Bratz as sweet tarts

Remember Tiger Beat magazine? Sean McNamara is the Tiger Beat of Hollywood, and he knows his audience. He's directed 13 films, delivering television hits such as "That's So Raven" and "Even Stevens" to Disney and was astute enough to give youngsters named Jessica Alba, Shia LaBeouf and Hilary Duff some of the first big roles in their careers. Still, when McNamara was approached about making a live-action film based on the wildly successful dolls called Bratz, he had to admit he was out of touch.

"I have to be honest, I had never heard of these toys. So I did research." McNamara trundled off to the Toys R Us in Culver City with his 5-year-old son. "We checked out the Thomas the Train aisle, and then I went looking for Bratz. I was blown away. There were two full walls of Bratz stuff. But when I saw them I thought, 'These aren't cute dolls -- they look like sluts.' "

And there you have it, the unique challenge of McNamara's new film, "Bratz: The Movie," which opens nationwide Friday. Like the filmmakers behind "Transformers," McNamara and company are looking for an instant audience by riding a hugely successful brand name from the toy stores up to the silver screen. The movie they have made is a fairly wholesome affair, but the brand they picked clearly has a checkered past. Simply put, parents pay for the movie tickets, and a lot of parents think the Bratz dolls look like 10-inch-tall hoochie mamas.

The dolls have dewy lips, fishnet stockings and barely-there miniskirts -- a creep-out factor for a lot of moms. Earlier this year, a report from the American Psychological Assn. even mentioned the Bratz dolls by name and said "it is worrisome when dolls designed specifically for 4- to 8-year-olds are associated with an objectified adult sexuality."

Those young doll owners may not recognize their beloved Yasmin, Jade, Sasha and Cloe when they sit down in the theater with a bucket of popcorn. The film gives the Bratz a complete makeover that takes them from nightclub sexpots to flirty schoolgirls -- it's like watching a retrospective of Britney Spears music videos in reverse.