No Bratz DVD Movies To Be Released In The United States For 2009/2010

The news just keeps getting worse for MGA Entertainment.

For the past several months, Bratz fans, toy enthusiasts, and industry analysts have been bombarded left and right with all types of news stories about the only girls with a passion for fashion: The ongoing litigation between MGA Entertainment and Mattel over rights to the Bratz franchise; retailers selling fewer or no Bratz products and collections on store shelves; the perception of Bratz promoting sex and sending a negative message to young pre-teen girls....

Well, here is another news story about Bratz to bombard them with, and it's one that somehow slipped under the radar: The Bratz DVD Movies.

On November 10, 2006, Lions Gate Entertainment, the largest independent film and television distribution company in North America, entered a licensing agreement with MGA Entertainment to be the entertainment franchise for Bratz. The license included the home entertainment distribution rights to Bratz DVD movies such as "Bratz: Fashion Pixiez" and "Bratz: Girlz Really Rock," as well as Bratz DVD movies previously released under FOX Entertainment Group such as "Bratz: Rock Angelz" and "Bratz: Genie Magic." It also included theatrical distribution of the live-action movie "Bratz: The Movie" in August 2007.

What MGA Entertainment did not inform anyone was that the home entertainment and theatrical distribution license it acquired with Lions Gate Entertainment was valid up to November 10, 2008. Shortly after the release of the "Bratz: Girlz Really Rock" DVD, Lions Gate Entertainment decided not to renew its distribution license with MGA Entertainment. It is not known if Lions Gate Entertainment's decision not to renew the home entertainment and theatrical distribution license was due to the litigation between MGA Entertainment and Mattel over rights to the Bratz franchise. However, there were some indications that the decision was influenced by the litigation — which Lions Gate Entertainment clearly did not want to be a part of.

Since MGA Entertainment has been unable to secure an agreement with another entertainment company and does not have enough capital in the pipeline to distribute the Bratz DVD movies on their own, the following Bratz DVD movies have not been and will not be released in the United States:

• Bratz Babyz: Save Christmas (Fall 2008)
• Bratz Pampered Petz: A Rescue Adventure (Spring 2009)
• Bratz Desert Jewelz: Genie Magic II (formerly "Bratz: Aladdin") (Fall 2009)

There are no planned Bratz DVD movies to coincide with any of the Bratz products and collections for Spring 2010. Mike Young Productions, which filmed and produced the "Bratz" animated television series and DVD movies, ended their contract with MGA Entertainment after the conclusion of Season 2 of "Bratz" in early 2007.

Now what about that little note on each of the Bratz Pampered Petz dolls that advertise the upcoming release of the DVD movie "Bratz Pampered Petz: A Rescue Adventure"? Well, the Bratz Pampered Petz dolls were manufactured many months before they were released. At that time, MGA Entertainment still had their home entertainment and theatrical distribution license with Lions Gate Entertainment. MGA Entertainment and Lions Gate Entertainment ended their licensing relationship weeks before Judge Stephen Larson of the United States Ninth Circuit Federal Court in Riverside, California issued his injunction on December 3, 2008 prohibiting MGA Entertainment from all manufacturing, production, marketing, and licensing of Bratz. At that point, it was too late for MGA Entertainment to alter the packaging on the Bratz Pampered Petz dolls to reflect that the "Bratz Pampered Petz: A Rescue Adventure" DVD movie would not be released.

Similarly, there is a Bratz collection for Fall 2009 that advertised or is advertising the upcoming release of the DVD movie "Bratz: Aladdin." Just like what happened with the Bratz Pampered Petz dolls, the Bratz products and collections for Fall 2009 were manufactured before Larson's December 3, 2008 injunction. Although the packaging on the Bratz products and collections for Fall 2009 state that "Bratz: Aladdin" will be released, in hindsight, the "Bratz: Aladdin" DVD movie will not be released in the United States.
(UPDATE 6/1/2009: "Bratz: Aladdin" was the working title of the new Bratz DVD for Fall 2009; the new Bratz DVD will be titled "Bratz Desert Jewelz: Genie Magic II." And NO, it will still NOT be released in the United States)

In summary, and to make a long story short: NO FORTHCOMING BRATZ DVD MOVIES WILL BE RELEASED IN THE UNITED STATES FOR 2009 OR 2010. Yet, there is some good news: The Bratz DVD movies are still available, although they were or are being released in other countries where MGA Entertainment's home entertainment distribution license is valid — for example, Magna Home Entertainment in Australia. If you wish to obtain the Bratz DVD movies, you will have to order them online and watch them on a DVD player that is REGION FREE and has a PAL-TO-NTSC CONVERTER. This is because DVDs released in most foreign countries support PAL and have different region codes than here in the United States (in the case of Australia, DVD movies are Region 4 and PAL; in the United States, DVD movies are Region 1 and NTSC).

For more information about DVD Region Codes: http://hometheater.about.com/cs/dvdlaserdisc/a/aaregioncodesa.htm

To order the Bratz DVD movies, including the "Bratz Pampered Petz: A Rescue Adventure" DVD, please visit one of the following online DVD shopping websites. All are based out of Australia, but all of them ship to the United States:

• Play4Me: http://www.play4me.com.au/
• Sanity: http://www.sanity.com.au/
• DStore: http://www.dstore.com/

Before I forget, I also wanted to mention the following:

• PAL: Phase Alternating Line
• NTSC: National Television System Committee (was or will be replaced by Digital ATSC, Advanced Television Systems Committee, on June 12, 2009)
• SECAM: Sequential Color With Memory

MGA Entertainment sincerely apologizes for any inconvenience this may have caused. Their decision not to release the Bratz DVD movies in the United States was in the best interest of the company for financial and legal reasons. It is understandable from a financial and legal perspective why MGA Entertainment would not release the Bratz DVD movies in the United States. Still, it was a bad move on the company's behalf to mislead Bratz fans and leave them wondering why the DVD movies were or are not being released.