Billion Dollar Babies: The True Story of the Cabbage Patch Kids movie review

MOVIE TITLE: Billion Dollar Babies: The True Story of the Cabbage Patch Kids

This interesting documentary is now playing in select theaters.

RATING: PG

LENGTH: 1 hour 40 minutes

MOVIE REVIEW MOM GRADE: B+

IN A NUTSHELL:

I lived in Georgia for 15 years and visited the famous Cabbage Patch “hospital” where these famous dolls were born. That tourist attraction is still bringing in crowds in Cleveland, Georgia! In the film, we learn that it’s a big no-no to call them dolls but instead, babies. Those babies created a buying frenzy that changed American pop culture and consumerism forever.

The movie takes a look at the history and popularity of these unique “babies”. The film was written and directed by Andrew Jenks.

THINGS I LIKED:

We get to meet all of the people who were involved in the “birth” of Cabbage Patch dolls through interviews and video clips.
It’s fun to watch a lot of the old commercials from the 1980s that kickstarted the shopping hysteria of the 80s.
We also get to learn about some of the history of toys and dolls in general.
Neil Patrick Harris narrates the documentary. It would have been cute to see him holding some of the dolls at the end.
Keep watching at the end to see images & video with on-screen text that tells us what happened to the featured people after the Cabbage Patch Kids phenomenon, as well as see a dancing video of sorts inspired by the “babies.”
The film does a great job showing us how these Cabbage Patch babies truly shaped the merchandising mania we now call Black Friday, underlining the entire movie by playing the 1973 hit by Alice Cooper called “Billion Dollar Babies.”
We also get to learn about the knock-off products and legal battles that pursued the success of this company. The second half of the film is spent going over several lawsuits associated with the CPK I.P.

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE:

It would have been fun to see children of today being interviewed about whether or not they had one of these babies or wanted one when compared to getting an iPhone or some other toy that’s popular today.

TIPS FOR PARENTS:

Young kids might be interested to learn about the origins of this famous doll; however, the film is a documentary that might not hold their interest for long.
No profanity
Talk of the dolls being signed on their bums by the creator of the company for authenticity.