Mattel, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational toy

manufacturing Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer to ...

and entertainment company founded in January 1945 and headquartered in El Segundo, California. The company has presence in 35 countries and territories and sells products in more than 150 countries. The company operates through three business segments: North America, International, and American Girl. It is the world's second largest toy maker in terms of revenue, after

The Lego Group Lego A/S (trade name: The Lego Group) is a Danish toy production company based in Billund, Denmark. It manufactures Lego-brand toys, consisting mostly of interlocking plastic bricks. The Lego Group has also built several amusement parks aroun ...

. Two of its historic and most valuable brands,

Barbie Barbie is a fashion doll manufactured by American toy company Mattel, Inc. and launched on March 9, 1959. American businesswoman Ruth Handler is credited with the creation of the doll using a German doll called Bild Lilli as her inspiration. ...

and Hot Wheels, were respectively named the top global toy property and the top-selling global toy of the year for 2020 and 2021 by

The NPD Group The NPD Group, Inc. (NPD; formerly National Purchase Diary Panel Inc. and NPD Research Inc.) is an American market research company founded on September 28, 1966, and based in Port Washington, New York. In 2017, NPD ranked as the 8th largest mar ...

, a global information research company. The name of the company is a

portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordsElliot Handler.

History

Origins and early years

Harold "Matt" Matson, Ruth Handler, and Elliot Handler founded Mattel as Mattel Creations in January 1945 in a garage in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

. The company began selling picture frames, and later, dollhouse furniture out of sediments from those frames. Matson sold his share and stake to the Handlers due to poor health the following year, when Handler's wife,

Ruth Ruth (or its variants) may refer to: Places France * Château de Ruthie, castle in the commune of Aussurucq in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques département of France Switzerland * Ruth, a hamlet in Cologny United States * Ruth, Alabama * Ruth, Ar ...

took over. In 1947, the company had its first hit toy, a

ukulele The ukulele ( ; from haw, ukulele , approximately ), also called Uke, is a member of the lute family of instruments of Portuguese origin and popularized in Hawaii. It generally employs four nylon strings. The tone and volume of the instrumen ...

called "Uke-A-Doodle". The company was incorporated in 1948 in

Hawthorne, California Hawthorne is a city in the Los Angeles metropolitan area, located in southwestern Los Angeles County, California. It is part of a seventeen-city region commonly called the South Bay. As of the 2020 US census, Hawthorne had a population of 88, ...

. In 1950, the

Magic 8-Ball The Magic 8 Ball is a plastic sphere, made to look like an oversized , that is used for fortune-telling or seeking advice. It was invented in 1946 by Albert C. Carter and Abe Bookman and is currently manufactured by Mattel. The user asks a yes� ...

was invented by Albert C. Carter and Abe Bookman; the toy is now owned by Mattel. Mattel started advertising on TV when it became the first sponsor of the ''

Mickey Mouse Club ''The Mickey Mouse Club'' is an American variety television show that aired intermittently from 1955 to 1996 and returned to social media in 2017. Created by Walt Disney and produced by Walt Disney Productions, the program was first televised fo ...

'' TV series. 1957 saw the release of the Fisher-Price Corn Popper, and the

Xylophone The xylophone (; ) is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars struck by mallets. Like the glockenspiel (which uses metal bars), the xylophone essentially consists of a set of tuned wooden keys arranged in ...

. Mattel ultimately acquired Fisher-Price on August 20, 1993. The

doll debuted on March 9, 1959, going on to become the company's best-selling toy in history. In 1960, Mattel introduced Chatty Cathy, a talking doll that was voiced by June Foray and revolutionized the toy industry, leading to pull-string talking dolls and toys flooding the market throughout the 1960s and 1970s. In 1961, Mattel introduced the Ken doll. The company went public in 1960, and became listed on the

New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed ...

in 1963. Mattel also acquired a number of like-minded companies during the 1960s (see table below). The original ''Barbie Dreamhouse'' appeared in 1962, and was made with cardboard and paper. In 1965, the company built on its success with the Chatty Cathy doll to introduce the

