Hot off the heels of the Barbie movie — which has been established firmly as the unequivocal film of the summer — it’s been revealed that a new Barbie vs Bratz TV series is now also in the works.
The series, which is based on the book You Don't Own Me: How Mattel V. MGA Entertainment Exposed Barbie's Dark Side by law professor Orly Lobel, will examine the lives of Barbie inventor Ruth Handler and Bratz creator Carter Bryant.
According to Deadline, You Don't Own Me ‘explores the dark side of the doll wars set against the cultural revolution that Barbie spawned, the subsequent backlash, and the cut-throat, high-stakes world of toys.’
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You Don't Own Me will also shed a light on Bryant's invention of Bratz, which were released in 2001 and spurred a decade-long court battle between Mattel, the company behind Barbie, and Bratz manufacturer, MGA Entertainment. Bryant, as a former Mattel employee, was believed to have first drawn the sketches for Bratz dolls while he still worked at the company; but MGA claimed that he first conceived of the dolls in 1998, while on a hiatus from Mattel. In 2008, a jury sided with Mattel.
Ruth Handler was played by Rhea Perlman in Greta Gerwig’s esteemed 2023 film and in her short cameo nodded to Handler’s relationship with her daughter Barbara.
Naomi May is a seasoned culture journalist and editor with over ten years’ worth of experience in shaping stories and building digital communities. After graduating with a First Class Honours from City University's prestigious Journalism course, Naomi joined the Evening Standard, where she worked across both the newspaper and website. She is now the Digital Editor at ELLE Magazine and has written features for the likes of The Guardian, Vogue, Vice and Refinery29, among many others. Naomi is also the host of the ELLE Collective book club.
