Carter Bryant (born 1964) is an American toy designer, artist, and inventor. He is best known for inventing the

Bratz Bratz is an American fashion doll and media franchise created by former Mattel employee Carter Bryant for MGA Entertainment, which debuted in 2001. The four original 10-inch (25 cm) dolls were released on May 21, 2001 — Yasmin (Latina), ...

fashion doll Fashion dolls are dolls primarily designed to be dressed to reflect fashion trends. They are manufactured both as toys for children to play with and as collectibles for adults. The dolls are usually modeled after teen girls or adult women, though ...

and his previous work as a

Barbie Barbie is a fashion doll created by American businesswoman Ruth Handler, manufactured by American toy and entertainment company Mattel and introduced on March 9, 1959. The toy was based on the German Bild Lilli doll, Bild Lilli doll which Hand ...

product designer for

Mattel Mattel, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational corporation, multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company headquartered in El Segundo, California. Founded in Los Angeles by Harold Matson and the husband-and-wife duo of Ruth Handler, ...

Early life

Bryant was born in

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

in 1964. He attended the

Otis College of Art and Design Otis College of Art and Design is a private art and design school in Los Angeles, California, United States. Established in 1918, it was the city's first independent professional school of art. The main campus is located in the former IBM Aero ...

in Los Angeles, but did not graduate.

Career

In September 1995, Bryant was offered a position as a Barbie product designer for Mattel. He left his position with Mattel in 1998. Bryant later worked as a freelance designer, including doll design work for Ashton-Drake Galleries. During this period, Bryant stated that he found the initial inspiration for "Bratz" dolls after driving by a high school in Springfield, Missouri in 1998. In 1999, Bryant went back to work at Mattel where he was the lead designer of a number of collectible Barbies. Shortly thereafter, Bryant presented his "Bratz doll" concept art to

MGA Entertainment MGA Entertainment Inc. (short for Micro-Games America Entertainment; sometimes referred to as MGA) is a manufacturer of children's toys and entertainment products founded in 1979. Its products include Bratz, Num Noms, Lalaloopsy, and Rainbow High ...

. In 2000, they offered Bryant a consulting agreement and he again resigned from Mattel. In 2001, Bryant's Bratz doll line was released by MGA Entertainment. Bryant was also credited as a character writer on various Bratz projects including '' Bratz 4 Real'', ''Bratz: Passion 4 Fashion - Diamondz'', and '' Bratz the Video: Starrin' & Stylin'.'' In 2013, the Pinkie Cooper "Jet Set Pets" fashion dolls were released by the Bridge Direct, which had been designed and developed by Bryant. The line included aspects of fashion play, travel, and pet collectibles. Bryant based the dolls on his sister's pet

Cocker Spaniel Cocker Spaniels are dogs belonging to two breeds of the spaniel dog type: the American Cocker Spaniel and the English Cocker Spaniel, both of which are commonly called simply Cocker Spaniel in their countries of origin. In the early 20th century, ...

of the same name, "Pinkie Cooper."

Controversy

In 2006, Mattel sued MGA Entertainment for $500 million, alleging that Bryant was working for Mattel when he developed its original idea/concept and thus had violated his exclusivity contract. On July 17, 2008, a federal jury ruled that Bryant had created the Bratz concept while he was working for Mattel, despite MGA's claim that Bryant had never been employed by Mattel at the time and Bryant's assertion that he had designed the Bratz concepts between two separate periods of employment at Mattel. In 2009, the

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (in case citations, 9th Cir.) is the U.S. federal court of appeals that has appellate jurisdiction over the U.S. district courts for the following federal judicial districts: * District ...

ordered MGA and Mattel to resolve their dispute out of court.

In popular culture

Bryant's story is featured in an episode of the

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

documentary series, '' The Toys That Made Us''. As of 2023, a television series titled "''You Don't Own Me"'' is in development by

CBS Studios CBS Studios, Inc. is an American television production company which is a subsidiary of the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global. It was formed on January 17, 2006, by CBS Corporation as CBS Paramount (Network) Television, as a re ...

. The series will examine the parallel stories of Barbie inventor

Ruth Handler Ruth Marianna Handler (née Mosko; November 4, 1916 – April 27, 2002) was an American business magnate and inventor. She is best known for inventing the Barbie doll in 1959 and being co-founder of toy manufacturer Mattel with her husband Ell ...

and Bryant.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bryant, Carter 1964 births Living people 20th-century American inventors 21st-century American inventors American toy industry businesspeople Barbie Bratz Mattel people Toy inventors Businesspeople from Missouri