Bratz (film)

Last updated

Bratz
Bratz The Movie poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Sean McNamara
Screenplay by Susan Estelle Jansen
Story by
Based on Bratz
by Carter Bryant
Produced by
Starring
Cinematography Christian Sebaldt
Edited byJeff W. Canavan
Music by John Coda
Production
companies
Distributed by Lionsgate
Alliance Atlantis (Canada)
Release date
  • August 3, 2007 (2007-08-03)
Running time
102 minutes [1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$20 million [2]
Box office$26 million [3]

Bratz (also known as Bratz: The Movie) is a 2007 American teen comedy film based on the fashion dolls of the same name from MGA Entertainment. The film is directed by Sean McNamara with a screenplay by Susan Estelle Jansen, from a story written by Adam de la Pena and David Eilenberg. It is the first live-action film based on the toyline after a series of direct-to-video animated films and a television series.

Contents

Nathalia Ramos, Skyler Shaye, Logan Browning and Janel Parrish star as the members of the group, with Chelsea Staub, Lainie Kazan and Jon Voight in supporting roles. [4] The story revolves around a group of four teenage girls, the origin of their friendship and the social pyramid that tries to make the Bratz conform to archetypal high school cliques. Principal photography took place in Los Angeles between February and March 2007.

Bratz was released in the United States on August 3, 2007, by Lionsgate. It was universally panned by critics and audiences alike, having received five nominations at the 28th Golden Raspberry Awards, including Worst Picture. It was also a commercial failure, grossing only $26 million worldwide against a $20 million budget, failing to break even. [3]

Plot

Cloe, Yasmin, Sasha and Jade are four teenage best friends about to start high school. Meredith, the extremely controlling student body president, wants everyone to belong to a clique, and goes about organizing students. She dislikes the independent spirit of the four girls and plots to ruin their friendship and make them conform to her pre-fabricated cliques.

Cloe is a soccer player. She meets Cameron and is instantly enamored, distancing herself from her friends. Sasha is recruited as a cheerleader. Jade joins the science club, then meets Dexter and discovers a passion for fashion design. Yasmin joins the journalism club, but later decides to focus on singing. She meets Dylan, a popular jock, who is deaf but can lip read, who misses being able to listen to music. Though the girls try to make time for each other, they are all busy with their own respective interests and new friends. The friends begin to drift apart as they are compelled to stay within their cliques due to Meredith's plans.

Two years later, an accidental food fight causes them to get detention for breaking the principal statue. They realize that they miss being close friends and decide to recover that connection. They also try to get the other schoolmates to socialize outside their cliques, but their attempts fail when Meredith's second "Super Sweet 16" party ends disastrously. Meredith tries blackmailing the girls by using an embarrassing photo to have them quit the talent show. This results in secrets being revealed.

The talent show and its scholarship prize gives them the idea to bring all the cliques together again with a musical number. Meredith's constantly attempts to steal the spotlight. In the end, there is a tie. Meredith gets the trophy, but the girls also obtain the scholarship, which they give to Cloe. They are offered an appearance at a red carpet gala by an MTV vice president.

Cast

Additionally, director Sean McNamara makes a cameo appearance as Tom McShavie, the Vice President of MTV Networks. Producer Avi Arad also makes an uncredited cameo appearance as one of the talent show judges. Jerad Anderson plays Jonas Johnson, a member of the football team, while Lee Reherman plays the Vice Principal Sludge. Daniel Booko appears as a jock, and Susie Singer Carter as Barbara Baxter Dimly.

Production

Paula Abdul was dropped from the production before completion while working on American Idol . She was originally enlisted to provide wardrobe designs, choreograph the film, executive-produce, as well as hold a role in the film. This was revealed on Hey Paula , her reality show on her personal life. [5]

Susie Singer Carter also wrote and produced the film for Lionsgate but lost her credit in a Writers Guild arbitration, then her name appears as screenwriter on the final movie poster. [6]

The film was shot from February to March 2007 at Santee Education Complex in South Los Angeles, California, while school was in session. [7]


The film was set to have a sequel, as confirmed by multiple cast members during press junkets however this never came to light. It is unknown what the plot is.

Reception

Critical response

Bratz was universally panned by critics and audiences alike. On Rotten Tomatoes, gives the film a rating of 10%, based on 80 reviews, with an average rating of 3.40/10. The site's critical consensus, "Full of mixed messages and dubious role-models, Bratz is too shallow even for its intended audience." [8] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 21 out of 100, based on 18 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". [9] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale. [10] [11]

Accolades

It was nominated for 5 Golden Raspberry Awards in 2007, but received none.

Box office

Bratz grossed $10 million in North America and $16 million in other territories for a total gross of $26 million. [3]

In its opening weekend, the film grossed $4.2 million, finishing in 10th at the box office, ultimately making it a box office bomb.

