Listen Up, Dolls: A Barbie V. Bratz TV Series Is In the Works
It's time to step inside these rival dollhouses.
An upcoming CBS Studios TV series—based on the book You Don't Own Me: How Mattel V. MGA Entertainment Exposed Barbie's Dark Side—will examine the lives of Barbie inventor Ruth Handler and Bratz creator Carter Bryant, a rep for CBS Studios confirmed to E! News.
The TV show comes in the wake of renewed interest in the dolls following the Barbie movie, which featured insight into Handler's real life. In the movie, the late Barbie founder, played by Rhea Perlman, tells Barbie (Margot Robbie) about her daughter Barbara Handler, now 82, as well as jokingly touches on her troubles with the IRS.
These topics and more will explored in the adaptation of You Don't Own Me, according to Deadline, which first reported the project. The series will also shed a light on Bryant's invention of Bratz, which were released in 2001 and spurred a yearslong court battle between Mattel, the company behind Barbie, and Bratz manufacturer MGA Entertainment.
The tension centered around who owned the copyright to Bratz, according to Reuters.
Mattel claimed that Bryant, a former Mattel designer, drew sketches of the Bratz dolls while he still worked at the company, according to Reuters. However, MGA said that Bryant drew up the Bratz designs in 1998, when he had been on hiatus from Mattel.
In 2008, a jury sided with Mattel. However, the decision was overturned and in 2011 a new set of jurors sided with MGA, according to the Los Angeles Times.
As for where Bryant is now? Celebrating both Bratz and Barbie.
"As proud as I am for creating the #bratz#pinkiecooperandthejetsetpets#sugarplanet#shopkinsdolls, I'm equally as proud and LUCKY that I got to be on the Barbie design team," he wrote on Instagram July 18. "I even got my own featured Barbie. So excited for her renaissance, I really am, and can't wait to see the movie."
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