See 'n Say See 'n Say is an educational toy created by Mattel in 1965 after the success of Chatty Cathy. It was the first Mattel talking toy allowing children to choose the exact phrase as heard. Although the first release focuses on farm animal sounds, it ...

talking toy, spawning a line of products. That year also saw the release of Astronaut Barbie, the first of many space-themed Barbies. Barbie traveled to the moon four years before Neil Armstrong. In 1967, Mattel released Major Matt Mason, another toy astronaut. On May 18, 1968, '' Hot Wheels'' was released to the market. Hot Wheels was invented by a team of Mattel inventors, which included a rocket scientist and a car designer. That year also saw another doll release, this time, Christie, Barbie's friend and the first Black doll, which in the following years and decades would spawn an endless line of Barbie-themed and branded family and friends. In 1969, Mattel changed the ''Mattel Creations'' and the "Mattel, Inc. – Toymakers" marketing brands to just ''Mattel'' and launched the iconic "red sun" logo with the ''Mattel'' wordmark in all capitals for better identity. In 1970, Hot Wheels forged a sponsorship agreement with drag racing drivers Don “The Snake” Prudhomme and Tom “The Mongoose” McEwen. In addition to other marketing measures, the two racers’ cars, a yellow Barracuda and a red Duster, were reproduced as Hot Wheels toys. In May 1970, Mattel formed a joint venture film production company "''Radnitz/Mattel Productions''" with producer

Robert B. Radnitz Robert Bonoff Radnitz (August 9, 1924 – June 6, 2010) was an American film producer best known for his production of the family films '' Sounder'' and ''Where the Lilies Bloom''. He produced several movies, many of which were adapted from child ...

, which would kickstart Mattel's venture into full-time entertainment to accompany its most famous toy TV commercials. The card game Uno (now stylized as ''UNO'') was invented by Merle Robbins in 1970, and was acquired by Mattel in 1996. In 1971, Mattel purchased The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus from the Feld family for $40 million, whom Mattel kept as management. Mattel sold the circus corporation by December 1973, despite its profit contributions, as Mattel showed a $29.9 million loss in 1972. In 1974, an investigation found Mattel guilty of issuing false and misleading financial reports, which led to the banishing of Elliot and Ruth Handler from the company they had founded.

Post-Handlers

Arthur S. Spear, a then-Mattel vice president, took control of the company in 1975 and returned the company to profitability in two years. In 1978, the Mattel Children's Foundation was founded. Ruth Handler sold her stock in 1980 and finally let loose of the company she co-founded. The Mattel Electronics line debuted in 1977 with an all-electronic handheld game. The success of the handheld led to the expansion of the line with game console then the line becoming its own corporation in 1982. Mattel Electronics forced Mattel to take a $394 million loss in 1983 and almost filed for bankruptcy. In 1979, through Feld Productions, Mattel purchased the

Holiday on Ice Holiday on Ice is an ice show currently owned by Medusa Music Group GmbH, a subsidiary of CTS EVENTIM, Europe's largest ticket distributor, with its headquarters in Bremen, Germany. History Holiday on Ice originated in the United States in Decem ...

and

Ice Follies The Ice Follies, formerly known as the Shipstads & Johnson Ice Follies, is a touring ice show featuring elaborate production numbers, similar in concept to Ice Capades. It was founded in 1936 by Eddie and Roy Shipstad, and Oscar Johnson. In later ...

for $12 million. Also acquired that year was

Western Publishing Western Publishing, also known as Western Printing and Lithographing Company, was a Racine, Wisconsin, firm responsible for publishing the Little Golden Books. Its Golden Books Family Entertainment division also produced children's books and ...

for $120 million in cash and stock. Mattel would later sell the company to Richard A. Bernstein in December 1983. In 1980, Mattel introduced the first diverse line of Barbie dolls with a Hispanic doll and the first African-American Barbie (different from Christie who was Barbie's friend). The line will eventually include Barbies from more than 40 countries. In 1982, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe line of action figures was released. The line inspired a three-issue comic book mini-series and an animated series. The Felds bought the circus (and related companies) in 1982 for $22.8 million. In the early 1980s, Mattel produced video game systems, under its own brands and under license from Nintendo. In 1985, the company launched the Barbie “We Girls Can Do Anything” TV advertising campaign to encourage girls to believe in themselves. They also released the CEO / Day-to-Night Barbie to celebrate women becoming CEOs. In 1986, Barbie joined the list of famous individuals painted by

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the Art movement, visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore th ...

