Barbie lets down her hair

BARBIE is back in her second feature-length video after Entertainment Rights bought the worldwide rights to Barbie as Rapunzel from the doll's owner Mattel.

The 75-minute computer-animated film is scheduled for release in October in time to capture a slice of the Christmas market.

Barbie in the Nutcracker was an astonishing success for Entertainment Rights, proving the biggest seller last Christmas after the Disney blockbusters. Almost 700,000 copies of the video and DVD have been sold in Britain with a further 1.8m sold in the rest of the world, excluding the United States, under a royalty deal with Universal.

Analysts reckon Entertainment Rights earned almost £4 on every video sold in this country. No figures were disclosed for today's deal, but Mattel was paid $2.3m (£1.6m) by Entertainment Rights for the rights to the first movie.

Chief executive Mike Heap, who also includes Basil Brush and Postman Pat in his stable, said: 'Barbie in the Nutcracker was and continues to be an astonishing success. We and Mattel plan to put a great deal into Rapunzel and have high hopes of creating another success.'