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91-395: Romper Room is an American children's television series that was franchised and syndicated from 1953 to 1994. The program targeted preschoolers (children five years of age or younger), and was created and produced by Bert Claster and his presenter wife, Nancy Claster, of Claster Television . Sally Claster Bell Gelbard , their daughter, later trained hostesses. The national version

182-777: A ukulele called "Uke-A-Doodle". The company was incorporated in Hawthorne, California in 1948. In 1950, the Magic 8-Ball , currently owned by Mattel themselves, was invented by Albert C. Carter and Abe Bookman. Mattel started television advertisement when it became the first sponsor of the Mickey Mouse Club TV series. The Fisher-Price Corn Popper , and the Xylophone was released in 1957. Mattel would ultimately acquire Fisher-Price on August 20, 1993. The Barbie doll debuted on March 9, 1959, going on to become

273-769: 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 , the Los Angeles Times , Fortune and Business Management. On June 11, 2010, Mattel launched Monster High , a fashion doll line featuring the teenage children of famous and well-known monsters like Dracula , Frankenstein , Cleopatra , Gorgon , Werewolf , and The Mummy . It led to popularity and cult following success which Mattel translated into two spin-offs, each with

364-486: A 2013 Christmas Day Peninsula Seniors lecture that the founders, according to Elliot, couldn't fit Ruth's name into that of their company. The company began selling picture frames and later dollhouse furniture out of the scraps from those frames. Matson sold his share and stake to the Handlers due to poor health the following year, with Ruth Handler taking over his stake. In 1947, the company had its first successful toy,

455-480: A block on Animax , known as "Nick Time") and Cartoon Network (Cartoon Network's age demographic is moving towards older viewers with shows such as Hello Kitty , Regular Show and Adventure Time ) One of the most well-known children's TV programmes comes from Iceland, LazyTown , was created by Magnus Scheving , European Gymnastics Champion and CEO of Lazytown Entertainment . The show has aired in over 180 countries, been dubbed into more than 32 languages and

546-560: A cable, satellite, streaming, or internet subscription to view them on first airing." In the United States, there are three major commercial cable networks dedicated to children's television. All three also operate secondary services with specialized scopes drawing upon their respective libraries, such as a focus on specific demographics, or a focus upon classic programming that fall within their scope and demographics; all three have also extensively franchised their brands outside

637-530: 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 as the licensed doll maker for the Disney Princess line starting on January 1, 2016. Mattel again became the licensed doll maker, instead of Hasbro, in January 2022 and

728-428: 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. While formerly associated with content productions, as of 2020, Mattel Creations is now an e-commerce and content platform of Mattel, Inc. In April 2020, the company released a Thomas & Friends special titled “The Royal Engine” to celebrate

819-575: A different focus than Monster High; Ever After High 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 licensed Thomas & Friends to Mattel for toys. Mattel then agreed to purchase HIT Entertainment from Apax Partners on October 24, 2011, for $ 680 million, excluding its share of

910-428: A doll from scratch and customize everything including facial features, hair, accessories and outfits, and the doll’s favorite places and hobbies. On April 19, 2018, Mattel named former Maker Studios CEO Ynon Kreiz as chairman and the replacement CEO for outgoing CEO Georgiardis who moved on to head Ancestry.com , effective from April 26, 2018. Two months later, the company laid off 2,200 employees partially due to

1001-724: A few exceptions, perhaps the best-known being the Power Rangers franchise). Typically, programs are either 'for boys' or 'for girls'. The teen demographic targets viewers 12 to 18 years of age. Live-action series that target this demographic are more dramatic and developed, including teen dramas and teen sitcoms . In some cases, they may contain more mature content that is usually not permissible on shows targeting younger viewers, and can include some profanity or suggestive dialogue. Educational programming targeted at this demographic has historically been rare, other than on NASA TV 's education block. However, some programming aimed at

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1092-403: A mascot, Mr. Do-Bee. Mr. Do-Bee was an oversized bumblebee who came to teach the children proper deportment . He was noted for always starting his sentence with "Do Bee", as in the imperative "Do be"; for example, "Do Bee good boys and girls for your parents!" There was also a "Mr. Don't Bee" to show children exactly what they should not do. Do-Bee balloons were made available for purchase to