. New York City-based venture capital firms E.M. Warburg, Pincus & Co. and Drexel Burnham Lambert invested a couple hundred million dollars in Mattel in 1984 to help the company survive. However, the Masters of the Universe action figure line sales dropped, causing a $115 million loss in 1987. In the late 1980s, John W. Amerman, who had joined Mattel in 1980 as head of its international division, was named the company’s new chairman. Chairman John W. Amerman improved the company's financial performance in 1987 by focusing on core brands. From 1987-1992, Barbie sales increased from $430 million to almost $1 billion. Amerman also secured licensing rights for a new line of Disney infant and preschool plush toys in 1988. This partnership expanded, allowing Mattel to sponsor attractions and to develop and sell toys at three Disney theme parks. Mattel also negotiated the exclusive rights to sell dolls, stuffed characters, and preschool toys based on Disney characters. Mattel returned to working with Disney the following year. In 1991, Mattel moved its headquarters from Hawthorne to its current El Segundo site, in Los Angeles County.

Uno, Fisher-Price, American Girl, Pinky:st., Polly Pocket: 1992–2009

In 1992, Barbie added a new career to her name when Mattel created the first President Barbie. Since 1992, Barbie has run for President seven times. Mattel released an all-female ticket in 2016. Mattel entered the gaming business in 1992 with the purchase of International Games, creators of UNO and

Skip-Bo Skip-Bo is a commercial version of the card game Spite and Malice, a derivative of Russian Bank (also known as Crapette or Tunj), which in turn originates from Double Klondike (also called ''Double Solitaire''). In 1967, Minnie Hazel "Skip" Bowman ...

. Over the next decade, the company would purchase Fisher-Price, Inc. on August 20, 1993, and Tyco Toys, Inc. (owners of the

Matchbox Phillumeny (also known as phillumenism) is the hobby of collecting different match-related items: matchboxes, matchbox labels, matchbooks, matchcovers, matchsafes, etc. Matchbox A matchbox is a box made of cardboard or thin wood and designe ...

and

Dinky Toys Dinky Toys was the brand name for a range of die-cast zamak zinc alloy scale model vehicles produced by British toy company Meccano Ltd. They were made in England from 1934 to 1979, at a factory in Binns Road in Liverpool. Dinky Toys were am ...

brands) in 1997. In 1998, Mattel acquired Pleasant Company (creators of the American Girl brand) and Swindon,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

-based toymaker Bluebird Toys (along with its most prized property, '' Polly Pocket''). That same year, the first American Girl retail store opened for business in Chicago. In 1997, the Fisher-Price Little People toys underwent a redesign to look more like real kids with different skin colors, added arms and hands, and greater detail on the face, hair, and clothes. That same year, Mattel acquired View-Master, and Hot Wheels partnered with NASCAR drivers Kyle Petty and Jack Baldwin. This was the first time NASCAR-themed vehicles were produced. In 1998, Mattel donated $25 million to help rebuild UCLA’s children’s hospital, and the hospital was renamed the UCLA Mattel Children’s Hospital. That was also the year that Barbie was inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame; and the first Thomas & Friends theme park, Thomas Land, opened in Japan’s Fujikyu Park. Mattel purchased

The Learning Company The Learning Company (TLC) was an educational software company founded in 1980 in Palo Alto, California and headquartered in Fremont, California. The company produced a grade-based line of learning software, edutainment games, and productivity ...

