Mattel Interactive (Known as Mattel Media until 1999) was a video game publisher and software distributor.

History

Mattel Mattel, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational toy manufacturing 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 ...

originally founded the company as Mattel Media in February 1996, as an aim to expand into the multimedia unit by producing CD-ROM titles based on Mattel franchises like

Hot Wheels Hot Wheels is an American brand of scale model cars introduced by American toymaker Mattel in 1968. It was the primary competitor of Matchbox until 1997, when Mattel bought Tyco Toys, then owner of Matchbox. Many automobile manufacturers have ...

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. ...

Fisher-Price Fisher-Price is an American company that produces educational toys for infants, toddlers and preschoolers, headquartered in East Aurora, New York, East Aurora, New York (state), New York. The company was founded in 1930 during the Great Depressio ...

and

Polly Pocket Polly Pocket is a toy line of dolls and accessories first founded and designed by Chris Wiggs in 1983 and licensed by Bluebird Toys from 1989 until both entities/properties were acquired by Mattel in 1998. History Polly Pocket was first designe ...

. The company's first releases came out in the Fall of 1996, with the company's ''

Barbie Fashion Designer ''Barbie Fashion Designer'' is a dress-up computer game developed by Digital Domain and published by Mattel Media for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS in 1996. The game allows players to design clothing and style outfits. Players can then print off the ...

'' program was the first commercially successful video game made for girls. With the success of their first wave of products, Mattel Media then set on producing CD-ROM based interactive material for toys such as the Talk with Me! Barbie. Mattel Media later expanded to Video Games soon after, publishing titles like '' Hot Wheels Stunt Track Driver''. In the fall of 1998,

agreed to acquire The Learning Company in a stock-for-stock merger valuing the company at approximately $4.2 billion. With the merger, Mattel themselves laid off 3000 employees Mattel sold both Mattel Interactive and The Learning Company in 2000 at a loss to Gores Technology group. The total financial losses to Mattel have been estimated to be as high as $3.6 billion. Mattel's acquisition of The Learning Company has been referred to as "one of the worst acquisitions of all time" by several prominent business journals. In February 2001, Mattel signed a publishing and distribution deal with

THQ THQ Inc. was an American video game company based in Agoura Hills, California. It was founded in April 1990 by Jack Friedman, originally in Calabasas, and became a public company the following year through a reverse merger takeover. Initial ...

for the

and

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 designed ...

licenses, and

Vivendi Universal Interactive Publishing Vivendi Games was an American video game publisher and holding company based in Los Angeles. It was founded in 1996 as CUC Software, the publishing subsidiary of CUC International, after the latter acquired video game companies Davidson & Assoc ...

for other major licenses including

Diva Starz Diva Starz was a series of talking fashion dolls created and released by Mattel in October 2000. They are similar in design to MGA's Bratz and Tiger Electronics' Furby. Alexa, Nikki, Summer—later replaced by Miranda—and Tia were offered in ...

and

. That same month, THQ also acquired Mattel's computer rights to ''

Rugrats ''Rugrats'' is an American animated television series created by Arlene Klasky, Gábor Csupó, and Paul Germain for Nickelodeon. The show focuses on a group of toddlers; most prominently— Tommy, Chuckie, Angelica, and twins Phil and Lil, ...

'', ''

SpongeBob SquarePants ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' (or simply ''SpongeBob'') is an American animated comedy television series created by marine science educator and animator Stephen Hillenburg for Nickelodeon. It chronicles the adventures of the title character a ...

'' and ''

Rocket Power ''Rocket Power'' is an American animated television series created by Arlene Klasky and Gábor Csupó, the creators of ''Rugrats''. The series aired on Nickelodeon from August 16, 1999 to July 30, 2004. Premise ''Rocket Power'' revolves around t ...

'' and Mattel's console and computer rights to ''

The Wild Thornberrys ''The Wild Thornberrys'' is an American animated series, animated television series created by Arlene Klasky, Gábor Csupó, Steve Pepoon, David Silverman (animator), David Silverman, and Stephen Sustarsic for Nickelodeon. The series portrays a ...

