Stop laughing, I'm serious! In 2009, Artisan Home Entertainment released the animated adventure Barbie and the Three Musketeers on DVD. As the nerd father of a young girl, I thought the movie would be a good Trojan Horse where cultivating a taste for action-adventure and swashbucklers was concerned. The movie is better than it has any right to be—which is lucky, considering the dozens of times I've had to watch it in the last three years.
In the film, Barbie plays Corinne, daughter of D'Artagnan (who is apparently dead). She leaves her mother and her Gascon home to head north to Paris; she plans to present Monsieur Treville with a letter with a letter from her mother encouraging Treville to make Corinne a Musketeer. Hijinks ensue as Corinne and her three serving maid friends struggle to defeat would-be usurper Philippe (played by Tim Curry) and the marshaled forces of oppressive patriarchy.
Needless to say, Corinne's Honor + Intrigue stats follow below.
Corinne, Daughter of D'Artagnan
Motivation
Ambition (to become a Musketeer like her father)
Qualities
Might 0
Daring 2
Savvy 1
Flair 1
Combat
Brawl 0
Melee 2
Ranged 0
Defense 2
Careers
Farmgirl 1
Acrobat 2
Duelist 1
Servant 0
Resources
Lifeblood 10
Fortune 4
Boons
Attractive (Bonus die in situations where looks matter—this is Barbie, after all)
Beast-Friend (Bonus die when dealing with animals; has animal companions—see below)
Born Athlete (Bonus die when performing athletic activities other than fighting)
Flaws
Country Bumpkin (Penalty die in situations where street smarts matter)
Hot-Headed (Penalty die when attempting to suppress anger)
Equipment
Epee (1d6 damage, +1 Parry)
Miette (Corinne's kitten . . . who apparently duels as well—don't ask!)
Alexander (Corinne's elderly horse, inherited from her father)
Inspiration springs from odd sources sometimes. This is one I missed. My two boys have expressed zero interest in watching Barbie.
ReplyDeleteLOL. The Barbie movies are actually pretty well written - suspect the writers and director were left alone to get on with it.
ReplyDeleteOr, as could be the case, us geek-Dads-with-daughters have to put up with some awful dross, so something even vaguely aligned with our inrerests seems inspired!
ReplyDeleteHaving said that my eldest wants this film so I might get it for her.
I was lucky that my daughter (now 26) was ;born geek' and has always shared my interest in comedy, action movies (including the old b&w), role-playing games, etc.
ReplyDeleteNow we write and run RPG con events at Origins most years and play in others and in LARPs.
It's a pretty sweet life I've had.