1183-454: A number of children's channels under the Pop and Tiny Pop brands. British versions of Cartoon Network and its sister channels Boomerang and Cartoonito also operate in the country, some 25 years after the initial launch. Ireland has one dedicated children's TV service RTÉjr . Since 1998 RTÉ2 has provided children's programming from 07:00 to 17:30 each weekday, originally titled The Den ,

1274-714: A number of like-minded companies during the 1960s. The Barbie Dreamhouse made with cardboard and paper made its debut in 1962, when also the Astronaut Barbie, the first of many space-themed iterations of the doll, was introduced. In 1965, the company built on its success with the Chatty Cathy doll to introduce the See 'n Say talking toy, spawning a line of products. Barbie traveled to the Moon four years before Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin . In 1967, Mattel released

1365-442: A partnership with Google Cardboard. On January 21, 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 and

1456-518: 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 ( Anna and Elsa ) around its last year of the Disney license in early 2016. With these competing lines and an expiration of the brand license at the end of 2015, Disney gave Hasbro

1547-611: A reboot of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, including new toy lines and brand extensions, a new comic book series and a Netflix series. In October 2019, Mattel released Hot Wheels Monster Trucks, which included a full line of die-cast vehicles, and a national live-event tour, Hot Wheels Monster Trucks Live. The company also released a line of gender-neutral dolls called the “Creatable World” Mattel Children’s Foundation announced and organized its second annual "Global Day of Play",

1638-497: A takeover offer for Mattel, with Hasbro worth about $ 11 billion at the time and Mattel, $ 5 billion. The latter rejected the offer less than a week later, according to Reuters . On January 29, 2018, Mattel and Chinese internet technology and video game company NetEase formed a joint venture mobile publishing and development studio, Mattel163 , aimed at creating apps based on the former's key brands. That same year, American Girl released “Create Your Own,” allowing kids to create

1729-412: A toy astronaut with space vehicles and a Moon base for boys, with a gumby-like central character named Major Matt Mason . 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

1820-608: A turn on the show until they were 40. The show was called "an actual kindergarten." Other local affiliates have included: San Francisco , Pittsburgh , Boston and Cleveland Each program opens with a greeting from the hostess and the Pledge of Allegiance in American broadcasts. The hostess and her group of children then embark on 30 or 60 minutes of games, exercises, songs, story-telling and moral lessons, which were regularly accompanied by background music. The hostess (or sometimes

1911-475: Is generally credited with being the first TV programme specifically for children. Some authors posit television for children tended to originate from similar programs on radio. For example, the BBC's Children's Hour was launched as a radio broadcast in 1922, with BBC School Radio commencing live broadcasts in 1924. In the early 1930s, radio adventure serials such as Little Orphan Annie began to emerge in

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2002-414: Is generally more overtly educational. In a number of cases, such shows are produced in consultation with educators and child psychologists in an effort to teach age-appropriate lessons (the series Sesame Street pioneered this approach when it debuted in 1969). A format that has increased in popularity since the 1990s is the " pseudo-interactive " program, in which the action of the show stops and breaks

2093-640: Is mainly to entertain or educate children, with each series targeting a certain age of child: some are aimed at infants and toddlers, some are aimed at those aged 6 to 11 years old, and others are aimed at all children. Children's television is nearly as old as television itself. In the United Kingdom, the BBC 's For the Children was first broadcast in 1946, and in English-speaking circles,

2184-635: Is the most expensive children's show of all time. In 1995, Cartoon Network became the first children's channel to be launched in India. Subsequently, Disney Channel and Nickelodeon arrived. Hungama TV (2004) was the first children's channel that had local content. Pogo and BabyTV came later in 2006. By 2018, 23 channels have aired in India. Nickelodeon was the first children's channel in Romania, launched in December 1998. Afterwards, Minimax became

2275-596: The American Girl brand) and Swindon , England -based toymaker Bluebird Toys (along with its most prized property, Polly Pocket ). In the 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

