My Scene

My Scene (stylized in all lowercase) is an American series of fashion dolls that Mattel released in 2002. They were a spinoff doll line to Mattel’s Barbie doll line, and are also considered Barbie-brand dolls. They were discontinued in the US in 2008, and worldwide in 2011; however, in November 2024 Mattel released collector versions of the three main characters, meaning a possible return of the franchise. Mattel's Barbie character was one of the dolls in the toy line. The My Scene dolls' bodies were slim, similar to earlier Barbie dolls, but their heads were larger. The New York Times described their features as "exaggerated lips and bulging, makeup-caked eyes." My Scene were designed to appeal to the tween market and compete with the Bratz dolls from MGA Entertainment.
Mattel introduced My Scene dolls in the fall season of 2002 to compete with MGA's Bratz. The series originally consisted of three female characters with diverse ethnicities and personalities; Mattel added more dolls over time. Its three original dolls, Barbie, Madison, and Chelsea, each came with two extra fashions. Except for Barbie, the characters were named after New York City locations. Mattel added more dolls to the series, starting with Nolee and three male characters, Bryant, River, and Hudson, in the year of 2003. Delancey and Ellis also premiered in the "Hanging Out" line, which introduced in late 2003. Kenzie introduced in 2004's "Getting Ready" line, and Nia introduced in the year of 2008. There are seven characters in the My Scene series (Kennedy, Madison, Chelsea, Delancey, Nia, Hudson, and River), six discontinued characters (Barbie, Nolee, Kenzie, Bryant, Ellis, and Sutton) and four special edition dolls (Lindsay, Jai, Tyson and Ryan). Each of the My Scene girls (and three of the boys) own pets.
Female My Scene dolls have a non-twisting, navel-sculpted body mold and share a face mold, developed specifically for the brand, that dons a small nose, wide cheekbones, and large, pouty lips. Some lines' dolls (beginning with "Night on the Town") have rooted eyelashes and glittery eyes. Like the Bratz, these dolls have large shoes that serve as feet, but they also have traditional Barbie feet and can wear regular Barbie shoes. Male dolls also feature My Scene-exclusive face molds; their body molds originated with previous male dolls.
In 2004, Mattel produced new smiling face molds for both male and female characters, which were present for only a short while on the female dolls, whereas male dolls featured these molds until early 2005. Beginning with the "Club Birthday" line, the My Scene dolls' face molds changed to non-smiling molds that more closely resembled the "Bratz Boyz" line of dolls.
In late 2005, Mattel released a My Scene line called "My Bling Bling", which introduced a new eye screening that looked more sultry compared to previous releases. Later, in mid-2006, Barbie was dropped from the line in favor of a new character named Kennedy, who would be introduced in the "Fab Faces" line.
Beginning with the "Swappin' Styles" line of 2006, Mattel produced two more new face molds for female dolls—one with a half-open smile and the other, a closed smirk. This line also re-released the "Getting Ready" smiling face mold.
In 2007, a somewhat controversial line was launched, called "Growing Up Glam". These dolls feature a turnable key on their back that can make the doll grow taller and grow breasts, similar to the infamous "Growing Up Skipper" doll.
Mattel ceased selling My Scene dolls in the US in 2008, but continued to sell the dolls internationally, until Mattel ceased production on the My Scene line as a whole in the year of 2011.
A relaunch of the original doll line was released in 2024 as a collector edition line. The relaunch featured the three doll characters the line started with; Barbie, Chelsea, and Madison.
On April 13, 2005, Mattel's competing toy company, MGA Entertainment, filed a lawsuit against Mattel for its My Scene brand, alleging duplication of its Bratz dolls' multi-ethnic looks, fashions, and packaging. The suit further accused Mattel of "engaging in acts of unfair competition and intellectual property infringement intended to damage its market share, confuse consumers and trade on the company's goodwill."
In 2006, Mattel countersued MGA Entertainment, alleging that Bratz creator Carter Bryant had been working for Mattel when he developed the idea for Bratz in 1999 and had taken the idea to MGA secretly, with MGA in turn developing the first-generation Bratz dolls while obscuring Bryant's involvement. Bryant and Mattel reached a settlement before trial, at which a federal jury awarded Mattel $100 million in damages for the violation of their intellectual property in 2008, and further issued an injunction that forced MGA to stop producing Bratz.
