You Don’t Own Me: Barbie vs Bratz series in the works

Barbie starring Margot Robbie made its theatrical debut on July 21. The film crossed the 1 billion mark under 3 weeks after its release, making Greta Gerwig the first female director to enter the billion-dollar club. After Barbie’s massive success, CBS is now all set to produce a series, You Don’t Own Me, based on the rivalry between Barbie and Bratz dolls. 

2 things you need to know 

• Barbie and Bratz both are fashion dolls owned by Mattel and MGA Entertainment respectively. 
• Their rivalry goes back to 2001 when Bratz was launched as a direct competition to Barbie.

You Don’t Own Me to explore doll rivalry 

You Don’t Own Me will be based on the book of the same name by Orly Lobel, according to Deadline. The show will examine the origins of the Barbie and Bratz rivalry. The parallel lives of Carter Bryant, the creator of Bratz and Ruth Handler, the creator of Barbie, will also be followed in the CBS series. The publication points out that the purchase was made before the WGA strike and Barbie's theatrical release.

(Bratz was established in 2001, in direct competition with Barbie | Image: X)

“This entertaining and provocative work pits audacious MGA against behemoth Mattel, shows how an idea turns into a product, and explores the two different versions of womanhood, represented by traditional all-American Barbie and her defiant, anti-establishment rival―the only doll to come close to outselling her,” reads the You Don’t Own Me book synopsis. 

Timeline of Barbie and Bratz's feud 

Bratz, the billion-dollar, anti-establishment competitor to the all-American Barbie, was created by Bryant in 2001. Prior to that, the creator was working at Mattel, where he created costumes for Barbie. He eventually left Mattel and sold the idea for Bratz to a rival firm called MGA, which led to a legal dispute that lasted for ten years.