Above and beyond
With one DVD under its belt and an entire entertainment platform in the works, the Bratz dolls are ready for their close-ups.
By Hillary Atkin
When MGA vp entertainment Jay Fukuto joined the company from Walt Disney Television Animation in April 2004, his mandate was to bring Disney's quality to MGA founder Isaac Larian's vision of creating great entertainment across multiple platforms to expand the fantasy and myth of the Bratz dolls.
That strategic plan is being realized with a CD, TV series, video game, theatrical film and 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment's feature-length DVD "Bratz Rock Angelz," set to hit store shelves Sept. 13.
"Angelz" centers on the main Bratz characters -- Cloe, Jade, Roxxi, Sasha and Yasmin -- who travel to London and form a band called the Rock Angelz, which goes on to become a big sensation -- as MGA is hoping its efforts in the entertainment arena will be.
"We want to cover everything. Our entertainment plans are very broad," Fukuto says. "We want to be everywhere there's entertainment."
Also on tap is a 26-episode animated Bratz TV series from Mike Young Prods. and a feature-film treatment in conjunction with Fox.
"When you go on the big screen, it's the ultimate venue," Fukuto says. "We look at our brand as being able to support anything, and that kind of high-profile exposure gives us tremendous credibility. The fact that it is being produced through a major motion picture studio makes us a very serious player."
MGA's strategic plan includes delivering a new Bratz theme twice a year, with toy lines and synergistic properties in concert with partners including Fox, THQ (producer of the Bratz video game) and Universal Music Enterprises (producer of the CD).
"We're looking to further the expansion in all areas of exposure and penetration for the brand," Fukuto says. "Rock Angelz is an attempt to establish the template for a broad, synergy-oriented theme going out on multiple fronts on the shelves with a DVD, in music stores with the CD and with the toys at retail."
The first Bratz home entertainment release, "Bratz the Video: Starrin' 'n' Stylin'," was released in summer 2004, but the 2-D animated film didn't exactly burn up the charts. "Our expectations creatively and financially this time are higher," Fukuto says. "It's really fun entertainment."
The "Angelz" DVD story line incorporates humor, action, adventure and music designed to appeal to its core audience and features the voices of Lacey Chabert, Kaley Cuoco, Soleil Moon Frye, Wendie Malick and Tia Mowry. "The 'Bratz Rock Angelz' DVD is the first Bratz entertainment product that features new state-of-the-art (computer-generated imagery) animation," TCFHE executive marketing director Jeff Yordy says. "Combined with a great soundtrack and story, this new film hits the core Bratz demographic of girls 9-11. The combination of fashion, music and CGI animation is perfect for this age group."
Fukuto says MGA is conscious of what girls want but also wants boys and even adults to relate to the Bratz brand.
"We're hoping that it plays very broadly and is very watchable for parents," he says. "We have 'boy appeal.' We also feature (Bratz Boyz) Cameron and Dylan as characters. Humor draws boys in, and they'll like the music, too. It's not just for girls. We've tried to make it teen-oriented with the music and some of the activities like skateboarding and motorcycling. It's not just shopping and being fashion-conscious -- though the characters certainly are."
The TV show's animators have focused on details including realistic hair, numerous wardrobe changes, trendy footwear and all the accessories of a tween lifestyle. "Up until now, hair has been one of the most challenging aspects of CGI, only produced in megabudgeted movies. The Bratz girls have real wavy, full-motion hair, and they change their 'dos constantly," says Mike Young, founding partner of Mike Young Prods. "Hair wasn't the only design challenge we faced: The show is full of action and adventure that takes place in fantastic CGI sets that had our background artists working at full tilt."
The DVD release comes about a month after the Rock Angelz dolls hit store shelves. TCFHE plans a broad-based marketing program for the film encompassing not only a national TV advertising campaign to reach girls and their parents but also mall advertising and signage, a promotion with the national retail fashion chain Limited Too, theater advertising and promotions and schoolbook covers.
"The Bratz Rock Angelz program developed by MGA is comprehensive and coordinated across all product lines and licensees," Yordy says. "It's a great initiative to be part of. The Fox team thinks the cross-promotional support and launch schedule for Bratz Rock Angelz will make the DVD -- and the brand -- one of the big success stories of this fall. In terms of units, it should be one of the most successful girls titles released in 2005."
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