In a 2011 retrial, however, MGA toy makers claimed that in producing the My Scene dolls, Mattel had stolen their trade secrets and violated antitrust laws, and sought $1 billion in damages. The judge found in favor of MGA, and MGA received an award totaling $309.9 million, freeing the company to produce Bratz once again—at which time Mattel retired the My Scene line.
Starting in the year of 2003 with the "Hanging Out" line, Mattel began packaging My Scene dolls with DVDs that contained short video clips, music, and activities. This began a trend that sparked three My Scene films, all of which aired on the Nickelodeon cable network. The My Scene line also features four special edition dolls present only in the My Scene films. These include the Jamaican-American characters Jai and Tyson from Jammin' in Jamaica, and Ryan Ridley (a new fictional character) and Lindsay Lohan from My Scene Goes Hollywood. Mattel received special rights to create the only likeness of Lohan for the line.
Mattel released three My Scene films between 2004 and 2005 as follows:
My Scene: Jammin' in Jamaica was released to DVD on May 15, 2004, and later premiered on Nickelodeon on June 6, 2004. It was sold with the "Jammin' in Jamaica" dolls and was directed by Eric Fogel, the creator of Celebrity Deathmatch. The plot involves Madison who is the manager of a band called Urban Desire, which is made up of the four male characters. When the band wins a contest, they make a trip to Jamaica for the finals, but Barbie, Nolee, and Chelsea must raise the money to travel to Jamaica. After all the characters arrive in Jamaica, Barbie feels left out as her boyfriend, the lead guitarist, begins spending more time with Madison. This causes a rift between the friends but is eventually resolved.
My Scene: Masquerade Madness was the second My Scene film, released to DVD on June 1, 2004, and later premiered on Nickelodeon on October 24, 2004. It runs 28 minutes long. The plot revolves around the Masquerade Madness fashion show, a fundraiser for the local animal shelter. Chelsea designs the fashions for the show all on her own, causing strain on her schoolwork. Failing in geometry and too embarrassed to tell her friends, she calls on Hudson's help in tutoring. As a result, her friends begin to think they are secretly dating. In the end, Chelsea has aced her geometry test and coordinated a successful fashion show. This film was sold with the My Scene "Masquerade Madness" dolls.
My Scene Goes Hollywood: The Movie, was the first and only film to be sold apart from the dolls and the only full-length film. Eric Fogel reprised his role as director. It was released to DVD on August 30, 2005 by Buena Vista Home Entertainment under the Miramax Family label, and later premiered on Nickelodeon on October 23, 2005. It featured a voice-over by actress and singer Lindsay Lohan, who plays as herself. Kelly Sheridan of the Barbie film series reprised her role as Barbie. The plot involves the My Scene girls pretending to be extras in a spy action movie being filmed in New York City, in order to see it up close. When one of the actresses is injured, Madison is called upon to take her place. She begins spending less and less time with her friends and develops a crush on the leading actor, Ryan Ridley. Madison ends up fighting with her friends because they embarrass her. In the end, Lohan convinces Madison that friends are the most important thing to have, and the girls make up. Although the title suggests a trip to Hollywood, the setting of the film actually takes place in New York City.
My Scene is a web series that ran from 2002 until 2008 on the My Scene official website. The theme song of the series is "It's My Scene".
There are 30 episodes released on the official website between 2002 and 2008, some of which were featured in "B Cinemas" on the BarbieGirls.com website. The last 10 episodes did not feature Barbie and Nolee after being discontinued from the line. The following is the list of episodes in published order (according to timeline):
There are 23 episodes released between 2004 and 2005 that were only featured in Spanish (and Portuguese). The animation art style changed, similar to the one used for Jammin' in Jamaica. The following is the list of episodes (in English and Spanish) in published order (according to timeline):
The official My Scene website was launched in 2002 which included games, webisodes, character bios and videos. After the line was discontinued in 2011, the website eventually closed in 2014 alongside the Pixel Chix website.
Each of the My Scene girls (and three of the boys) own pets. Barbie/Kennedy's, Chelsea's, Madison's, and Nolee's are all introduced in Wave 2. Delancey's kittens were introduced in the "Getting Ready" wave, and her adult cat was introduced in "Masquerade Madness". Kenzie's unnamed brown Yorkie is introduced in "Masquerade Madness". Hudson's dog is introduced in "Getting Ready", while River's and Sutton's are introduced in "Masquerade Madness".