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In this article, Tessa ranks animated Barbie movies based on the level of Kenergy the Kens have.
Animated Barbie Movies Ranked By Kenergy
Animated Barbie Movies Ranked By Kenergy
By Tessa Hager
By Tessa Hager
*Warning: Spoilers*
*Warning: Spoilers*
To preface this article, it is important to know the meaning of “Kenergy.” Ryan Gosling has defined it as a verb, stating, “To Ken is to give more than is necessary or required to reflect so that others might shine.” While the Barbie movie of 2023 was a hit, it seems the old animated films have been long forgotten. Where would our generation be if not for the Barbies that became mermaids, flew in the sky as fairies, and saved entire kingdoms? And where would those movies be if not for the comedic relief of a clueless, yet devoted Ken? Rather than simply ranking the top three animated Barbie movies, this article will rank them based on the level of Kenergy of that movie’s Ken. Only the ultimate Kenergy shall make it onto this list.
3. Barbie and the Magic of Pegasus
3. Barbie and the Magic of Pegasus
The Ken of this movie is Prince Aidan. A quick plot summary is that he assists Princess Annika (played by Barbie) in saving her family and her kingdom from an evil wizard named Wenlock. Annika needs to gather pieces to build a wand that can stop him and turn her sister back into a human since Wenlock turned her into a pegasus years earlier. When they first meet, Aidan and Annika do not get along too well. However, Aidan’s sense of humor in a dark situation is one reason he is on this list. Annika travels with her human-turned-pegasus sister and a baby polar bear. The polar bear accidentally slides down a dark slide made from a tree. When Aidan learns that the pegasus is Annika’s sister, he replies, laughing, “I can see the resemblance.” Then, when Annika tells him about the bear cub, he replies, “Let me guess, cousin?” When he discovers more about Annika’s situation, even though he acts like he does not like her and thinks she is crazy, he does not hesitate to help her. Kenergy is all about the lightheartedness and willingness to help a Barbie no matter what. He has no obligation to help her at all. In fact, he would be completely justified if he left her alone since they do not know each other, but as they say in the live-action Barbie movie, “Kens cannot resist a damsel in distress.”
Photo Credit; Fan Casting
2. Princess and the Pauper
2. Princess and the Pauper
This movie has Kenergy radiating from it, with two Kens who are Kenning throughout the whole film. The film follows Princess Anneliese and Erika, two girls from different circumstances who look astonishingly alike. Erika ends up taking the place of the princess to keep her wedding going when Anneliese is kidnapped.
First up, we have King Dominick, who disguised himself as a page (a young male servant or messenger in the time of kingdoms) so that he could meet the princess without any formalities and get to know the real her. However, the princess he was getting to know was not the real princess; it was Erika. When he finds that out, not only does he forgive her and still want to be with her rather than lashing out, but he also dresses up as a knight to save her and break her out of the castle dungeon. Once the villain of the movie has been defeated, he hopes to marry Erika rather than the real princess, but Erika has dreams of being a singer and leaves him behind to develop a career. He waits for her and they get married once she is back home. Only a man with true Kenergy would wait patiently at home while Barbie lives out her lifelong dream.
Next up, we have Julian. Besides just having Kenergy, he is one of the smarter Kens out there. He is a royal tutor who does not come from wealth, so he has worked hard to get to where he is, but working his way up also makes him smart. When Anneliese goes missing, he figures out that it was at the hands of Preminger just by the changed scent of her stationary, since it was lilac scented and she always uses rose. He is also secretly in love with Annaliese, who is his best friend, but she is unattainable since she is a princess. Throughout the entire movie, his only goal is to get Annaliese back and he stops at nothing to do so. One downside is that he is “oblivious in the fact that he doesn’t know Annaliese is in love with him,” according to Caitlin McKillop, a Barbie fan on YouTube. However, this naivety could be because she is a princess and he is not from royalty, so he does not want to ruin anything. One of the truest signs of Kenergy is sticking around and being supportive, even if there was nothing in it for him (disregarding the fact that they did indeed have a double wedding with Erika and Dominick at the end).
Honorable Mentions
Honorable Mentions
Ken is Ken in Barbie: A Fairy Secret (as in he is literally Ken… Not Ken playing a character). While he does not contribute much to the actual plot, he contributes to the comedic side of things. He was Ken-napped by a fairy princess and brought back to her kingdom and is forced to marry her. At the wedding, he is trapped in magical chains that he cannot break. An iconic moment of his is when he is in these chains, he says, “Need to… break… these chains… of love,” as he is struggling to get away.
Another honorable mention is Ken in Barbie Life in the Dreamhouse. Even though he is arguably the most Kenergetic Ken, he could not make the list since he is in a show rather than a movie, and this list is just for the movies. However, his Kenergy kennot be ignored. He is always there for Barbie, no matter what he is busy doing. Ken drops everything at any time for her, and you cannot get more Kenergetic than that. In episode six of the third season, titled “Occupational Hazards,” Ken even attempts to find a job, but he cannot stick with anything because his “Barbie senses” can go off at any given moment. He then discovers that his job is not photographer, astronaut, or even "beach". He exclaims, “Being Barbie’s boyfriend is my calling!” He stands the test of Kenergy.
1. Fashion Fairytale
1. Fashion Fairytale
Photo Credit: Everything Barbie Wiki
Photo Credit: Barbie Movies Wiki
Photo Credit: Barbie Movies Trivia
In this movie, Barbie is an actress who gets fired from her job and Ken breaks up with her over the phone just moments later. With her life seemingly falling apart, she decides to fly to Paris to work with her aunt Millicent, a fashion designer. While the main plot is her saving her aunt’s fashion house, we are here to focus on the Kenergetic side of things. Ken did not actually break up with her. He was practicing lines with Raquelle, who recorded a scene that sounded like a breakup and then played the recording over the phone, making Barbie believe that Ken had broken up with her.
Once Ken is enlightened about the situation, he agrees with Barbie’s friends that he needs to make a grand gesture. Throughout the entire movie, he goes through a lot just to get to Barbie. He gets stuck on a plane with a seemingly parentless child who is making obnoxious noises while he is on the phone with Barbie’s friends. The kid finally quiets down when Ken makes the noise back at him, but then the kid starts sobbing and uses Ken’s sleeve as a tissue. He then gets into a truck with a man who has a pig and the pig chews on his jacket. Next, Ken takes a commuter train to Philadelphia, but he falls asleep and wakes up in New Brunswick and misses the last train going to Philadelphia. Even though Ken’s stress levels continue to rise, he continues on his mission to get to Barbie.
When he gets to the Philadelphia airport, he drops change from the cab and rips his pants as he is picking it up. Once he is finally in Paris, he has one last obstacle stopping him from getting to Barbie: traffic and a flat tire. This is no problem with a man with such strong Kenergy. Ken gets out of the car and changes the tire himself so that he does not have to wait another hour to get to Barbie. If all of this effort is not a sign of true Kenergy, then I do not know what is.
Throughout the years, many different Kens in Barbie movies have demonstrated their determination, commitment, devotion, and generosity to their Barbies. Thankfully, we now have a definition for what they all had in common: Kenergy.
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