Bratz facts for kids
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| Type |
|
|---|---|
| Inventor(s) | Carter Bryant |
| Company | MGA Entertainment |
| Country | United States |
| Availability | 2001–present |
| Slogan | "the girls with a passion for fashion" |
Bratz is an American fashion doll and media franchise created by former Mattel employee Carter Bryant for MGA Entertainment, which debuted in 2001.
The four original 10-inch (25 cm) dolls were released on May 21, 2001 — Yasmin (ethnically ambiguous, though predominantly Middle Eastern and South Asian coded), Cloe (White), Jade (East Asian), and Sasha (Black). They featured almond-shaped eyes adorned with eyeshadow adding lush and big glossy lips. Bratz reached great success with the expansion to spin-offs, including Bratz Kidz, Bratz Boyz, Bratz Babyz and Bratzillaz' and a media franchise consisting of discography and adaptations into a TV series, a web series, a live-action film and video games. Global sales of the entire franchise grossed $2 billion in 2005 and by the following year, the brand had about 40 percent of the fashion-doll market.
The Bratz doll lines have provoked controversy in several areas from their stylized proportions to fashion-forward clothing, capitalizing closely on pop trends. Since the brand's launch in 2001, franchise distributor MGA Entertainment got embroiled in a lengthy legal dispute with its rival Mattel over the rights to its design, which ended in 2011 with MGA as the victors. Related litigation is ongoing in a lawsuit by MGA alleging Mattel's theft of trade secrets.
MGA has paused the Bratz brand since the onset of the litigation and rebranded it several times throughout its lifespan, with the first of those coming in 2010 after Mattel's first lawsuit, only to return later that year to commemorate the brand's 10th anniversary. In 2013, Bratz changed to have a taller bodies, an all-new logo and branding, and continued through 2014, in an effort to return the brand to its roots. As a result, none of the 2014 product line was made available in North America.
In July 2015, Bratz relaunched a second time for 14 years with new doll lines and introducing a new main character, Raya, to the debut lineup from its 2001 launch as well as a new slogan and website design. The bodies were changed to be 10" (25 cm) tall again, but with new bodies and head molds. These dolls were met with negative reactions from fans, as the brand was more oriented towards younger kids rather than tweens and teens like the previous dolls. Due to the poor reception and sales, the dolls were once again discontinued in 2016.
Contents
Products and history
Though Bratz dolls fared poorly at their May 21, 2001 debut — mostly due to the long-held monopoly by the Mattel-staple Barbie — their popularity increased the following Christmas. In the first half-decade since debut, 125 million products were sold worldwide, and, in 2005, global sales of Bratz and Bratz products grossed over $2 billion. In 2006, a toy-industry analyst indicated Bratz had captured about 40% of the fashion-doll market, compared with Barbie's 60%. The competition was high with Barbies, but became more and more popular with time.
In August 2010, MGA released its first Bratz dolls in a year to celebrate the 10th anniversary/first decadal anniversary of the franchise. In addition to two "comeback" collections, MGA also released 10 new female Bratz characters on October 10, 2010. Bratz Party and Talking Bratz were in Target, Toys "R" Us and Walmart stores.
In 2013, Bratz got a new logo and slogan, and the dolls all got new bodies with articulated arms, with a height to match its competitor Monster High while keeping their unique faces, and sporting brand new fashions. Only the four principal Bratz characters, alongside minors: Meygan, Fianna, Shira, Roxxi and Phoebe, have been made in the new bodies.
In January 2014, MGA revealed that Bratz would go on a country-based hiatus (only for/in the United States) for a year in an attempt to rebuild the brand after an admittedly first relaunch in September 2010 to celebrate the brand's first decadal anniversary, resulting from the lawsuit against Mattel, which was met with decreased popularity. MGA Entertainment felt that it wanted to give the brand "the comeback it truly deserved".
In July 2015, Bratz relaunched a second time for 14 years with new doll lines and introducing a new main character, Raya (despite sharing the same name with a previous character) to the debut lineup from its 2001 launch as well as a new slogan and website design. The bodies were changed to be 10" (25 cm) tall again, but with new bodies and head molds. These dolls were met with negative reactions from fans, as the brand was more oriented towards younger kids rather than tweens and teens like the previous dolls. Due to the poor reception and sales, the dolls were once again discontinued in 2016.
On May 20, 2017, MGA Entertainment CEO, Isaac Larian, announced a third relaunch of the brand in Autumn/Fall 2018, in addition to announcing a collaboration with fashion designer Hayden Williams. Since Black Friday of 2018, the new set of Bratz Collector dolls designed by Hayden Williams were officially released and sold exclusively through Amazon online.
In September 2018, a new line of dolls titled "Bratz Collector" were designed by fashion illustrator Hayden Williams and released exclusively on Amazon online. The brand featured closely resemblance to the original 2001 doll line. In June 2021, for its 20th anniversary, Bratz released near-replicas of the debut dolls from its 2001 launch.
Bratz turned 20 in 2021.
In July 2023, Bratz announced a new partnership with celebrity Kylie Jenner. On August 1, 2023, Bratz released a limited-time Mini Bratz x Kylie Jenner collection. The collection features a range of Kylie's famous looks with the promise of a "full line" of Kylie dolls released on October 1 as reported by MGA Entertainment manufacturer.