(formerly SoftKey) in 1999 for $3.5 billion, but sold it the following year at a loss. The company had a $430.9 million net loss that year. Mattel earned the first grant for the Disney Princess doll license in 2000. In December 2000, Mattel

sued - A lawsuit is a proceeding by a party or parties against another in the civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. The term "lawsuit" is used in reference to a civil acti ...

Danish-Norwegian

europop Europop (also spelled Euro pop) is a style of pop music that originated in Europe during the mid-to-late 1960s and developed to today's form throughout the late 1970s. Europop topped the charts throughout the 1980s and 1990s, with revivals and ...

band

Aqua Aqua is the Latin word for water. It is used in many words which relate to water, such as aquatic life. In English, it may also refer to: Arts * Aqua (color), a greenish-blue color Business * Aqua (skyscraper), an 82-story residential skysc ...

, claiming their song "

Barbie Girl "Barbie Girl" is a song by Danish-Norwegian dance-pop group Aqua. It was released in April 1997 as the third single from the group's debut studio album, ''Aquarium'' (1997). The song was written by Søren Rasted, Claus Norreen, René Dif, and ...

" violated the Barbie trademark and turned Barbie into a sex object, referring to her as a "blonde

bimbo Bimbo is slang for a conventionally attractive, sexualized, naive, and unintelligent woman. The term was originally used in the United States as early as 1919 for an unintelligent or brutish man. As of the early 21st century, the "stereotypic ...

"; in a lawsuit which was rejected in two years later. In 2000, Mattel signed a deal with

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

to become the master licensee for Harry Potter-branded toys. Two years later, the companies extended their partnership, with Mattel becoming master licensee for Batman, Superman,

Justice League The Justice League (also known as The Justice League of America) are a team of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The team first appeared in ''The Brave and the Bold'' #28 (March 1960). The team was conceived b ...

and the Looney Tunes toys for all markets except Asia. In 2001, the Twin Mill, the first life-sized Hot Wheels car, was created. Since then, more than twenty life-sized cars have been created and inducted into the Hot Wheels Garage of Legends. American Girl launched its “Girl of the Year” campaign in 2001 to highlight dolls with contemporary stories. Each doll is only available for a year. In 2002, Mattel closed its last factory in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, originally part of the Fisher-Price division, outsourcing production to China, which began a chain of events that led to its distribution of millions of hazardous toys, including ones contaminated with lead. On August 14, 2007, Mattel recalled over 18 million products. ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' closely covered its multiple recalls. Many of the products had surface coatings that contained more than the U.S. legal limit of .06% lead by weight. Other toys were recalled because their strong, detachable magnets could endanger children. Mattel re-wrote its policy on magnets, finally issuing a recall in August 2007. The recall included 7.1 million Polly Pocket toys produced before November 2006, 600,000

and Tanner Playsets, 1 million Doggie Daycare, Shonen Jump's One Piece and thousands of Batman Manga toys due to exposed

magnets A magnet is a material or object that produces a magnetic field. This magnetic field is invisible but is responsible for the most notable property of a magnet: a force that pulls on other ferromagnetic materials, such as iron, steel, nickel ...

. In 2009, Mattel paid a $2.3 million fine to the Consumer Products Safety Commission for marketing, importing, and selling non-compliant toys. Mattel was noted for its crisis response by several newspaper publications, including ''

PRWeek ''PRWeek'' is a trade magazine for the public relations industry. The original UK edition was the brainchild of the late Geoffrey Lace who at the time worked for Haymarket. After failing to interest Haymarket in his idea he left to launch it on ...

'', the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

'', '' Fortune,'' and Business Management. In 2004, Mattel signed a deal with the inventor BABYsue and the Japanese Manufacturer Vance Project and purchased Pinky:st. for $4 billion. On February 3, 2006, Mattel signed a deal with Disney and produced its animated series.

More acquisitions and brand portfolio expansion: 2010–2016

On June 11, 2010, Mattel launched

Monster High Monster High is an American multimedia-supported fashion doll franchise created by toy designer Garrett Sander and launched by Mattel in 2010. Aimed at children aged 7 to 14, the franchise features characters inspired by monster movies, sci-f ...

