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BARBIE really has matured.
And not just since her days as a teenage beauty contestant. No, Barbie has matured considerably since last year, when the world- famous doll "starred" in her first animated movie, "Barbie in the Nutcracker."
Now, Barbie takes on another timeless classic in the direct-to- video release "Barbie as Rapunzel." Barbie doesn't exactly let her hair down for the role (you had to see that joke coming), but she does offer young viewers a rare thing in a doll-as-princess movie: a role model.
Yes, the 43-year-old Barbie still doesn't look a day over 18. And, since this is "Rapunzel," now she has beautiful, abnormally long hair as well.
But Barbie doesn't use the hair - or her good looks - to lure princes to her rescue. No, modern-day Barbie does her own rescuing, thank you.
Instead, Barbie's long locks are just a part of her medieval- meets-computer-generated-animation look. The hair validates the DVD title but it doesn't make the woman.
In Mattel's version of the story, Barbie, er, Rapunzel is imprisoned in a magical castle tower by the jealous, evil witch Gothel (voiced perfectly by...