'' and '' Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius''. In 2000, the ex-Learning Company and Mattel assets acquired by Gores were split up into three divisions - GAME Studios for Video Games,

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 ...

for Educational Software and

Broderbund Broderbund Software, Inc. (stylized as Brøderbund) was an American maker of video games, educational software, and productivity tools. Broderbund is best known for the 8-bit video game hits ''Choplifter'', ''Lode Runner'', ''Karateka'', and '' ...

for Home Software. GAME Studios' was sold to

Ubi Soft Ubisoft Entertainment SA (; ; formerly Ubi Soft Entertainment SA) is a French video game publisher headquartered in Saint-Mandé with development studios across the world. Its video game franchises include ''Assassin's Creed'', ''Far Cry (serie ...

in March 2001, taking all of the gaming assets formerly held by The Learning Company.

itself was acquired by Riverdeep Interactive Learning Limited in September 2001 and later acquired all of Broderbund in August 2002.

List of games

*''

'' (1996) *'' Magic Fairy Tales: Barbie as Rapunzel'' (1997) * ''Clueless'' CD-ROM (1997) *''

Barbie Magic Hair Styler ''Barbie Magic Hair Styler'' is a dress-up computer game developed by EAI Interactive and published by Mattel Media for Microsoft Windows in 1997. Gameplay Players can cut and style Barbie, Kira, Christie, or Teresa's hair, as well as regrow ha ...

'' (1997) *'' Hot Wheels Stunt Track Driver'' (1998) *'' Detective Barbie In the Mystery of the Carnival Caper!'' (1998) *''My Interactive Pooh'' (1998) *''Nickelodeon BrainBender'' (1999) *'' Barbie Race and Ride'' (1999) *''

Barbie Super Sports ''Barbie: Super Sports'' is a sports video game for PlayStation and Microsoft Windows developed by Runecraft and published by Mattel Media. Players can choose to play as either Barbie, Teresa, Christie or Kira. Two sports are available: snowboar ...

'' (1999) *'' Detective Barbie 2: The Vacation Mystery'' (1999) *''

The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland ''The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland'' is a 1999 American musical adventure comedy film directed by Gary Halvorson in his feature film debut. This was the second film to be based on the children's television series ''Sesame Street'', after '' ...

'' (1999) *'' Create and Draw in Elmo's World'' (1999) *'' Sesame Street Music Maker'' (1999) *''Generation Girl: Gotta Groove'' (1999) *'' Pokémon Project Studio'' (1999, Branded under

in the US, and Mattel Interactive in Europe) * Uno (1999) *'' Tyco RC: Assault with a Battery'' (2000) *'' Prince of Persia: Arabian Nights'' (2000) *'' Rugrats in Paris: The Movie'' (2000) *'' Totally Angelica: Boredom Busters!'' (2000) *'' Detective Barbie: The Mystery Cruise'' (2000) *''Matchbox Construction Zone'' (2000) *'' Rat Attack'' (2000, published by Mindscape, N64 version distributed by Mattel Interactive in Europe) *'' Elmo's Deep Sea Adventure'' (2000) *'' Barbie: Magic Genie Adventure'' (2000) *'' Panzer General III: Scorched Earth'' (2000) *''

Sega Rally 2 ''Sega Rally 2'' is an arcade racing game developed by Sega AM Annex for the Model 3 arcade hardware. It is the sequel to 1994's ''Sega Rally Championship''. The game was first released in arcades in February 1998, and was later ported by Smilebit ...

'' (2000, Windows version){{Cite web, url=https://www.gamespot.com/articles/sega-rally-2-championship/1100-2620949/, title = Sega Rally 2 Championship *''

Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots Arena ''Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots Arena'' is a video game developed by Paradox and published by Mattel Interactive for the PlayStation in 2000. Reception The game received mixed reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic. David Ch ...

'' (2000) *''

Championship Surfer ''Championship Surfer'' is an extreme sports video game developed by Krome Studios, published by Mattel Interactive in North American and GAME Studios in Europe, and released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation and Dreamcast in 2000. Development ...

'' (2000) *''Diva Starz'' (2000) *'' The Wild Thornberrys: Rambler'' (2000) *'' Max Steel: Covert Missions'' (2000)

Sources

Mattel Former Mattel subsidiaries Defunct video game companies of the United States Video game companies established in 1996 Video game companies disestablished in 2001 Educational software companies Video game publishers 1996 establishments in the United States 2001 disestablishments in the United States