Toyetic is a term referring to the suitability of a

media Media may refer to: Communication * Media (communication), tools used to deliver information or data ** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising ** Broadcast media, communications delivered over mass e ...

property, such as a cartoon or

movie A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

, for merchandising tie-in lines of licensed

toy A toy or plaything is an object that is used primarily to provide entertainment. Simple examples include toy blocks, board games, and dolls. Toys are often designed for use by children, although many are designed specifically for adults and pet ...

s, games and novelties. The term is attributed to

Bernard Loomis Bernard Loomis (July 4, 1923 – June 2, 2006) was an American toy developer and marketer who introduced some of the world's most notable brands including Chatty Cathy, Barbie, Hot Wheels, Baby Alive, and Strawberry Shortcake, but perhaps his b ...

, a toy development executive for

Kenner Toys Kenner Products, known simply as Kenner, was an American toy company founded in 1946. Throughout its history, the Kenner brand produced several highly recognizable toys and merchandise lines including action figures like the original series of ' ...

, in discussing the opportunities for marketing the film ''

Close Encounters of the Third Kind ''Close Encounters of the Third Kind'' is a 1977 American science fiction film written and directed by Steven Spielberg, starring Richard Dreyfuss, Melinda Dillon, Teri Garr, Bob Balaban, Cary Guffey, and François Truffaut. It tells the story ...

'', telling its producer Steven Spielberg that the movie was not "toyetic" enough, leading Loomis towards acquiring the lucrative license for the upcoming '' Star Wars'' properties.

History

The concept of toyetic works is stated to have come from

in 1969, while working at Mattel. With the introduction of the Hot Wheels line of toy cars, Loomis proposed that they also developed a 30-minute show '' Hot Wheels'' as a means to promote the toys. The

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdicti ...

(FCC), in reviewing the show, determined that the program needed to be treated as advertising, which affected the records of the network, forcing the show to be taken off the air within two years. Loomis later moved on to the Kenner division of General Mills; during this time, he had read about the upcoming '' Star Wars'' films, and positioned the company to produce toys based on the film. The move was considered highly successful, with over $100 million in annual toy sales following the release of the film. In the early 1980s, the FCC revised its rules on children's programming, specifically allowing for the use of "character marketing" where shows could employ fictional characters based on toys and other real-world objects without counting towards advertising. Loomis saw the same potential in the '' Strawberry Shortcake'' line of toys as he did for ''Star Wars'', and was able to successfully produce a line of specials for ''Strawberry Shortcake'' under the less-restrictive FCC guidelines. Following on Loomis's success, toyetic shows became popular in the 1980s. This was aided by the introduction of

cable television Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with bro ...

that allows for more airtime for new and repeat broadcasts of such shows. The number of toyetic shows waned after 1990 when the United States Congress passed the Children's Television Act which required content to include educational and instructional material for children, and targeted the type of commercial advertising that could accompany these shows.

Examples

Notable examples of toyetic properties include: * '' Batman & Robin'': Toy companies were reportedly involved in

pre-production Pre-production is the process of planning some of the elements involved in a film, television show, play, or other performance, as distinct from production and post-production. Pre-production ends when the planning ends and the content start ...

. Director

Joel Schumacher Joel T. Schumacher (; August 29, 1939June 22, 2020) was an American film director, producer and screenwriter. Raised in New York City by his mother, Schumacher graduated from Parsons School of Design and originally became a fashion designer. H ...

admitted that he was told by Warner executives to make ''Batman & Robin'' "more toyetic". Despite the film's disappointing critical and financial performance, toy revenue was so high that the studio produced more Batman films without Schumacher. *'' Star Wars'': Although George Lucas wrote the ''Star Wars'' saga without considering the toyetic potentials of the film, he insisted that he would keep the merchandising rights before the first film was released.Pollock, Dale, ''Skywalking: The Life and Films of George Lucas'', Harmony Books, New York, 1983, . 20th Century-Fox underestimated the potential of the film and allowed Lucas to do so, and the film turned out to be a toyetic phenomenon. The ''Star Wars'' films have spawned a massive merchandising empire, including toys, action figures, and video games to non-toy merchandise, such as

beer stein A beer stein ( ), or simply stein, is either a traditional beer mug made out of stoneware or specifically an ornamental beer mug sold as a souvenir or collectible. An 1894 article on beer mugs in the American ''Vogue'' magazine that describes ...

spoon A spoon is a utensil consisting of a shallow bowl (also known as a head), oval or round, at the end of a handle. A type of cutlery (sometimes called flatware in the United States), especially as part of a place setting, it is used primarily f ...

s, and replicas of the lightsaber hilts. * ''

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' is an American media franchise created by the comic book artists Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. It follows Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello and Raphael, four anthropomorphic turtle brothers (named after It ...

'': Based on the 1984 comic series by

Kevin Eastman Kevin Brooks Eastman (born May 30, 1962) is an American comic book artist and writer best known for co-creating the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles with Peter Laird. Eastman was also formerly the editor and publisher of the magazine '' Heavy Meta ...

and

Peter Laird Peter Alan Laird (born January 27, 1954) is an American comic book writer and artist best known for co-creating the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles with writer and artist Kevin Eastman. Early life and career Laird was born on January 27, 1954, in ...

of the same name, the television shows and movies were considered "extremely toyetic", as the toys were "visually appealing—tough yet huggable—and there are enough characters to drive collecting over time", according to Playmates Toys senior vice president Karl Aaronian. * '' Transformers'': The success of the 2007 film based on the franchise is stated by Lauren A. E. Schuker of ''

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 ...

'' to have created a drive in the motion picture industry to seek rights for toy-driven films from other existing properties.

References

Citations

*{{citation , title=Powerplay: Toys as Popular Culture , first=Dan , last=Fleming , publisher=Manchester University Press , year=1996 , isbn=978-0-7190-4717-6 , url-access=registration , url=https://archive.org/details/powerplaytoysasp0000flem Promotion and marketing communications Strategic alliances Toy industry

History

Examples

See also

References

Citations