2366-582: The American Girl content creation team in Middleton, Wisconsin were absorbed into Creations the following day. On July 19, 2016, NBCUniversal announced Mattel's license acquisition to produce toys based on the Jurassic Park franchise after Hasbro's rights expired in 2017. Former Google executive, Margo Georgiadis , was announced as company CEO on 17 January 2017. On November 10, 2017 The Wall Street Journal reported that Hasbro had made

2457-513: The Cartoon Network , Disney Channel , Disney Junior , Disney XD , and Nickelodeon brands. WildBrain operates Family Channel , as well as the spin-off services WildBrainTV and Family Jr. it has been majority owned and operated by British Columbia's public broadcaster Knowledge Network . In French, Corus operates Télétoon and La chaîne Disney , WildBrain operates Télémagino (a French version of Family Jr.), TVA Group operates

2548-614: The FCC mandates. (The rule for digital subchannels was repealed in July 2019; in practice, most still carry educational programs anyway.) In 2017, there was a programming block that aired on syndication called KidsClick ; it was notable as a concerted effort to program children's shows on television without regard to their educational content, one of the first such efforts since the E/I rule took effect. The transition to digital television has allowed for

2639-736: The PBS Kids Sprout channel (now Universal Kids), which would be completed on February 1, 2012 for £680m, 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

2730-405: The fourth wall to give a young viewer the opportunity to answer a question or dilemma put forth on the show, with the action continuing as if the viewer answered correctly. Shows that target the demographic of persons 6 to 11 years old focus primarily on entertainment and can range from comedic cartoons to action series. Most children's television series targeting this age range are animated (with

2821-507: The "Neighborhood of Make-Believe" segments on Mister Rogers' Neighborhood , and were meant to introduce or reinforce simple moral lessons. About 100 of these skits — each running three to five minutes — were produced for insertion into local Romper Room programs; the host would introduce each segment and comment after its conclusion. In addition, a new opening and closing credits sequence, and lyrical theme – "Romper Room and Friends", containing mostly nonsensical lyrics, but also naming

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2912-689: The 1990s, more children's television series such as Barney & Friends , Blue's Clues , SpongeBob SquarePants , Bear in the Big Blue House , and The Big Comfy Couch were created. A voluminous range of children's television programming now exists in the 2020s. Notable successes outside the US include shows like Play School , Noggin the Nog , Clangers , Bagpuss , Teletubbies , Thunderbirds , Danger Mouse , Count Duckula , Mr. Men and Thomas & Friends originating from

3003-404: The BBC runs CBBC as well as the preschool-oriented CBeebies , while ITV runs CITV as well as the preschool-oriented LittleBe , as a programming block on ITVBe . Both channels were spun off from children's television strands on their respective flagship channels ( BBC One , BBC Two , and ITV ). The BBC and ITV have largely phased out children's programming from their main channels to focus on

3094-554: The Barbie trademark and turned her into a sex object, referring to her as a "blonde bimbo ". The lawsuit was rejected two years later. In 2000, Mattel signed a deal with Warner Bros. to become the master licensee for Harry Potter branded toys. It was extended in 2002; Mattel became the master licensee for Superman , Batman , Wonder Woman , the Flash , Justice League and Looney Tunes toys for all markets except Asia. In 2001,

3185-532: 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 Barbie and Tanner Playsets, 1 million Doggie Daycare , Shonen Jump 's One Piece and thousands of Batman Manga toys due to exposed magnets . In 2009, Mattel paid

3276-455: The UK, Paw Patrol from Canada, Le Manege Enchantè from France, The Singing Ringing Tree from Germany, and Marine Boy and Pokémon from Japan. Canadian studio Nelvana is a particularly prolific producer of children's programming. Much of Nelvana's product is broadcast worldwide, especially in the US, where the similarities in dialect do not require any dubbing or localization. In

3367-471: The United States and became a staple of children's afternoon radio listening. Early children's shows included Kukla, Fran and Ollie (1947), Howdy Doody , and Captain Kangaroo . Another show, Ding Dong School , aired from 1952 to 1965. Its creator and host, Frances Horwich , would sit in front of the camera and simulate small talk with the viewing audience at home, demonstrating basic skills for

3458-445: The United States, early children's television was often co-opted as a platform to market products and it rarely contained any educational elements (for instance, The Magic Clown , a popular early children's program, was primarily an advertisement for Bonomo's Turkish taffy .) In the early years of television, advertising to children posed a dilemma as most children have no disposable income of their own. As such, children's television