Home media

The film was released to DVD on November 27, 2007.

Soundtrack

Bratz: Motion Picture Soundtrack
Soundtrack album by
Various Artists
ReleasedJuly 31, 2007
Genre
Label Geffen
Producer
Bratz chronology
Bratz: Fashion Pixiez
(2007)		Bratz: Motion Picture Soundtrack
(2007)		 Bratz: Girlz Really Rock
(2008)

A film soundtrack entitled Bratz: Motion Picture Soundtrack was released on July 31, 2007, through Geffen Records. The soundtrack featured music from artists such as Ashlee Simpson, Dropping Daylight, and the Black Eyed Peas. Three singles were released prior to the album's release, "Rainy Day" by Janel Parrish, "Rockstar" by Prima J, and "Fearless" by Daechelle.

Sales for the soundtrack were good and the album remained on the Billboard 200 charts for three weeks, peaking during its second week at position 83. [12] Common Sense Media gave the soundtrack three stars, writing that "With heavy-hitting help from the Black Eyed Peas, The Slumber Party Girls, Ashlee Simpson, Dropping Daylight, and Lifehouse, these young performers gamely negotiate some very ordinary-sounding, preachy material and make the songs sparkle anyway." [13] The 9th track on the album "Out from Under" was later covered by Britney Spears on her 6th studio album Circus .

Track list

No.TitlePerformerLength
1."Rockstar"Prima J3:25
2."Fearless"Daechelle3:39
3."Love Is Wicked" Brick & Lace 3:42
4."Rainy Day"Janel Parrish3:17
5."Open Eyes"Nathalia Ramos, Skyler Shaye, Janel Parrish, and Logan Browning3:09
6."Heartburn" NLT 3:21
7."It's All About Me" Chelsea Staub 3:08
8."Now Or Never" Orianthi 4:02
9."Out from Under" Joanna 4:07
10."In Crowd"Sean Stewart2:31
11."Express Yourself"Black Eyed Peas3:33
12."My Life" Slumber Party Girls 2:50
13."Go Go" Jibbs 2:51
14."It Doesn't Get Better Than This" Alex Band 2:51
15."Saying Goodbye" Matt White 4:13
16."Invisible"Ashlee Simpson3:44
17."Alter Ego" Clique Girlz 3:28
18."Tell Me"Dropping Daylight3:21
19."If This Is Goodbye"Lifehouse2:53
20."Fabulous"Chelsea Staub2:45
21."Bratitude"Nathalia Ramos, Skyler Shaye, Janel Parrish, and Logan Browning4:33

Video game

Bratz 4 Real
Bratz 4 Real Coverart.png
DS box art
Developer(s) Barking Lizards Technologies (DS)
AWE Games (PC)
Publisher(s) THQ
Platform(s) Nintendo DS
Microsoft Windows
ReleaseNovember 5, 2007 [14]
Genre(s) Adventure
Mode(s) Single player

A video game adaptation of the film entitled Bratz 4 Real was released to the Nintendo DS and Microsoft Windows on November 5, 2007. The game was published by THQ.

The game's plot mirrored that of the film and players are tasked with completing goals and errands in order to progress the story along. The DS version of the game also allowed users to design their own clothes patterns, care for a digital pet, and play various mini-games. The PC edition also utilized mini-games, but excluded the option for players to design clothing or raise a digital pet. In both games users could play as one of the four main characters and view clips from the film.

Reception

Pocket Gamer heavily criticized the game and stated that it felt that it was released too early and that "There are some nice ideas at play, in particular where it attempts to break down the social barriers that beset children in secondary education, but as a game it's far too vacuous to recommend." [15] IGN shared similar sentiments, writing that "Bratz 4 Real does some work to recast the shallow, self-absorbed Bratz girls in a more redeeming light, using them and their friendship to tell a tale of unity and breaking down social barriers. But whereas that premise and the game's compelling customization options prove to be solid positive points for this package, Bratz 4 Real is still a game brought down by a variety of other oddities." [16]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bratz</span> American fashion doll and media franchise

Bratz is an American fashion doll and media franchise created by former Mattel employee Carter Bryant for MGA Entertainment, which debuted in 2001.

<i>Bratz: Starrin & Stylin</i> Canadian-American animated film

Bratz The Video: Starrin' & Stylin', or simply Bratz: Starrin' & Stylin', is a 2004 Canadian-American animated teen comedy film that was produced by CinéGroupe and MGA Entertainment and released on DVD and VHS by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, and later re-released by Lionsgate Home Entertainment in 2007. It can now be found on digital online streaming on Vudu and digital download on iTunes. This is the first Bratz movie that was released.

