Tech Shout!

The world’s largest toy company Mattel Inc. and movie studio Lionsgate have ended their rewarding joint venture in bringing Barbie to DVD.

Insider sources say the two companies differed over terms, with Lionsgate feeling the distribution fees offered by Mattel were too low.

The affiliation began in 2001 and has resulted in seven Barbie DVDs, all made for video, that have combined to sell more than 13 million units. The latest release, “Barbie Fairytopia: Mermaidia,” was released March 14 and debuted at No. 6 on the VideoScan First Alert DVD sales chart, a strong opening for a direct-to-video release.

The Barbie movies are all feature length and computer-animated. The first title in the series was “Barbie in the Nutcracker,” followed by “Barbie as Rapunzel” in 2002, “Barbie of Swan Lake” in 2003, “Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper”

in 2004 and “Barbie Fairytopia” and “Barbie and the Magic of Pegasus” in 2005.

Lionsgate will release one final Barbie DVD on May 9, “The Barbie Diaries,” which portrays Barbie as a high schooler. The studio also will retain rights to all Barbie catalog titles.

Mattel Inc.’s founders Elliot Handler and Harold “Matt” Matson started the company in 1945. Elliott Handler’s wife Ruth Handler later became the president, and is credited with establishing the Barbie product line for the company in 1959.

As of now, there is no news as to who will be the new distribution partner, although sources guess Barbie might wind up at Universal Studios Home Entertainment, but nothing is confirmed at present.