Enter the Bratz
While Barbie may represent 40-plus years of girl power -- along with a high-fashion wardrobe, a dream house and a toy car cool enough for Ken -- MGA Entertainment's Bratz dolls have been gaining market power in a short period of time. The concept behind the Bratz dolls is that they are teenaged girls from socially and economically diverse backgrounds -- and they dig fashion. The pouty Bratz dolls have quickly become a popular toy line and girls' lifestyle brand since their introduction in 2001.

In November 2006, Lionsgate secured the North American home entertainment distribution rights to the Bratz animated and direct-to-DVD features. The first title released by Lionsgate is Bratz Fashion Pixiez, an all-new direct-to-DVD. Lionsgate will also be distributing the upcoming live-action Bratz movie.

The Strawberry Shortcake line has evolved into one of the top children's video franchises. The DVDs offer fun and important lessons, as well as extras like trailers and toys. © Fox Home Ent.

"Bratz has been a phenomenal success story. It's amazing to realize that the property is only [just over] five years old when considering its incredible popularity and penetration in the marketplace," says Lionsgate president Steve Beeks.

Lionsgate has also signed on to distribute the Betsy Bubblegum's Journey Through Yummi-Land direct-to-DVD animated feature, based on MGA Entertainment's fast-growing non-Bratz line of sweet-scented dolls, the Candy Pop Girls.

"Expanding our relationship with MGA for their other properties was a priority for us when we signed the Bratz deal," says Beeks. "Yummi-Land is a wonderful property that lends itself perfectly to the type of high quality, engaging direct-to-DVD feature that has become the trademark of our children's and family division."

Strawberry Shortcake Forever
Another tasty doll getting a direct-to-DVD release this year is Strawberry Shortcake, whose newest adventure is Strawberry Shortcake: Berry Blossom Festival, making its debut in May on DVD from Fox Home Entertainment, American Greetings Corp. and DIC Entertainment. The toys are made by Playmates Toys.

Generating more than $1 billion dollars in worldwide retail sales, the Strawberry Shortcake line is described as "berry successful" -- having evolved into one of the top children's video franchises with over 9.5 million units sold to date. First introduced in 1980 by American Greetings, Strawberry Shortcake became one of the biggest licensing programs of its time, generating more than $1 billion in retail sales between 1980 and 1985. American Greetings and DIC reintroduced the brand in 2003.

As with other animated toy brand DVDs geared toward children and families, the Strawberry Shortcake feature offers both fun and important lessons -- this time about manners and leadership. And while other DVDs offer interactive games and activities, the Strawberry Shortcake DVD includes a Fox Kids Trailer and a toy Festival Crown.

Targeted at girls aged three to six, 2D animation was chosen for the My Little Pony DVDs because of its simplicity and flexibility in telling sweet, child-like stories.

Little Pony, Big Screen
Over at Hasbro, popular girl's brand My Little Pony has also found a niche in the animated direct-to-DVD market. Hasbro advises that the latest release under its deal with Paramount Home Entertainment was a My Little Pony DVD gift set that became available just before the 2006 holidays. The set included My Little Pony: The Princess Promenade, My Little Pony: The Runaway Rainbow and My Little Pony: A Very Minty Christmas. Hasbro reports that each of these animated adventures was a hit on its own in 2005, and collectively sold more than one million units.

The My Little Pony franchise was introduced in 1983 and became a top global mini-doll brand. Hasbro re-introduced the popular brand in 2003, and since then more than 40 million ponies have made their way into little girls' hands. Targeted at girls aged three to six, the animation for the My Little Pony DVDs has been provided by SD Entertainment, which has produced all of the My Little Pony entertainment since 2003. For this toy brand, the choice was to use 2D animation. "The style of animation and art direction is always critically important to the storytelling, especially with kids," says Hasbro's McCarthy. "We've chosen 2D animation for its simplicity and flexibility in telling the kinds of sweet, child-like stories we want to tell, sprinkled with My Little Pony-style whimsy and magic."

Interestingly, the My Little Pony animated features were shown on the big screen as well as the small one. Through a relationship with Kidtoon Films, My Little Pony animated adventures debuted in theaters across the U.S. as matinee showings.

"Kidtoon Films has been working with Hasbro since the inception of the G-rated matinee program in 2004," McCarthy says. "As part of the Kidtoons' experience, every child attending a My Little Pony movie receives a fun gift, such as a sheet of My Little Pony cutie mark temporary tattoos. Kidtoons has premiered all of the My Little Pony movies in theatres in advance of the DVD release, and the marketing support and great word of mouth derived from the Kidtoon platform has helped drive the awareness of the My Little Pony brand as well as the DVD."

McCarthy says that it takes anywhere from 14 to 18 months to create one 44-minute DVD feature with all of the accompanying bonus material, and admits that the animation is focus tested to be sure kids -- and moms -- enjoy the show. According to McCarthy, Hasbro has more visual entertainment being developed.