<i>Superbabies: Baby Geniuses 2</i> 2004 film by Bob Clark

Superbabies: Baby Geniuses 2 is a 2004 American family action comedy film directed by Bob Clark and written by Gregory Poppen, from a story by Steven Paul. The sequel to the 1999 film Baby Geniuses, it stars Jon Voight, Scott Baio, and Vanessa Angel. Following the events of the first film, four babies can communicate with each other using baby talk and have knowledge of many secrets. The baby geniuses become involved in a scheme by media mogul Bill Biscane, later revealed to be known as Kane, who kidnaps children everywhere. Helping the geniuses is a legendary super-baby named Kahuna who stops Biscane's plots and saves children from being kidnapped by Biscane and his minions. He joins up with several other babies in an attempt to stop Biscane, who intends to use a state-of-the-art satellite system to control the world's population by brainwashing them and forcing people to not be active and watch TV for the rest of their lives.

As a subset of the Bratz line, in which all of the dolls are at infant age, it was titled under the brand name Bratz Babyz. The brand is split into two lines, the regular Bratz Babyz and the Bratz Big Babyz.

<i>Bratz</i> (TV series) Computer-animated television series, based on a line of toy dolls of the same name

Bratz is an American CGI animated series based on the toy dolls of the same name. Produced by Mike Young Productions and MGA Entertainment, it aired on Fox's 4Kids TV from September 10, 2005 to October 14, 2006. In 2008, after a hiatus, it was renewed for season 2. It focuses on four female teens who run their own magazine. In 2021, a web series titled "Talking' Bratz" that featured a similar CGI animation style to the original series, aired on the official Bratz TikTok page. Set in the same world as the original series, it saw cast members Olivia Hack and Ogie Banks reprise their roles as Cloe and Dylan, respectively. The voice actresses are an all-star cast featuring Hack, Soleil Moon Frye, Tia Mowry, Dionne Quan, Wendie Malick, Lacey Chabert, and Kaley Cuoco. From 2018-2020, the series' episodes were uploaded to the Bratz YouTube channel.

Olivia Catherine Hack is an American actress, best known for providing the voice of Rhonda Wellington Lloyd in Nickelodeon's Hey Arnold!, and for playing Cindy Brady in the 1990s theatrical Brady Bunch films. She has also done voice work for Fillmore!, Bratz as Cloe, Family Guy, Blood+ and Avatar: The Last Airbender as Ty Lee. She appeared in Star Trek Generations, Party of Five and Gilmore Girls.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julianne Buescher</span> American actress

Julianne Buescher is an American actress, writer, and puppeteer who performs in film, television, radio, and on stage. As a voice actress, she is known for many roles including Anko Mitarashi on Naruto. Buescher is also a puppeteer for The Jim Henson Company, appearing with CeeLo Green as "Piddles the Pug" at the 2011 Grammy Awards and as the same character among others in the improvisational adult puppet shows (Puppet Up! and Crank Yankers). She also has worked for both Sesame Street and The Muppets.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maryke Hendrikse</span> Canadian voice actress

Maryke Hendrikse is a Bahamian–born Canadian voice actress who works primarily for Ocean Studios in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. She has played several roles in anime, most notably Revy in Black Lagoon and Lunamaria Hawke in Gundam Seed Destiny. She is also known for her roles as Susan Test in Johnny Test, Gilda in My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, Sonata Dusk in My Little Pony: Equestria Girls and Yasmin in the Bratz franchise.

<i>Bratz: Rock Angelz</i> (video game) 2005 video game

Bratz: Rock Angelz is a 2005 adventure video game based on the Bratz fashion doll line and published by THQ. It is based on the direct-to-video film Bratz: Rock Angelz and the line of dolls affiliated with the same name. The game was released for the PlayStation 2, GameCube, Game Boy Advance, and Microsoft Windows. Blitz Games developed the PlayStation 2 and GameCube versions, while Altron and AWE Games developed the Game Boy Advance and Microsoft Windows versions respectively.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bratz Kidz</span> American fashion doll and media franchise

Bratz Kidz are the child equivalent to the popular Bratz doll line. The dolls are six inches (152.4 mm) tall and are proportioned to be shorter than the normal Bratz.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Skyler Shaye</span> American actress (born 1986)

Skyler Anna Shaye is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Kylie in Superbabies: Baby Geniuses 2 (2004) and as Cloe in Bratz: The Movie (2007).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Janel Parrish</span> American actress and musician

Janel Meilani Parrish Long is an American actress and singer. She starred as Mona Vanderwaal in the mystery-drama television series Pretty Little Liars (2010–2017) and its spinoff Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists (2019), and as Margot Covey in the To All the Boys film series (2018–2021). She also portrayed Young Cosette in the Broadway production of Les Misérables (1996), and Jade in the teen comedy film Bratz (2007). She finished in third place on the tenth season of Fox's The Masked Singer in 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nathalia Ramos</span> American actress (born 1992)

