He has been stealing the gold from the royal mines with his sidekicks, Nick and Nack, for a long time. Queen Genevieve doesn't know that the reason behind the kingdom's bankruptcy is her adviser, Preminger. They both know in their heart that duty is more important but they will never stop dreaming of freedom. Erika wants to be a singer and travel the world but she has to work off her parent's debt and interest to Madame Carp who borrowed money from her to feed Erika.

However, her mother tells Anneliese that she must marry King Dominick to save their kingdom. Anneliese wants to be able to do what she wants without having all her lessons or events to attend and marry her tutor/true love, Julian. While Anneliese and Erika have different lives they both wish to be free. She needed to do something quickly to save the kingdom, but what? And then it struck her: Nearby lived a rich young king, who was seeking a wife. How was she going to take care of her people? If only she could call on her trusted adviser Preminger, but he was away on a long journey. The widowed Queen was shocked, the kingdom was now bankrupt. It all started at the royal mine, when the miners informed the Queen the gold had run out. With lives so different, it wasn't surprising that the princess and the pauper never met, but fate decreed they would. The princess learned her royal duties, while Erika worked long and hard as a seamstress for the spiteful Madame Carp. They were so poor, how would they be able to care for their little daughter? Many years passed.

Her parents loved her every bit as much as the king and queen loved the princess, but they worried. Princess Anneliese would have only the finest. One, a baby princess, the king and queen were overjoyed. At the very same moment, two identical baby girls were born. Narration: Long ago and far away, in a village high on a mountain top, something amazing was occurring. Can Erika pretend to be the Princess and foil her captor, the evil Preminger? And what of the handsome King Dominick, who falls in love with Erika, mistaking her for Anneliese? In this magical musical performance, two beautiful, adventurous girls dare to follow their dreams and discover that destiny is written in a very special place: your heart!'

Based on the story by Mark Twain, Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper features Barbie in an exciting dual role as a princess and a poor village girl who look amazingly alike! The girls' paths are fated to cross when Princess Anneliese is captured and Erika, her look- alike, must try to save her. 'In her first animated musical, featuring seven original songs, Barbie comes to life in this modern retelling of a classic tale of mistaken identity and the power of friendship.

Barbie princess and the pauper horse