Barbie: The Princess & the Popstar 2012

The kingdom of Meribella is preparing to celebrate its 500th anniversary with a festival of music and magic. The famous popstar Keira arrives to headline a series of concerts, yet behind the scenes she wrestles with a creative drought and an overbearing manager, Seymour Crider. Across the palace, the lively Princess Tori faces royal duties, tempered by her formidable aunt, Duchess Amelia. Both girls long for an easier, freer life.

At a glamorous royal reception, the two meet and instantly strike up a friendship. They secretly borrow Keira’s magic microphone, which can change outfits, and Tori’s magic hairbrush, which can swap hairstyles, and with their necklaces remaining the same, they convincingly impersonate each other. The royal family reveals a secret magic gardenia plant with diamond-encrusted flowers; the girls take two small diamonds from the plant and pin them to their necklaces, setting the stage for their swap.

They plan to switch for a day to learn about the other’s world. Keira, now in Tori’s life, faces royal duties but finds inspiration in Tori’s younger sisters and the castle’s routines, and this sparks new music ideas. Meanwhile, Tori, living as Keira, enjoys the freedom of rehearsals and variety, but she also sees how drought has harmed the people outside the palace walls. Moved by this, they decide to extend the switch for another day and decide to make Keira’s final concert a free one to help more people attend.

On the night they were meant to switch back, the Duchess locks Keira in Tori’s bedroom due to a delayed commemorative speech, forcing Tori to perform as Keira on the stage. The performance is a hit, and Keira later escapes through a secret passage, rejoining the others.

Crider and his assistant Rupert infiltrate the castle to steal the diamond gardenia, uprooting the plant and causing the rest of the kingdom’s flora to wilt. Tori notices the crisis and hurries back to the castle, where the two girls switch back. They confront Crider, who tries to flee in a wingsuit with the gardenia. In a coordinated use of the magic microphone and hairbrush, they change Crider’s outfit mid-flight, but he still drops the gardenia into the sea.

The two girls pivot to a hopeful solution: using the diamonds from their necklaces, they plant them in the garden, where the diamonds instantly sprout into a new diamond gardenia. The plant’s magical revival brings life back to the kingdom’s flora, and the people rejoice. The final concert becomes a dazzling finale shared by Keira and Princess Tori, and in a closing moment, Princess Tori delivers a heartfelt speech about using her voice to help the less fortunate.