Rio vs. Barbie

Babysitting this weekend I had the chance to view two movies I hadn't seen yet: "Rio" and "Barbie in a Mermaid Tail". I had been curious about Rio and had never heard of this particular Barbie movie.

Sadly, I have to admit that I think I enjoyed the Barbie movie more than Rio. All I can say is that the Barbie manufactures sure have done their homework on how best to market to a girl's heart. I mean come on...how can a blue bird that can't fly ever compete with a hip surfer teenager from Malibu who finds out that she's a mermaid princess and as a result gets the chance to save the sea kingdom from an evil aunt and spend at least 10 minutes of the movie shopping for new mermaid tail outfits while singing a catchy song? Sorry Rio...you just couldn't compete.

What's even sadder is that the kids I was watching actually sat through the whole Barbie movie enthralled. While within 5 minutes of Rio, they were distracted by their toys.

I wonder how much research does go into kids movies like Barbie. Cause, they sure do know how to keep the attention of not only a 4 year old girl but an 8 year old boy and a 30 year old woman who should know better than to get sucked into clever marketing movies.