, a fashion doll line featuring the teenage children of famous and well-known monsters like Dracula,

Frankenstein ''Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' is an 1818 novel written by English author Mary Shelley. ''Frankenstein'' tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who creates a sapient creature in an unorthodox scientific ...

, Cleopatra,

Gorgon A Gorgon ( /ˈɡɔːrɡən/; plural: Gorgons, Ancient Greek: Γοργών/Γοργώ ''Gorgṓn/Gorgṓ'') is a creature in Greek mythology. Gorgons occur in the earliest examples of Greek literature. While descriptions of Gorgons vary, the te ...

Werewolf In folklore, a werewolf (), or occasionally lycanthrope (; ; uk, Вовкулака, Vovkulaka), is an individual that can shapeshift into a wolf (or, especially in modern film, a therianthropic hybrid wolf-like creature), either purposely ...

and The Mummy. It led to popularity and cult following success which Mattel translated into two spin-offs, each with a different focus than Monster High; ''

Ever After High ''Ever After High'' is a fashion doll franchise released by Mattel in July 2013. It is a companion line to the '' Monster High'' dolls, with the characters being based upon characters from well-known fairy tales and fantasy stories instead of ...

'' in 2013 and '' Enchantimals'' four years later. In 2011, Hot Wheels set a new world-record for a jump made by a four-wheeled vehicle at the 100th anniversary of the Indy 500. The 332 feet jump broke the previous 301 feet record set in 2009. In early 2010,

HiT Entertainment HIT Entertainment Limited (commonly written as HiT) was a British-American entertainment company founded in 1982 as Henson International Television, the international distribution arm of The Jim Henson Company, by Jim Henson, Peter Orton, and Sop ...

licensed

Thomas & Friends ''Thomas & Friends'' (originally known as ''Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends'' and later ''Thomas & Friends: Big World! Big Adventures!'') is a British children's television series that aired across 24 series from 1984 to 2021. Based on ''The ...

to Mattel for toys. Mattel will then agree to purchase HiT Entertainment from

Apax Partners Apax Partners LLP is a British private equity firm, headquartered in London, England. The company also operates out of six other offices in New York, Hong Kong, Mumbai, Tel Aviv, Munich and Shanghai. As of December 2017, the firm, including its ...

on October 24, 2011, for $680 million, excluding its share of the

PBS Kids Sprout Universal Kids is an American children's television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming unit of Comcast's NBCUniversal. The channel launched on September 26, 2005, as PBS Kids Sprout, a preschool-oriented channel jointly ...

channel (''now Universal Kids''), which would be completed on February 1, 2012, and be managed under Mattel's Fisher-Price unit. In 2012, Mattel introduced a doll, Ella, to the ''Barbie'' line. The doll is bald and was distributed directly through hospitals to children experiencing hair loss due to cancer and other diseases. On October 16, 2013, with reports of high profitability, Mattel launched an in-house film studio, Mattel Playground Productions, through which it produces original films, TV shows, Web series, live events, and games. '' Fortune Magazine'' named Mattel one of the top 100 companies to work for in 2013, noting only 1,292 positions were full, out of 164,045 job applications during the previous year, as well as more than 1,000 employees had been with the company longer than 15 years. On February 28, 2014, Mattel acquired Mega Brands and Pinky:st. celebrated its 10th anniversary. On April 16, 2015, Mattel announced a partnership with invention platform Quirky to crowd-source a number of products. Mattel added a princess-themed Barbie line in 2010. Barbie sales began plummeting in 2012, thus removing focus from the ''Disney Princess'' line. Mattel had only sold Cinderella, Ariel, Belle and the two Frozen princesses (Ana and Elsa) around its last year of the Disney license. With these competing lines and an expiration of the brand license at the end of 2015, Disney gave

Hasbro Hasbro, Inc. (; a syllabic abbreviation of its original name, Hassenfeld Brothers) is an American multinational conglomerate holding company incorporated and headquartered in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Hasbro owns the trademarks and products of K ...

