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Bratz: The Video: Starrin' & Stylin'
Fox // Unrated // August 4, 2004
List Price: $19.98 [Buy now and save at Bfast]
The Movie
I'm not going to start any battle of the sexes here, but some things simply weren't made for males to understand.
For those of you who aren't familiar with Bratz Dolls, these toys look like the result of a head-on collision between Barbie and Jennifer Lopez. The dolls have exaggerated features such as huge eyes and lips and they only wear the latest fashions, ie: clothes that MTV would find scandalous. I'm not quite sure what age group the dolls are aimed at, and the same goes for Bratz: The Video: Starrin' & Stylin', the first animated adventure to feature these gruesome toys.
(Author's Note: When reviewing an animated title, I usually include the name of the voice actors behind the characters, but this information wasn't in the credits on the DVD, nor could I find it on-line.) Bratz: The Video: Starrin' & Stylin' features Cloe AKA Angel, Sasha AKA Bunny Boo, Yasmin AKA Pretty Princess, and Jade AKA Kool Kat. (I promise I'm not making this up.) The four girls all attend Stiles High. (Get it?) As the story opens, Cloe is showing off the car that she's just bought after years of saving. It may not be in great shape, but she's proud of it. Once at school, the girls are given an assignment to express themselves artistically and they decide to make a video, after borrowing a video camera from Kody. Meanwhile, Sasha is busy planning the prom, where the theme will be "Formal Funk". Meanwhile, someone begins writing nasty things about the four girls in the gossip column of the school newspaper. Meanwhile, Cloe wrecks who car, and asks Cameron, on whom she has a secret crush to fix it. Meanwhile, all of these dilemmas may separate the four friends and keep them from having a great time at the prom.
I can only imagine that the target audience window for Bratz: The Video: Starrin' & Stylin' is incredibly small. Younger girls won't understand much of the story (not that I did) because it deals with so much high school material. ("Mommy, what's a prom?") Conversely, most high school girls wouldn't be caught dead watching an animated show like this. Thus, this show must be aimed at pre-adolescent girls who have an idea of what high school is like, but still enjoy playing with Bratz Dolls. I'm obviously not in that demographic, but I can only imagine that girls that age would really enjoy this DVD, as the incredibly convoluted story (could we have more subplots?) tosses in many favorite activities such as shopping and makeovers. (Apparently, a makeover can cure anything.)
From an adult viewpoint, Bratz: The Video: Starrin' & Stylin' is quite weird. For starters, the characters themselves are just odd looking. Twice in the video characters complain about smells. Guess what? They don't have noses! However, kudos to the animators for the unique choice of combining animated characters who are combined with real photographic backgrounds which have been painted. This gives the show a slightly 3-D look. Another strange thing about Bratz: The Video: Starrin' & Stylin' are the mixed messages. With the emphasis on shopping and makeovers (not to mention the fact that we're watching a video based on toys), there is a marked accent on materialism. Yet, Cloe stresses the fact that she loves her junky car because she bought it herself and the Bratz embrace friendship and tolerance. Bratz: The Video: Starrin' & Stylin' is one of the more bizarre children's shows that I've watched recently, but I guess it did its job of selling toys. Maybe I need to hire a 13 year old to watch these with me next time.
Video
Bratz: The Video: Starrin' & Stylin' struts its stuff on DVD courtesy of 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. The video is presented in a 1.33:1 format. The image is sharp and clear, showing no grain and no defects from the source material. The bright colors used in the special look very good here and the image is quite stable. There are noticeable jagged lines around the characters at times, but there is no stuttering of the animation.
Audio
The DVD features a Dolby 2.0 Surround audio track which provides clear dialogue with no distortion. The dialogue is always clear and audible, although I rarely knew what the Bratz were talking about. The surround sound channels come to life whenever musical cues are present and most notably during the prom scene.
Extras
The Bratz: The Video: Starrin' & Stylin' DVD contains a surprising amount of extras. There is one deleted scene (1 minute) entitled "The Haunted Elm" taken from the car crash scene. "Bratz Bloopers" (1 minute) contains four not all that funny snippets in which something goes wrong with a scene. There are 7 songs available in the "Jukebox/Karaoke" section, where the viewer can see the lyrics to the songs on-screen and elect to hear the songs with or without vocals. The "Bratz Love Horoscopes" contains horoscopes for all of the Zodiac signs. (Apparently, all of the boys are after me, according to my horoscope. I'd better dress in layers.) In the "Bratz Fashion Mall", viewers can use their remote to try different outfits on the four girls. The "Bratz Trivia Game" asks questions about the movie. The extras are rounded out by a music video for the song "Summertime Girl" and a Bratz TV spot.
Isn't "brat" a derogatory term? Anyway, Bratz: The Video: Starrin' & Stylin' is aimed at a very specific target audience and they should love it. All others should stay very far away.