Nathalia Norah Ramos Cohen is an American actress. She is known for her portrayals of Yasmin in the 2007 film Bratz, Jill in the 2013 film The Damned, and lead character Nina Martin in the first two seasons of the 2011 Nickelodeon television series House of Anubis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Logan Browning</span> American actress

Logan Laurice Browning is an American actress. She is best known for starring as Samantha White in the 2017 Netflix satirical-drama series Dear White People. She is also known for playing Sasha in the 2007 film Bratz: The Movie, Brianna Brown in Meet the Browns, Jelena Howard on the VH1 series Hit the Floor, and Zora in the PlayStation Network series Powers.

Prima J is an American musical duo, composed of cousins Jessica and Janelle Martinez. Jessica and Janelle came up with their stage name by combining the letter "J" in each of their given names with the Spanish word "prima".

<i>Bratz</i> (video game) 2002 Bratz video game

Bratz is a 2002 video game based on the Bratz doll line.

Stefanie Jill Ridel is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She was a member of the girl group Wild Orchid, and was a co-host of the television show Great Pretenders.

<i>Bratzillaz</i> American TV series or program

Bratzillaz (House of Witchez) was an American line of fashion dolls released by MGA Entertainment in 2012. The line was a spin-off of the company's popular franchise Bratz. Bratzillaz characters are witches with unique special powers, many of whom have a similar name to an existing Bratz character. The dolls were rebranded to House of Witchez in Summer 2013 with the release of the final set of dolls, and then discontinued. The official website was removed in 2016.

<i>Beyond</i> (2012 film) 2012 film

Beyond is a 2012 psychological thriller film starring Jon Voight, Teri Polo, and Dermot Mulroney. The film, directed by Josef Rusnak, was shot entirely on location in Anchorage, Alaska.

<i>J.L. Family Ranch</i> 2016 TV film

J.L. Family Ranch is a 2016 American Western television film directed by Charles Robert Carner and written by Harley Peyton. It stars Jon Voight, Teri Polo, James Caan, Melanie Griffith, Steven Bauer, Grant Bowler, and Trevor Donovan. It was broadcast on the Hallmark Movies & Mysteries channel on August 21, 2016. It was released in Europe as Texas Blood.

References

  1. ↑ "Bratz (PG)". British Board of Film Classification . July 24, 2007. Retrieved December 5, 2011.
  2. ↑ "Bratz (2007)". The Wrap . Archived from the original on March 3, 2017. Retrieved February 28, 2017.
  3. 1 2 3 Bratz at Box Office Mojo
  4. ↑ "Bratz". Turner Classic Movies . Archived from the original on March 8, 2016. Retrieved March 7, 2016.
  5. ↑ Caroll, Larry (July 24, 2007). "'BRATZ' STARS, VIRAL VIDEO TELL VERY DIFFERENT STORIES OF PAULA ABDUL'S ABSENCE FROM FILM". MTV . Archived from the original on February 26, 2018. Retrieved February 25, 2018.
  6. ↑ "A team that's picked up steam". articles.latimes.com. August 2007. Archived from the original on October 25, 2015. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
  7. ↑ "Afriqueenligne.fr" (in French). Archived from the original on September 27, 2007.
  8. ↑ "Bratz: The Movie". Rotten Tomatoes . August 3, 2007. Archived from the original on April 26, 2016. Retrieved March 16, 2020.
  9. ↑ "Bratz". Metacritic. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved May 18, 2016.
  10. ↑ Kilday, Gregg (August 7, 2007). "Uni's 'Ultimatum' accepted: No. 1 open". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on December 7, 2022. Retrieved January 18, 2022. though its target audience did award it a grade of B-plus.
  11. ↑ "BRATZ: THE MOVIE (2007) B+". CinemaScore . Archived from the original on September 16, 2017. Retrieved January 18, 2022.
  12. ↑ "Top 200 Albums (2007)". Billboard. Retrieved May 18, 2016.
  13. ↑ "Bratz: The Movie Soundtrack - Music Review". Common Sense Media. Archived from the original on June 5, 2016. Retrieved May 18, 2016.
  14. ↑ Thomas, Lucas (December 4, 2007). "Bratz 4 Real Review". IGN . Archived from the original on June 24, 2016. Retrieved October 15, 2013.
  15. ↑ "Bratz 4 Real review - DS reviews". Pocket Gamer. December 2007. Archived from the original on June 1, 2016. Retrieved October 15, 2013.
  16. ↑ Thomas, By Lucas M. (December 4, 2007). "Bratz 4 Real Review". IGN. Archived from the original on June 24, 2016. Retrieved May 18, 2016.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.