3549-458: The United States. Under current mandates, all broadcast television stations in the United States must show a minimum of three hours per week of educational children's programming , regardless of format. Until 2019, this rule also applied to digital subchannels ; as a result, digital multicast networks whose formats should not fit children's programming, such as Live Well Network and TheCoolTV , were required to carry educational programs to fit

3640-411: The Universe , the 1980s saw a dramatic rise in television programs featuring characters of whom toy characters were being sold to retail consumers in bricks and mortar stores, underscoring the value potential of manufacturing merchandise for fans of children's programs. This practice remains firmly embedded in the broadcast sector's business case broadly in the 2020s. Commercial-free children television

3731-698: The air (first names only). The show used the then-popular Mattel Jack-in-the-box (sometimes called "Happy Jack") for its opening and closing titles, with its traditional nursery rhyme " Pop Goes the Weasel " as a theme song, but, from 1981 onwards, a new original theme song was used. In 1981, the format of Romper Room was overhauled and re-titled Romper Room and Friends . One hundred syndicated versions were taped in Baltimore with Molly McCloskey (credited as Molly McCloskey-Barber after 1985) as host. At that point, they no longer used teachers. The biggest change to

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3822-569: The banishing of Elliot and Ruth Handler from the company they had founded. Arthur S. Spear, then a 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. Mattel debuted its Electronics line in 1977 with an all-electronic handheld game. Its success led to its expansion with game consoles then

3913-412: The camera. This practice lives on in contemporary children's broadcasting as a genre in of itself, with Australia's ongoing program Play School one example. At one time, a program called Winky Dink and You took a more interactive approach, prompting its viewers to affix a clear vinyl sheet to their television and draw pictures to match what was going on on-screen. This format did not persist, nor

4004-524: The characters Up-Up, Do Bee, Granny Cat, and Kimble in the lyrics as well – were introduced, replacing the "Pop Goes the Weasel" theme that had been used. New songs/music beds were also created and composed by David Spangler including a somber Magic Mirror theme. Additionally, two British made shows, Paddington (narrated by Michael Hordern ) and Simon in the Land of Chalk Drawings (narrated by Bernard Cribbins ) were also featured. The last host of

4095-400: The characters of Frozen were part of the line. The latest collection of dolls was available for purchase in January 2023. In January 2015, board member Christopher Sinclair replaced CEO Bryan Stockton, following with 2/3 of senior executives resigning or receiving lay off. The following month, an upgraded View-Master to provide a virtual reality viewing experience was announced through

4186-438: The children in cadence) would ask, "Mr. Music, please!" or "We're ready, Mr. Music", to prompt the background music. The young cast, which ranged from four to five years old, was rotated every two months, with many of the hostesses having prior experience working with small children and many being former kindergarten teachers. Etiquette was a focus of Romper Room . The hostesses were always addressed as "Miss." The show also had

4277-474: 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

4368-557: 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 3 years later. Mattel also acquired

4459-572: The cultural similarities between Canada and the US, along with film credits and subsidies available from the Canadian government, a large number of animated children's series have been made in Canada with the intention of exporting them to the United States. Such programs carry a prominent Government of Canada wordmark in their closing credits. The BBC and ITV plc both operate children's oriented television networks on digital terrestrial television:

4550-498: The debut of whole subchannels that air children's programming 24/7; examples include BabyFirst , PBS Kids , Smile , and Universal Kids . The country's only directly nationally operated TV service for public consumption, NASA TV , also includes educational programs in its schedule for use in schools. English-language children's specialty channels in Canada are primarily owned by Corus Entertainment and WildBrain . Corus operates YTV and Treehouse , as well as localized versions of

4641-633: The dedicated services; in 2012, as part of the "Delivering Quality First" initiative, the BBC announced that it would end the broadcast of CBBC programmes on BBC One following the completion of the transition to digital terrestrial television, citing low viewership in comparison to broadcasts of the programmes on the CBBC channel. Channel 5 also broadcasts a preschool-oriented block known as Milkshake! , while its owner, Paramount Networks International , also runs versions of Nickelodeon and its sister networks Nicktoons and Nick Jr. Narrative Capital operate