a chance to gain the license given their work on Star Wars, which led to a '' Descendants'' license. Disney Consumer Products also made an attempt to evolve the brand from "damsels" to "heroines." In September 2014, Disney announced Hasbro would be the licensed doll maker for the Disney Princess line starting on January 1, 2016. In January 2015, board member

Christopher Sinclair Christopher A. Sinclair (born September 5, 1950) is an American businessman. He is the chairman of Reckitt, the consumer health and household products company. He is the former chairman and CEO of Mattel, the toy company. Previously, he was chair ...

replaced CEO Bryan Stockton, following with 2/3 of senior executives resigning or receiving lay off. In February, a new View-Master was announced. Through a partnership with Google Cardboard, the toy was upgraded to provide a virtual reality viewing experience. In January 2016, Mattel acquired Fuhu, makers of Nabi tablets and other technology-driven hardware, in a bankruptcy proceeding for a sum worth $21 million. On March 30, 2016, Mattel formed a "senior head" division named ''Mattel Creations'' to centralize its multi-platform content output. In the process, the production teams and operations of Mattel Playground Productions,

HIT Entertainment HIT Entertainment Limited (commonly written as HiT) was a British-American entertainment company founded in 1982 as Henson International Television, the international distribution arm of The Jim Henson Company, by Jim Henson, Peter Orton, and Sop ...

and the American Girl content creation team in

Middleton, Wisconsin Middleton is a city in Dane County, Wisconsin, United States, and a suburb of the state capital, Madison. Middleton's motto is "The Good Neighbor City." The population was 21,827 at the 2020 census. In 2007, Middleton was chosen as the best pl ...

were absorbed into Creations in the following day. On July 19, 2016,

NBCUniversal NBCUniversal Media, LLC is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate corporation owned by Comcast and headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, United States. NBCUniversal is primaril ...

announced Mattel's license acquisition to produce toys based on the '' Jurassic Park'' franchise after Hasbro's rights expired in 2017.

Hasbro's failed takeover and Mattel163: 2017–2018

Former Google executive, Margo Georgiadis, was announced as company CEO on 17 January 2017. On 10 November 10, 2017, the ''

Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'' reported that

had made a takeover offer for Mattel, with Hasbro worth about $11 billion at the time and Mattel, $5 billion, but the latter rejected the offer less than a week later, according to

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was esta ...

. Mattel formed with Chinese internet technology and video game company NetEase on January 29, 2018, a joint venture, ''Mattel163'', a mobile publishing and development studio that creates apps based on some of Mattel’s brands, including Barbie, Hot Wheels, and Thomas & Friends. That same year, American Girl released “Create Your Own,” allowing kids to create a doll from scratch and customize everything including facial features, hair, accessories and outfits, and the doll’s favorite places and hobbies. The company announced on December 24, 2018, that they lost the DC Comics toy license to Spin Master starting in the spring of 2020. With the news, company share reached an 18-year low at $9.25 a share.

Company Reorganization & Production Partnership Increments: 2018–present

Ynon Kreiz was named company chairman and CEO on April 26, 2018, replacing outgoing CEO Georgiardis, who moved on to head Ancestry.com. Two months later, the company laid off 2,200 employees partially due to the liquidation of

Toys "R" Us Toys "R" Us is an American toy, clothing, and baby product retailer owned by Tru Kids (doing business as Tru Kids Brands) and various others. The company was founded in 1957; its first store was built in April 1948, with its headquarters loc ...