I'm not going to start any battle of the sexes here, but some things simply weren't made for males to understand.
For those of you who aren't familiar with Bratz Dolls, these toys look like the result of a head-on collision between Barbie and Jennifer Lopez. The dolls have exaggerated features such as huge eyes and lips and they only wear the latest fashions, ie: clothes that MTV would find scandalous. I'm not quite sure what age group the dolls are aimed at, and the same goes for Bratz: The Video: Starrin' & Stylin', the first animated adventure to feature these gruesome toys.
(Author's Note: When reviewing an animated title, I usually include the name of the voice actors behind the characters, but this information wasn't in the credits on the DVD, nor could I find it on-line.) Bratz: The Video: Starrin' & Stylin' features Cloe AKA Angel, Sasha AKA Bunny Boo, Yasmin AKA Pretty Princess, and Jade AKA Kool Kat. (I promise I'm not making this up.) The four girls all attend Stiles High. (Get it?) As the story opens, Cloe is showing off the car that she's just bought after years of saving. It may not be in great shape, but she's proud of it. Once at school, the girls are given an assignment to express themselves artistically and they decide to make a video, after borrowing a video camera from Kody. Meanwhile, Sasha is busy planning the prom, where the theme will be "Formal Funk". Meanwhile, someone begins writing nasty things about the four girls in the gossip column of the school newspaper. Meanwhile, Cloe wrecks who car, and asks Cameron, on whom she has a secret crush to fix it. Meanwhile, all of these dilemmas may separate the four friends and keep them from having a great time at the prom.
I can only imagine that the target audience window for Bratz: The Video: Starrin' & Stylin' is incredibly small. Younger girls won't understand much of the story (not that I did) because it deals with so much high school material. ("Mommy, what's a prom?") Conversely, most high school girls wouldn't be caught dead watching an animated show like this. Thus, this show must be aimed at pre-adolescent girls who have an idea of what high school is like, but still enjoy playing with Bratz Dolls. I'm obviously not in that demographic, but I can only imagine that girls that age would really enjoy this DVD, as the incredibly convoluted story (could we have more subplots?) tosses in many favorite activities such as shopping and makeovers. (Apparently, a makeover can cure anything.)
From an adult viewpoint, Bratz: The Video: Starrin' & Stylin' is quite weird. For starters, the characters themselves are just odd looking. Twice in the video characters complain about smells. Guess what? They don't have noses! However, kudos to the animators for the unique choice of combining animated characters who are combined with real photographic backgrounds which have been painted. This gives the show a slightly 3-D look. Another strange thing about Bratz: The Video: Starrin' & Stylin' are the mixed messages. With the emphasis on shopping and makeovers (not to mention the fact that we're watching a video based on toys), there is a marked accent on materialism. Yet, Cloe stresses the fact that she loves her junky car because she bought it herself and the Bratz embrace friendship and tolerance. Bratz: The Video: Starrin' & Stylin' is one of the more bizarre children's shows that I've watched recently, but I guess it did its job of selling toys. Maybe I need to hire a 13 year old to watch these with me next time.
Video
Bratz: The Video: Starrin' & Stylin' struts its stuff on DVD courtesy of 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. The video is presented in a 1.33:1 format. The image is sharp and clear, showing no grain and no defects from the source material. The bright colors used in the special look very good here and the image is quite stable. There are noticeable jagged lines around the characters at times, but there is no stuttering of the animation.
Audio
The DVD features a Dolby 2.0 Surround audio track which provides clear dialogue with no distortion. The dialogue is always clear and audible, although I rarely knew what the Bratz were talking about. The surround sound channels come to life whenever musical cues are present and most notably during the prom scene.
Extras
The Bratz: The Video: Starrin' & Stylin' DVD contains a surprising amount of extras. There is one deleted scene (1 minute) entitled "The Haunted Elm" taken from the car crash scene. "Bratz Bloopers" (1 minute) contains four not all that funny snippets in which something goes wrong with a scene. There are 7 songs available in the "Jukebox/Karaoke" section, where the viewer can see the lyrics to the songs on-screen and elect to hear the songs with or without vocals. The "Bratz Love Horoscopes" contains horoscopes for all of the Zodiac signs. (Apparently, all of the boys are after me, according to my horoscope. I'd better dress in layers.) In the "Bratz Fashion Mall", viewers can use their remote to try different outfits on the four girls. The "Bratz Trivia Game" asks questions about the movie. The extras are rounded out by a music video for the song "Summertime Girl" and a Bratz TV spot.
Isn't "brat" a derogatory term? Anyway, Bratz: The Video: Starrin' & Stylin' is aimed at a very specific target audience and they should love it. All others should stay very far away.
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