Mattel, Inc. (or simply referred to as Mattel) is an American multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company founded in January, 1945 and headquartered in El Segundo, California. The company has presence in thirty-five countries and territories and sells products in more than one hundred fifty countries.[3]
Mattel was originally founded in January 1945 by Ruth Handler, Elliot Handler and Harold Matson as "Mattel Creations". The name Mattel is a blend of the names of the "Matt" nickname of Harold Matson and "El" in Elliot Handler, two of the company's founders. The company established itself as a leader in the toy industry and later diversified into diving into media and entertainment.
The company is one of the best-known toy manufacturing companies worldwide. Throughout the company's founding, it has acquired a significant amount of companies and properties, with one of them most notably being HIT Entertainment,[4] a British-American entertainment company that produced children's entertainment and owned the Barney franchise.
Barney in front of of a screen projection with the Mattel logo.
History[]
Barney[]
License[]
In February 2001, at the same time as Lyrick Studios was being acquired by HIT Entertainment, HIT had signed a licensing deal with Mattel.[5] It was confirmed on February 23, 2001 that Fisher-Price, the subsidiary of Mattel, had an exclusive worldwide toy licensing deal to make and distribute Barney toys.[6] The initial toys were scheduled for released in early 2002.[7] The line continued to be released in the US and Canada until 2004 and in the UK until 2005. Outside the UK, the US, and Canada, Fisher-Price continued to produce Barney toys all the way up until the late 2000s. Fisher-Price wouldn't release any further Barney toys until 2018.
Acquisition[]
Owners of HIT Entertainment, Apax Partners, agreed to sell HIT Entertainment to Mattel, Inc on October 24, 2011 for $680 million.[8] Its share of Sprout was not included in the deal.[9] The sale/merger was completed on February 1, 2012,[10] and HIT Entertainment became a wholly owned subsidiary of Mattel, managed under its Fisher-Price unit.[11][12] Due to the success of the Thomas brand, which accounted for 80% of HIT’s revenues, there was talks of Mattel only wanting to purchase that franchise rather than the entire HIT library.[13] Mattel had already worked alongside Hit Entertainment and handled marketing for Thomas & Friends toys.[14] On July 3, 2012, It was reported that Mattel considered selling and seeked a buyer for the assets of Barney (alongside Angelina Ballerina).[15] They eventually decided to keep those brands.
Relaunch[]
Richard Dickson, President and Chief Operating Officer of Mattel, discusses a relaunch of Barney in partnership with 9 Story at MIPTV 2016.
On October 6, 2015, 9 Story Media Group announced a long-term partnership with HIT Entertainment, the now subsidiary of Mattel, to distribute preschool series Barney & Friends and Angelina Ballerina, as well as as relaunching both properties for a reboot that was slated to debut in 2017 with fifty-two eleven minute episodes (for both properties).[16] Production never occurred for either one of the properties. During Mattel's 2021 Virtual Analyst Day Presentation on February 24, 2021, Barney was included to be a "new series in development" by Mattel Television.[17]
In 2023, Mattel began revitalizing/reintroducing Barney, to a new generation of children, as the IP laid dormant with new content. At the time of the relaunch, the brand had an 89% U.S. brand awareness. The relaunch campaign started out with merchandise and nostalgic content distributed via social media, targeting millennials and Gen-Z that grew up with the franchise. Social activations drove over 70 million views on Instagram and TikTok, growing more than 280,000 followers. During the relaunch, Mattel depicted "classic Barney" as an employee for Mattel in various social media reels in 2024, dubbed as "Barney's First Day of Work", where he would crossover with other Mattel IPs at the headquarters. This would eventually be followed up with a new iteration of Barney, with the animated series titled Barney's World.[18][19]
Media[]
Barney[]
Film[]
On October 18, 2019, Mattel Films, a division of Mattel, announced they were producing a new film based on Barney.[20]
Music[]
On April 10, 2020, Barney albums that were under HIT Entertainment and Koch Records were transferred to Arts Music. The announcement was made on May 1, 2020 that Mattel signed an exclusive, multi-year global music licensing deal with Warner Music Group's Arts Music division, which became the sole distributor of Mattel's catalog of more than 1,000 songs from brands like Barbie, Thomas & Friends, Hot Wheels, American Girl, Fisher Price and Barney.[21] In 2023, Mattel began revitalizing/reintroducing Barney, to a new generation of children, as the IP laid dormant with new content. During the relaunch, newly released music based on Barney's World contributed to over 500,000 monthly Spotify listeners.[22]
Publishing[]
Announced on July 1, 2023, Simon & Schuster began handling sales and distribution of the Mattel Press Imprint to the U.S. and Canada. Mattel Press Imprint was announced to complement content, support brand initiatives, and create new stories based on various Mattel IPs, including Barney.[23] The following year after the announcement, books based on Barney's World began to be released.
See: Mattel releases
Events[]
Barney[]
Mattel x Heidi Klum's 23rd annual Halloween Party[]
As part of the reintroduction/relaunch of the Barney IP in 2024 due to Barney's World, Mattel partnered with Heidi Klum, a German-American model and TV personality, for her Halloween Party, an annual event that features some of entertainment’s biggest stars. Given the celebrity caliber and Klum's party being notable, Mattel saw it as an opportunity to integrate Barney within the event as a way to reach millennial consumers - a key demographic the company views for Barney's World. The partnership kicked off with a social media post of Klum and Barney on FaceTime, where Klum personally invited Barney to her annual bash. On October 31, the night of the party, which was also sponsored by Mattel, Barney walked the red carpet (in a pumpkin costume) and posed with celebrities and influencers for the media in attendance. Barney would eventually take over the event's DJ booth, only sporting shades. In 2025, the partnership/collaboration was nominated for the 17th Annual Shorty Awards in the brand partnership category.[24][25]
Products[]
Barney[]
2014[]
See Also[]
- Mattel Play! Town - An indoor educational play area in City Walk, Dubai that operated from 2016 to 2020 and featured HIT Entertainment characters.
References[]
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