The toymakers behind Barbie are paying tribute to Scotland's heritage by releasing a Loch Ness Monster inspired doll.

 

Mattel have created Lorna McNessie, the fashion-forward teenage daughter of the mythical Scottish beast, for their much-loved Monsters High franchise. In the latest film of the hit series, Lorna is the cool new girl at the freakish high school in New Salem - who had to escape all the publicity in her homeland of 'Rotland' after she emerged from the waters. Monsters High are the latest in a long line of brands to take inspiration from Scotland. Here are the best of the rest:

 

Skylanders

 

 

The latest version of Skylanders twinned its fictional island with the Isle of Skye - making it the first video game to create a virtual version of a real place. The island's official tourism organisation featured characters of the game on its webpage - as they hailed the move as a boost for tourism to the area. Skye's landscapes have also featured in the films Prometheus, Stardust, Highlander and Flash Gordon.

 

Brave

 

 

The Oscar-winning Disney Pixar animated adventure Brave is based in the Scottish Highlands - following the story of princess and accomplished archer Merida as she fights to determine her own path. Tourism bosses expected that the film would bring in £120 million in visits to the country in the five years following the film's release - and the Highlands benefited from a ten per cent boost in sight-seers from overseas in 2013.

 

Fat Bastard

 

The crass, morbidly obese Scottish villain from the Austin Powers trilogy had inspired some not-so-cute cuddly toys back in the early Noughties. These all-farting, all-burping dolls uttered charming phrases like "I'm dead sexy" "Ahm gonae eat ye" and "pull my finger."

 

Balamory

 

The Cbeebies kids TV show was based on the island of Tobermory, which is filled with colourful houses and shops lining the tiny streets. Mull saw visitors increase two-fold - but they struggled to cope with the hordes of tourists in the streets.

 

How to Train Your Dragon The 2010 Disney film inexplicably featured a lot of Scottish accents - even though the characters were meant to be Norse Vikings, who hailed from Scandinavia. The author of How to Train Your Dragon, Cressida Cowell, was inspired by the time she spent on an uninhabited Scottish island as a child, imagining that dragons would live in the caves and that Viking ships would sail there.

Strangely, the lead character Hiccup speaks with an American accent.