| Type | DVD |
|---|---|
| Industry | CGI animation |
| Headquarters | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil |
| Parent | Widea |
| Website | videobrinquedo.com.br toylandvideo.com |
Vídeo Brinquedo (Toyland Video) is a Brazilian company that produces direct-to-video animated Z movies. The company has been accused of distributing films with concepts blatantly plagiarized from films by Pixar, Disney, DreamWorks and other major studios in other countries.
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In 1994, Vídeo Brinquedo was founded to distribute children's animation with intention of distributing it to Brazil and around the world.[1]
The Little Cars (Portuguese: Os Carrinhos) is a series of computer graphics Brazilian films produced by Rexmore Company do Brazil and released by Vídeo Brinquedo[2] and Inspired Distribution.[3] The series was distributed in North America by Branscome International.[4]
The first film, The Little Cars in the Great Race (Portuguese: Os Carrinhos em: A Grande Corrida), which stretches 33 minutes, was released on June 20, 2006.[5] The second film, 44 minute long The Little Cars 2: Rodopolis Adventures (Os Carrinhos 2: Aventuras em Rodópolis), was released on May 29, 2007;[6] the third film, 45 minute The Little Cars 3: Fast and Curious (Portuguese: Os Carrinhos 3 - Velozes e Curiosos), released on December 18, 2007[7] followed by the fourth film Os Carrinhos 4 - Novas Histórias Geniais. A compilation disc called "Super Highway" includes two of the films.[8] The movie bears a strong resemblance to the 2006 movie Cars.
Ratatoing is a Brazilian computer graphics cartoon film from Vídeo Brinquedo and distributed in North America by Branscome International.[10] The film is similar to the 2007 Pixar film Ratatouille. The 44 minute-long film,[11] originally produced in Portuguese, involves Marcell Toing, a mouse who is the most gifted chef in Rio de Janeiro. He owns the famed restaurant "Ratatoing" along with his crew, consisting of fellow mice Carol and Greg. They plan out weekly raids on human kitchens to acquire fresh ingredients for use in their dishes. However, rivaling restaurant owners are desperate to discover Marcell's secrets and are willing to risk putting their own restaurants out of business to unearth them. The United States version, released on DVD has English and Spanish voice tracks.
Known as Abelhinhas in Brazil and bears a close resemblance to Bee Movie.
Known as Ursinho da Pesada in Brazil, previously known as Heavy Weight Panda and bears a close resemblance to Kung Fu Panda.
Known as Robozinhos in Brazil and bears a close resemblance to Robots and WALL-E.
Known as Escola de Princesinhas in Brazil and bears a close resemblance to Disney Princess.
Vídeo Brinquedo's films have been extremely negatively reviewed. Marco Aurélio Canônico of Folha de S. Paulo described the Little Cars series as a copy of the Pixar film Cars, and likewise Ratatoing of Ratatouille. He discussed whether lawsuits from Pixar would appear. The Brazilian Ministry of Culture posted Marco Aurélio Canônico's article on its website.[12]
Erik Henriksen, a reporter from The Portland Mercury, criticized Vídeo Brinquedo of being "the laziest/cheapest movie studio of all time" due to similarities between Ratatoing and Ratatouille, The Little Cars and Cars, and Gladiformers and Transformers.[13]
One reviewer on Toon Zone, in his review of Ratatoing, said: "if you ate a copy of the worst cartoon you could think of, you'd still probably crap something better than Ratatoing", and went on to bemoan the incredibly poor animation, calling the movie as a whole "a senseless waste of raw materials" and "a waste of time, energy and effort for all parties concerned".[14]