Media franchising
Films
There have been a number of animated Bratz direct-to-video films, all of which initially were distributed by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment and were later re-released through Lionsgate. Some of the films, including Bratz Go to Paris: The Movie is a re-released compilation of three Bratz episodes from the first season, consisting of "Go to Paris I / Bratz in Playland", "Go to Paris II / Bratz in Franceland", and "Go to Paris III / Bratz in Ragland". Bratz Babyz Save Christmas, initially released in 2008, was re-released by Lionsgate in 2013 as Bratz Babyz Save Christmas: The Movie. The live-action adaption of the franchise involving the four main characters exploring high school troubles and cliques was met with overwhelmingly negative reviews from critics including at Rotten Tomatoes with emphasis "full of mixed messages and dubious role-models", adding that "Bratz is too shallow even for its intended audience."
- Traditional animation
- Bratz: Starrin' & Stylin' (August 3, 2004)
- Bratz Babyz: The Movie (September 12, 2006)
- Computer animation
- Bratz: Rock Angelz (October 4, 2005)
- Bratz: Genie Magic (April 11, 2006)
- Bratz: Passion 4 Fashion – Diamondz/Bratz Forever Diamondz (September 26, 2006)
- Bratz: Fashion Pixiez (February 27, 2007)
- Bratz Kidz: Sleep-Over Adventure (July 31, 2007)
- Bratz: Super Babyz (October 9, 2007)
- Bratz Kidz: Fairy Tales (February 26, 2008)
- Bratz: Girlz Really Rock (September 22, 2008)
- Bratz Babyz Save Christmas (November 5, 2008)
- Bratz: Pampered Petz (October 5, 2010)
- Bratz: Desert Jewelz (January 10, 2012)
- Bratz: Go to Paris the Movie (October 8, 2013)
- Live-action
- Bratz (August 3, 2007)
Television and web series
Bratz TV series
A computer-animated TV series adaptation was produced by Mike Young Productions (now Splash Entertainment) and premiered in the United States on 4Kids TV. Voices included Tia Mowry.
Bratz: BFF (Best Friends Forever)
In August 2007, an 88-minute, computer-animated, audiovisual production titled Bratz: BFF (Best Friends Forever) was released on the DVD rental website portal of Netflix.
Bratz Design Academy
From October 2008, Nickelodeon aired a reality show titled Bratz Design Academy, in which young girls aged 9 to 14 compete in fashion challenges similar to Project Runway, with the winner designing clothing for a British line of Bratz dolls.
Bratz Rock
On October 10, 2010, MGA premiered the first episode of an 11-episode web series, titled Bratz Rock, revolving around the main characters as they enter a music competition held by fictional music star Whisper, and as they get closer to finishing their song for the contest, they also uncover Whisper's true identity. On October 14, 2010, the series was announced as postponed, but the remaining episodes were not released.
Bratz (web series)
In August 2015, a stop-motion web series premiered on YouTube. MGA confirmed there would be 10 episodes for the first season, which would turn out to be the only season. All 10 episodes were compiled into a 25-minute video titled Bratz: Friends Forever on Netflix. The web series was seen on American TV on Kabillion.
Talking Bratz (web series)
In May 2021, Bratz announced via Twitter that a web series titled "Talking Bratz" would air exclusively on its TikTok. In a similar CGI-style animation to the original TV series which aired between 2005 and 2008, the series consisted of several Bratz characters being interviewed in a talk-show like studio. The series saw the return of two of the TV series' cast in Olivia Hack (Cloe) and Ogie Banks (Dylan).
Alwayz Bratz (web series)
On August 31, 2023, Bratz announced on their TikTok that they are going to air a two-minute miniseries on there titled "Alwayz Bratz" starting weekly on September 15. In a CGI-style animation different from Talking Bratz, the series focuses on the main characters, as young adults in their 20s, continuing to run their magazine business together since the Bratz: Rock Angelz film in 2005.
Digital Dolls
In January 2024, MGA Entertainment partnered with Flickplay in a five-year deal to create digital Bratz dolls. The digital dolls will be used on Flickplay, on other platforms, and in internet games.
Discography
- Bratz: Rock Angelz Soundtrack (2005)
- Bratz: Genie Magic Soundtrack (2006)
- Bratz: Forever Diamondz Soundtrack (2006)
- Bratz: The Motion Picture Soundtrack (2007)
- Bratz: Fashion Pixiez Soundtrack (2007)
- Bratz: Girlz Really Rock Soundtrack (2008)
Games
Interactive DVDs
- Livin' It Up with the Bratz (2006)
- Bratz: Glitz 'n' Glamour (2007)
- Lil' Bratz: Party Time! (2008)
Video games
- Bratz (2002)
- Bratz: Rock Angelz (2005)
- Bratz: Forever Diamondz (2006)
- Bratz Babyz (2006)
- Lil' Bratz: Friends, Fashion and Fun (2006)
- Bratz: Fashion Pixiez (2007)
- Bratz: The Movie (2007)
- Bratz: 4 Real (2007)
- Bratz Kidz Slumber Party! (2008)
- Bratz: Super Babyz (2008)
- Bratz: Ponyz (2007)
- Bratz: Ponyz 2 (2008)
- Bratz: Girlz Really Rock (2008)
- Bratz: Fashion Boutique (2012)
- Bratz: Action Heroez (2013)
- Bratz: Total Fashion Makeover (2021)
- Bratz: Flaunt Your Fashion (2022)
See also
In Spanish: Bratz para niños