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4732-534: The demographic has had some tangential educational value in regard to social issues, such as the now-defunct TNBC block of sitcoms, which often tackled issues such as underage drinking or drug use. According to at least one journalist, for years, Broadcast Standards and Practices departments of networks, Parental Guidelines , and campaigns by social conservatives limited "efforts to make kids animation more inclusive." One former executive of Disney, David Levine, said that "a lot of conservative opinion" drove what

4823-646: The exclusive rights to sell dolls, stuffed characters and preschool toys based on Disney characters. On January 31, 1988, Mattel shut down its operations in the Philippines and shifted the distribution and sales of Mattel-branded toys and games to Richprime Global, Inc. (formerly Richwell Trading Corporation). 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 . In 1992, Mattel created

4914-575: The face, hair, and clothes. Also that year, Mattel acquired View-Master , and Hot Wheels partnered with NASCAR drivers Kyle Petty and Jack Baldwin leading to the production of the first NASCAR-themed vehicles. In 1998, Mattel donated $ 25 million to help rebuild UCLA’s children’s hospital, which was later renamed the UCLA Mattel Children's Hospital . Barbie was inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame that year and

5005-406: The factory was originally part of Fisher-Price outsourcing production to China . A chain of events followed 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, with Louise Story of The New York Times in close coverage. Many of the products had surface coatings that contained more than

5096-502: The first President Barbie, claiming that Barbie has run for President 7 times since 1992 and released an all-ticket in 2016. Mattel entered the gaming business in 1992 with the purchase of International Games, creators of UNO and Skip-Bo . The company purchased Fisher-Price, Inc. on August 20, 1993, and Tyco Toys, Inc. (owners of the Matchbox and Dinky Toys brands) in 1997. In 1998, Mattel acquired Pleasant Company (creators of

5187-618: The first Romanian children's channel to air locally produced content, launched on Children's Day in 2001. Since then, channels like BabyTV and Disney Channel have arrived. Children's channels that exist in Turkey are Cartoon Network , TRT Çocuk , MinikaÇOCUK , Minika GO and Zarok TV . Mattel Mattel, Inc. ( / m ə ˈ t ɛ l / mə- TEL ) is an American multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company founded in Los Angeles by Harold Matson and

5278-648: The first Thomas & Friends theme park, Thomas Land, opened in Fujikyu Park in Japan . Mattel purchased The Learning Company (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 Danish-Norwegian europop band Aqua , claiming their song " Barbie Girl " violated

5369-480: The first diverse line of Barbie dolls with a Hispanic doll and the first African-American Barbie (unrelated to Barbie friend Christie), which will eventually include iterations of Barbie from more than 40 countries. In 1982, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe line of action figures was released, which inspired a three-issue comic book mini-series, an animated series and a live-action film. The Felds bought

5460-646: The first life-sized Hot Wheels car, the Twin Mill, was created. More than twenty life-sized cars were created and all of them were 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, the company closed its last factory in the United States ;

5551-619: 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 "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,

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5642-986: The highest number of LGBTQ characters they ever recorded up to that point. In 2017, some said that LGBTQ+ characters in animated television were somewhat rare, despite the fact that GLAAD praised the number of characters in broadcast and primetime television. From 2017 to 2019, Insider noted that there was a "more than 200% spike in queer and gender-minority characters in children's animated TV shows." In 2018 and 2019, GLAAD stated that Amazon , Hulu , and Netflix, had increased LGBTQ representation in "daytime kids and family television." In their January 2021 report, GLAAD praised LGBTQ representation in episodes of DuckTales , The Owl House and Adventure Time: Distant Lands . Despite this, some industry practitioners state that more than 90% of LGBTQ characters in kid's animated shows within Insider 's database of characters in children's animated television shows "require either

5733-546: The hostess would look through a "magic mirror"—actually an open frame with a handle, the size, and shape of a hand mirror—and recite the rhyme, "Romper, bomper, stomper boo. Tell me, tell me, tell me, do. Magic Mirror, tell me today, did all my friends have fun at play?" She would then name the children she saw in "television land", saying, for example, "I can see Kathleen and Owen and Julie and Jimmy and Kelly and Tommy and Bobby and Jennifer and Martin" and so forth. Children were encouraged to mail in their names, which would be read on

