Over the past half-century, Barbie dolls have taken the world by storm, to the point where every little girl dreams of owning one. For decades, countless toy companies have tried to create new dolls to challenge Barbie's dominance, but they've all failed miserably.
That is, until 2001, when a new doll hit the scene—Bratz dolls!
These street-style, down-to-earth dolls burst onto the market and took it by storm. In their first six months, sales soared past $20 million, starting to eat into Barbie's territory. Mattel, Barbie's parent company, scrambled to respond, launching a new line called the Yene dolls. But their stubborn, old-school approach—sticking to prim, perfect, and classic vibes—couldn't touch the Bratz phenomenon.
By 2003, Bratz dolls had climbed to the top spot in the fashion doll market, with Barbie's "Walk and Play" series trailing in second. (Barbie's got tons of lines, by the way—mermaid, sports, princess, you name it.)
Fast forward to 2006, and Bratz dolls were commanding a whopping 40% of the market share, on the verge of overtaking Barbie altogether! That's when Mattel finally woke up and realized Bratz wasn't just another flash-in-the-pan competitor—this doll had serious staying power.
So, Mattel pulled out the big guns. They sued GA Entertainment, the company behind Bratz, claiming illegal copyright infringement of Barbie's design. After all, Bratz and Barbie did share some striking similarities.
In August 2008, a California court ruled in Mattel's favor. GA was found guilty of infringement and ordered to pay Mattel $100 million. On top of that, Bratz dolls were forced to cease production and sales. GA was also told to recall every Bratz product from the market and destroy all the tools used to make them—molds, templates, the works.
And just like that, Bratz dolls—which had taken the world by storm and even had a shot at dethroning Barbie as the top doll—vanished from existence. GA Entertainment's hopes of going public went up in smoke too.
Did Bratz really rip off Barbie's copyright? People have mixed opinions—it's hard to say for sure. Maybe they did, maybe they didn't.
But since GA Entertainment had brought Dunn onto their board of directors, he wasn't about to sit back and let a potential disaster unfold. He'd plan ahead to stop this tragedy before it could even start.
Mattel had gone too far! Not only did they refuse to work with Dunn's film company, but they also had the nerve to kiss up to Disney while stepping all over him. They were practically begging for trouble!
When Dunn heard Isaac Larian pitch the "Bratz dolls" concept, it clicked for him instantly. The toy industry? Yeah, he could play in that sandbox too! He'd already snagged a 10% stake in Hasbro, so joining GA Entertainment's board felt like a natural next step.
"Mr. Larian, who designed this doll? The style's pretty fresh," Dunn asked casually, keeping his cool.
Isaac Larian beamed at the compliment, sensing a golden opportunity for funding. If GA could secure Dunn's investment—and with him pushing feminist vibes and chipping away at Barbie's influence—Bratz's future would be limitless. Plus, Dunn was a Hollywood bigshot. If he put Bratz on the big screen, they'd skyrocket!
"The designer's Bryant," Larian said with a chuckle. "Funny story about this guy, actually." He shook his head with a smirk. "He used to be a senior designer at Mattel. He thought Barbie was out of touch with the times, so he came up with the Bratz look to shake things up. But Mattel's execs? Narrow-minded and stuck in the past. They thought Bratz were too ugly, too tacky—said they'd never sell."
Dunn's gut sank. Uh-oh. He'd suspected as much. If that was the case, Mattel's lawsuit against GA might actually hold water. Bryant had dreamed up Bratz while still working at Mattel, which meant—unless his contract said otherwise—the copyright for anything he created there technically belonged to Mattel. It's like how Marvel owns the rights to its comics, not the individual artists.
GA snagging the Bratz copyright this way was basically planting a ticking time bomb for future legal battles.
"Have you sorted out the copyright issues?" Dunn's face hardened as he fixed Larian with a serious stare.
"Uh… copyright?" Larian blinked, caught off guard, then laughed it off. "Mr. Walker, here's the deal—Mattel shot down Bryant's idea, so he jumped ship to GA out of frustration."
Dunn's voice turned icy. "I'm asking you, is the copyright situation handled?"
Larian's eyes flickered. Dunn's stern tone finally sank in, and he started to realize how big this could be. "You mean… Bratz might infringe on something? But Bryant said it's his creation—the copyright's his!"
"Hmph. A designer who bails because his idea got rejected—do you really think a guy like that's trustworthy?" Dunn snorted, clearly unimpressed.
"No way, right?" Larian wavered, doubt creeping into his mind.
Dunn shook his head. "Mr. Larian, do you know what I'm capable of?"
"I-I do!" Larian stammered. "One word from you could tank Barbie sales for half a month. Your name's a household word—your influence stretches across North America!" He meant every bit of it.
Dunn nodded. "Then you should get what it'd mean if I threw my weight behind Bratz. Picture that."
"Uh…" Larian hesitated, unsure how to respond.
Nicole Kidman, sitting nearby, chimed in with a smile. "It'd at least go toe-to-toe with Barbie, right?"
Dunn grinned and nodded. "Exactly. Mr. Larian, do you think Mattel's just gonna sit back and let a doll steal their market share?"
That hit Larian like a ton of bricks. If Bratz blew up, Mattel would come at GA with everything they had—full-on war to crush them. So, before anything even kicked off, they had to neutralize the copyright threat.
"Mr. Walker, I get it now," Larian said, sucking in a breath. Meeting Dunn today was a stroke of luck, no matter how this turned out. Even if they didn't strike a deal, Dunn's advice was like a lighthouse cutting through the fog for GA.
"Good," Dunn replied. "The Bratz design's solid, and it's got market potential. All in all, this chat's been a good one. Head back now and deal with the copyright mess. If you can sort that out clean, we'll talk funding details."
Larian's face lit up. "Mr. Walker, I've bought out my brother's shares—GA's all mine now, a private company. If you're in, I'd give up as much as 49% to you!"
Dunn smiled, pleased. Smart guy! A businessman with brains and people skills like that? Success wasn't a fluke. In his past life, Larian's downfall came from shaky groundwork—Mattel exploited the cracks and took him out in one blow. But now, with Dunn in the mix, the toy industry's history was about to get a rewrite!
…
After Larian left, Nicole Kidman caught the sly grin Dunn couldn't hide. She pouted. "You're up to something sneaky, aren't you?"
Dunn winked, laughed, and scooped her up in a princess carry. "Nicole, you're too good at guessing!"
She huffed, flustered. "That's not what I meant—put me down!"
He ignored her, heading for the bathroom. "How about a nice couple's bath first?"
"Why are you always thinking about stuff like that? Don't you ever get bored?"
"Bored?" Dunn chuckled. "How could you even think that? This is the most fun thing ever! Man, we've gotta thank the universe for this."
Nicole gave up resisting, frowning slightly. "Don't you think I'm getting old?"
"Old?" He shot her a puzzled look. "No way. You're in your prime as far as I'm concerned!"
Her heart skipped a beat—sure, he was a jerk sometimes, but he knew how to make her feel good. Then he opened his mouth again, and she instantly wanted to kick him.
"Besides, a knockout like you? Gotta enjoy you while you're still young—once you're old, it'll be too late!"
"Dunn, you… how can you be so shameless?"
"Shameless?" He smirked. "Alright then, today I'll show you just how shameless I can get!"