in the U.S. Kreiz started reorganization of Mattel which included new board of directors and added that executives having entertainment backgrounds and a global franchise management group had been charged with finding new opportunities in existing markets. On 6 September 2018, Mattel announced the launch of a film division, '' Mattel Films'', that will make films/movies based on the company's toy brands. Mattel's prior incarnation of its filming division, ''Mattel Playground Productions'', was absorbed into Mattel Creations (now Mattel Television) after its Max Steel live-action film flopped, both in box office earnings and reception. 2018 was also the 50th anniversary of Hot Wheels. To celebrate, the original 16 Hot Wheels die-cast cars were recreated and sold as a set. In September of the same year, Thomas & Friends announced an alliance with the United Nations to introduce some of the organization’s Sustainable Development Goals into the show’s content. This included content around quality education, gender equality, clean water and sanitation, sustainable cities and communities, responsible consumption and production, and life on land. Finally, Mattel Children’s Foundation marked the year by making it the first annual Global Day of Play. This is a company-wide community service initiative that focuses on working with nonprofits and organizations around the world to give children a day focused on the power of play. On 30 August 2018, Mattel indicated the formation of its global franchise management division to be headed by Janet Hsu as chief franchise management officer. The division was mandated to seek out new commercial opportunities plus to bring to together consumer products, content development and distribution, digital gaming, live events and partnerships. Hsu was previously the CEO of Saban Brands, where Frederic Soulie last worked before being appointed as senior vice president of content distribution and business development in the franchise division on September 28, 2018. Mattel reorganized Mattel Creations and renamed it to ''

Mattel Television Mattel Television is the television production division of American toy and entertainment company Mattel, originally founded under the name Mattel Creations on March 31, 2016. It is headed by general manager and senior vice president, Frederic So ...

'' on 5 February 2019, which would be headed by former

Disney Channels Worldwide Disney Branded Television is a unit of Disney General Entertainment Content which oversees development and production of content geared towards children, teenagers and families for Disney+, Disney Channel, Disney Junior and Disney XD. The unit a ...

(now ''Disney Branded Television'') programming executive Adam Bonnett. Soulie in turn was "role-tripled" to general manager and senior vice president of the new division. Mattel released Hot Wheels Monster Trucks in 2019. It included a full line of die-cast vehicles and a national live-event tour, Hot Wheels Monster Trucks Live. The company also released “Creatable World,” a line of gender-neutral dolls. On March 9, 2019, Barbie celebrated its 60th anniversary. As part of the anniversary celebrations, Mattel released 20 new role model dolls in its Shero line to recognize influential women around the world. Mattel donated $1 from every sale to its Dream Gap Project Fund, which aims to work with other organizations to end the issue of girls seeing themselves as less capable than boys. In June, Mattel released its new Hot Wheels ID line of cars. The cars are embedded with NFC chips so that people can scan the cars’ and then build tracks, race, and view race stats for combined digital and physical racing play. In December, Mattel released an update that allowed kids to scan their cars into an app and then access different coding exercises. In August 2019, Mattel announced a reboot of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. The relaunch will include new toy lines and brand extensions, a new comic book series, and a Netflix series. In April 2020, the company released a Thomas & Friends special titled “The Royal Engine” to celebrate the program’s 75th anniversary. It was introduced by the Duke of Sussex and featured animated versions of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles as children. That same month, the new Basquiat Barbie was introduced, featuring the work of the artist Jean-Michel Basquiat. Warner Music Group's Arts Music division arranged to become the distributor of Mattel's music catalog on May 1, 2020. Arts Music planned to make available hundreds of never-before-released songs and new songs for existing intellectual properties with first up the 8th May digital launch of

’ birthday album which would be managed/handled by ADA Worldwide under the pseudonym label: "''Mattel–Arts Music.''" That same month, Mattel announced “Play it Forward,” a new initiative that focuses on using Mattel brands to give back. The first Play it Forward program was #ThankYouHeroes, which included a collection of action figures and Little People characters who represent those who work essential jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic, like doctors, nurses, EMTs, and delivery drivers. In January 2021, Mattel released a die-cast scale model of the Mars Perseverance Rover. Perseverance was the latest vehicle in Hot Wheels’ Space mini-collection, which Mattel originally released in 1996 with the Sojourner Mars Rover. On 5 April 2022, the Mattel board of directors led by its CEO, Ynon Kreiz, named company chief commercial officer, Steven Totzke, as company president alongside his original post and would continue to report to Kreiz as before.

