelsea. In the way, Chelsea and Kelsie see a giraffe named Darbie stuck in a web and about to get eaten by a spider. Chelsea cuts off the web, and the spider gets trapped in its own web. Finally, the three find a clue that says to go to the Ancient Temple of the Tiki.
Darbie says she knows a shortcut which leads them to a cliff and taps her foot on a flower. The three slide on a rainbow and reach the cliff's other side. Not far off where they were in a different part of the jungle, Barbie, Stacie and Skipper go further and deeper, with the latter falling on a bed of flowers and finds them soft. She pulls Stacie to the flowers too, and the two find them really soft. Barbie, Skipper, and Stacie suddenly feel itchy. Barbie checks the internet on Skipper's phone to see which flowers they are and finds out they are itchy flowers ('or poison ivies in the form of flowers'). She had got some oatmeal with her, so they apply it all over the itchy spots.
Chelsea, Kelsie, and Darbie reach the Ancient Temple of the Tiki and find a notice board that warns them not to wake up Tiki Statue. A monkey, Lacie, wanted them to play with her, so she asked them to play the upside-down coconut ball balance challenge. Chelsea cautions her to be quiet, but Lacie ignores her and throws her ball up and the birds make noise and fly. After Lacie speaks through a megaphone, the tiki statue wakes up and threatens that he will make the volcano erupt. Chelsea asks him to do a cannonball challenge, and Tiki agrees. Then, he dives into the water and floats away. Lacie joins the rest of the three; inside, Lacie's ball was a clue, and they go ahead. Barbie, Skipper, and Stacie reach the seashore again because they had been going in circles all that time. Because of the oatmeal smeared all over their bodies, seagulls surround them.
Meanwhile, Chelsea, Kelsie, Darbie, and Lacie reach the darkest, coldest and wettest place in the forest, unaware that it was the cave of a tiger named Snipper. Snipper made some music she was afraid to share, so Chelsea tells her it is great. Snipper suspects her telling a lie, but Chelsea really meant it. They sing a song together (later known as "'Make A New Day!'"), and Snipper joins them on their journey. They go through Snipper's cave, a tunnel, while Tiki covers the entrance with a rock.
Meanwhile, Skipper and Stacie get stuck in quicksand, Barbie saves them by swinging on a vine. Meanwhile, Chelsea and the animals come out the other way, but the river was full of crocodiles. The tiki statue comes again and makes the volcano erupt. Chelsea asks the animals to jump on the crocodiles' backs as if they were stepping stones. They finally reach the other way, while Tiki tries to stop them but flows away with the river again. Chelsea, Kelsie, Darbie, Lacie, and Snipper find the gem and read the instructions on the stone. Only one could make a wish, so they give the wish to Kelsie, for a family is the most important of all wishes. But just as Kelsie was about to quote her wish, her parents arrive there and say they will throw a party. Chelsea says Lacie can arrange games for the party, and Snipper can be the DJ. Then Chelsea asks Darbie to make the wish, but Darbie only wanted to help. Chelsea then makes a wish and blows off the little flame on top of the gem. ('Spoiler alert: her wish was to return back to the ship.') Barbie, Skipper and Stacie find Chelsea sleeping with her plush toys in a tent and wake her up. Unaware it was all a dream, her sisters hugged her and got her reunited with the Roberts family. As the family was relaxing, Chelsea noticed the Activities Director trying to sabotage the Lazy River again, but sneaked out and caught him in the act. It was there it got revealed that he was the one sabotaging the ship all along, just so he can get out of doing his job. Chelsea announced her capture to all who could hear, notably Arlene and the Captain, with the latter promoting Arlene as the new Activities Director, while the caught fake gets sent to the lower deck for his crimes. And even though Chelsea had missed her actual birthday, she still cut the cake but denied making a wish, having made one already that reunited her with her family. Arlene remarked her action as "sweet" but asked her to blow out the candles anyway, which she did, and everyone wailed in excitement. Skipper plays music with the DJ while the others dance. Chelsea even had a hand-bat handed to her and her eyes blindfolded to strike open a piata.
Voice cast
The voice cast are as follows:
* America Young as Barbie / Darbie
* Kirsten Day as Skipper / Snipper
* Cassandra Morris as Stacie / Lacie
* Cassidy Naber as Chelsea / Kelsie
* Greg Chun as George / Dad Elephant / Plant Guy / Alligator
* Lisa Fuson as Margaret / Mom Elephant
* Laila Berzins as Arlene / Parrot / Seagull
* Nakia Burrise as Captain
* Jacob Craner as Porter / Giant Flower / Ice Cream Guy / Pool Goer / Vampire
* Benjamin Pronsky as Don / Tiki Statue / Engagement Boy / Plant-Based DJ / Spider
Soundtrack
The film release was accompanied by its soundtrack album, 'Barbie & Chelsea: The Lost Birthday and More!', which was released on global digital music streaming platforms. Apart from its first single, "'Make A New Day!'", the album is made up of songs obtained from the YouTube Kids special, 'Barbie Dreamtopia: Festival of Fun'.
References
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