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

An entertaining, exhaustive look at how masterful merchandising, American capitalism, and a homegrown idea came together in one perfect storm that turned an army of ugly little dolls into legendary pop culture icons.

An amiable study of Cabbage Patch Kids mania as something that would be replicated in future years—a memorable event in itself, but one that’s also revealing about American mercantile culture in a wider sense.

Billion Dollar Babies is a thrilling deep-dive into the Cabbage Patch Kids phenomenon that does double duty by highlighting the economic impact of the toys while also setting the record straight.

The film isn't quite as tight as it could be, feeling a bit like a Spark Notes version of itself -- and it could have gone deeper into the nitty gritty of how the Cabbage Patch Kids were created.