Barbie: Dolphin Magic

Barbie: Dolphin Magic is part of the on-going Barbie CGI film franchise, which in the mid 2010s shifting away from video/DVDs to streaming.

Mermaid films of the franchise fall in the Modern Film category or the Full Fantasy category, and Dolphin Magic is part of the former. Set in modern day, a mermaid named Isla and her gemstone dolphin friends are swimming along when the smallest of them, Emerald, is captured by fishermen. Emerald is taken to a marine institute, where the boss, Marlo, hopes to make good money by selling off the dolphin.

Meanwhile, Barbie along with her sisters Skipper, Stacie and Chelsea are on a beach holiday near the institute. They stumble upon Emerald in captivity, but are assured by their friend Ken, who works at the institute, that Marlo only wants to check that the dolphin is healthy before releasing him back to the wild. In the meantime, Isla uses her magic to gain legs in the hopes of rescuing Emerald, and along the way meets and befriends Barbie and her sisters.

Barbie: Dolphin Magic gets a musical sequel in Barbie Mermaid Power, which unlike the original film takes place almost entirely underwater in the kingdom of Pacifica (heh). Barbie, her sisters, their mermaid friend Isla, and their kind-of-enemy Marlo all return in this sequel, and are joined by new friends.

Barbie Malibu and Barbie Brooklyn are clearing ocean trash with Skipper, Stacie and Chelsea, when Barbie Malibu's necklace starts to glow. It's a message from Isla that the mermaids need their help. A once-every-hundred-years event called the Mermaid Moon is approaching, during which a special Powerkeeper needs to be chosen. There are four kinds of mermaids: water, air, earth and fire, and each kind of mermaid has powers relating to their type. The Powerkeeper is able to control all four elements, and a special competition is to be held to identify them. As it turns out, Barbie Malibu and Barbie Brooklyn are on the shortlist to be the Powerkeeper, and need to develop their newfound powers alongside helping their mermaid friends both old and new. Sadly, Isla doesn't get to do much in the sequel because she's helping the queen manage the competition, but there are some charming new characters and Aquaryah in particular is a gem.