Good Bye Bratz, You're Outta Here!
Bratz Rock! (NOT)It's the end of an era. Though their time was short in the toy world, the Bratz will forever be remembered as the skanky, illegitimate little sisters of Barbie. They had their day in court and lost! Barbie makers, Mattel, has been granted an injunction that bars MGA(Bratz makers) from manufacturing or selling anymore of the pouty-mouthed dolls.
The AP reports:
"The ruling, filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Riverside, follows a federal jury's finding that Bratz doll designer Carter Bryant came up with the edgy concept while working for Mattel.
The same jury later awarded Mattel $10 million for copyright infringement and $90 million for breach of contract after a lengthy trial that ended in August.
Judge Stephen Larson on Wednesday ordered MGA to immediately stop manufacturing and selling the Bratz dolls and to deliver all its Bratz merchandise to Mattel, the maker of Barbie dolls.
Robert A. Eckert, Mattel's chief executive, said the ruling shows "MGA should not be allowed to profit from its wrongdoing."
And if anyone is familiar with the stealing of ideas it's Barbie. Of course this was back in the day before billion-dollar lawsuits and copyright infringement laws. As any true Barbie fanatic knows, Barbie was not the original concept of Ruth Handler. She did bring her to Mattel, but Barbie already had a life in Germany as the sassy, sexy, fashionable Bild Lilli.
Bild Lilli was originally a cartoon character created by German cartoonist Reinhard Beuthien for filler on June 24, 1952, for the newspaper Bild Zeitung in Hamburg. By 1955 Lilli had been turned into a doll that was targeted at gentlemen and sold in tobacco stores as gag gifts.
Lilli, the predecessor for Barbie, was an edgier type of woman, maybe it was her European roots that allowed her to be more overtly sexual, yet innocent at the same time. A contradiction that allowed her to avoid the pitfalls of having to uphold a wholesome image like Barbie has been subjected to since her inception.
It's ironic that Barbie should be so adamant about destroying the Bratz, when she was the almost exact replica of Lilli. Despite their popularity the Bratz have never managed to dethrone the reigning queen of fashion dolls, Barbie. But maybe now that the puffy-lipped teen dolls will be retired, their collectible value will skyrocket. I know one thing, for the first time ever, I will be buying a Bratz doll, just in case that happens.