Media and entertainment ventures

Mattel has a long history of media engagement since its foundation with the

advertising Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...

of products from its brands including ''Barbie'', ''Monster High'' and ''Polly Pocket'', but the venture into full-time entertainment began in May, 1970, when it teamed up with producer

to form a joint venture film production company, "''Radnitz/Mattel Productions''". Masters of the Universe and its lead character He-Man had a cartoon series which released between 1983 and 1985 and was followed by a live-action film in 1987. In 1986, Mattel launched a television syndication unit; ''MTS Entertainment'', headed by John M. Weens, to distribute the ''

Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future ''Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future'' is a science fiction-action television series, merging live action with animation based on computer-generated images, that ran for 22 episodes in Canadian and American syndication. A toy line was ...

'' syndicated

television show A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed b ...

. ''

My Scene My Scene (stylized in all lowercase) is an American series of fashion dolls that Mattel released in 2002. They were discontinued in the US in 2008, and worldwide in 2011. Mattel's Barbie character is one of the dolls in the toy line. The My Scen ...

'', with Mattel's flagship ''Barbie'' brand, launched in 2002 and wasted little time in invoking a film franchise of DVD-exclusive/direct-to-DVD CGI-animated films. "''Polly Pocket''", which was originally founded and designed by Chris Wiggs in 1983 for his daughter Kate as a private toy and from 1989 housed in Bluebird Toys which Mattel acquired in 1998, also followed suit. With

Lionsgate Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation, doing business as Lionsgate, is a Canadian-American entertainment company. It was formed by Frank Giustra on July 10, 1997, domiciled in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and is currently headquartered ...

and its previous incarnation companies in Artisan Films and ''

Family Home Entertainment Family Home Entertainment (FHE) was an American home video company founded in 1980 by Noel C. Bloom. It was a division of International Video Entertainment, which had its headquarters in Newbury Park, California. History The company was founde ...

'', Mattel had its flagship

brand launched into a

series Series may refer to: People with the name * Caroline Series (born 1951), English mathematician, daughter of George Series * George Series (1920–1995), English physicist Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Series, the ordered sets used in ...

of successful computer-animated

direct-to-video Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, TV series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strategy wa ...

films, which moved to Universal in late 2006 and is, as of 1 September 2021, jointly handled by Mill Creek Entertainment and NCirlce Entertainment, with the latter solely for American retailers.

followed Barbie just months after its launch in 2010 and many “ American Girl” films were made. Mattel agreed to purchase

without the stake in the Sprout TV channel (formerly ''PBS Kids Sprout'' and now ''Universal Kids'') from

on 25 October 2011, for $680 million, and closed on 1 February 2012, to become part of its Fisher-Price division. HiT Entertainment would later be absorbed into a then-newly-formed division known as "Mattel Creations" with its

intellectual property Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, cop ...

(IP) brands shared equally between itself and another then-newly formed Mattel division, '' Mattel Films''. On October 16, 2013, with reports of high profitability, Mattel launched an in-house film studio, Mattel Playground Productions (shortened as Mattel PGP or just PGP) as its in-house film studio to handle multimedia productions and foster creative storytelling for its brands for global multi-platform distribution. Mattel formed a "senior head" division ''Mattel Creations'' on March 30, 2016, to absorb Mattel Playground Productions, HiT Entertainment and the American Girl content creation team in

and centralize its content output. Mattel Playground Productions would later be revived on 6 September 2018 and renamed to '' Mattel Films'' (which was and still widely perceived outside Mattel) and would handle solely films based on its brands as opposed to its predecessor. ''Mattel Creations'' would be reorganized on 5 February 2019 with the hiring of former

(now ''Disney Branded Television'') programming executive Adam Bonnett as its division head and be renamed to

References

External links

*
Corporate website
{{Authority control 1945 establishments in California 1960s initial public offerings American companies established in 1945 Card game publishing companies Companies based in El Segundo, California Companies formerly listed on the New York Stock Exchange Companies listed on the Nasdaq Corporate scandals Doll manufacturing companies Manufacturing companies based in Greater Los Angeles Multinational companies headquartered in the United States Toy brands Toy companies established in 1945 Toy companies of the United States