5824-474: The husband-and-wife duo of Ruth and Elliot Handler in January 1945 and headquartered in El Segundo, California . Mattel has a presence in 35 countries and territories; its products are sold in more than 150 countries. It is the world's second largest toy maker in terms of revenue, after The Lego Group . Two of its historic and most valuable brands, Barbie and Hot Wheels , were respectively named

5915-471: The issue of girls seeing themselves as less capable than boys. On June 14, 2019, Mattel released new Hot Wheels ID line of cars, which 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. On December 16, Mattel released an update that allowed kids to scan their cars into an app and then access different coding exercises. On August 19, 2019, Mattel announced

6006-511: The line, eventually becoming incorporated in 1982. Mattel Electronics forced Mattel to take a $ 394 million loss the following and almost filed for bankruptcy. In 1979, through Feld Productions , Mattel purchased the Holiday on Ice and Ice Follies for $ 12 million, Also acquired that year was Western Publishing for $ 120 million in cash and stock. which they sold to Richard A. Bernstein in December 4 years later. In 1980, Mattel introduced

6097-465: The liquidation of Toys "R" Us 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 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

6188-519: The list of famous individuals painted by Andy Warhol . 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 joined Mattel in 1980 as head of its international division,

6279-513: The networks turned to affiliated cable cartoon channels or outside programmers for their blocks. On September 27, 2014, the last traditional Saturday network morning cartoon block, Vortexx , ended and was replaced the following week by the syndicated One Magnificent Morning on The CW . Children's television series can target a wide variety of key demographics based on age and gender. Few television networks target infants and toddlers under two years of age. Preschool-oriented programming

6370-700: The preschool-oriented Yoopa , and Bell Media runs the teen-oriented Vrak . Via its majority-owned subsidiary Telelatino , Corus also operates two children and family-oriented networks in Spanish and Italian, TeleNiños and Telebimbi respectively. On broadcast television and satellite to cable undertakings, children's television content is relegated to the country's public and designated provincial educational broadcasters, including CBC Television and Ici Radio-Canada Télé , as well as City Saskatchewan , CTV Two Alberta (formerly Access), Knowledge Network , Télé-Québec , TFO , and TVOntario ( TVOKids ). Aided by

6461-456: The program was the introduction of a series of new puppet characters, including a full costume character named Kimble and puppets named Granny Cat and Up-Up. Kimble and Up-Up were performed by Bruce Edward Hall and Granny Cat by McCloskey, a.k.a. "Miss Molly". The three characters were developed by The Great Jones Studios in NYC. The new characters starred in a series of vignettes, somewhat similar to

6552-506: The program’s 75th anniversary, featuring animated versions of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles as children and introduced by the Duke of Sussex. In the same month, the new Basquiat Barbie was introduced, featuring the work of the artist Jean-Michel Basquiat . Mattel also created an online resource, "Mattel Playroom", to provide free games, activities, coloring sheets, DIY projects resources for parents/caregivers and more to help families during

6643-401: The public. Each balloon featured a painted sketch of Do-Bee. When the balloons were inflated and then released, they would fly around slowly and emit a buzzing sound. The hostess would also serve milk and cookies to the children. Before eating, they would recite the celebrated Romper Room grace : "God is great; God is good. Let us thank Him for our food. Amen." At the end of each broadcast,

6734-553: The same year by recreating and selling as a set the original 16 Hot Wheels die-cast cars. That same year in September, Thomas & Friends announced an alliance with the United Nations to introduce some of the organization’s Sustainable Development Goals , including quality education, gender equality, clean water and sanitation, sustainable cities and communities, responsible consumption and production and life on land, into

6825-507: The scripts into Spanish for local airings. Kids would be on waiting lists for years (sometimes before birth) to be on the show. For example, when Edna Anderson-Taylor left the KSL-TV version of Romper Room, the waiting list was over three years long. In 1959, John Crosby reported that the waiting list in Baltimore was so long, some of the preschoolers on the waiting list would not have

6916-762: The service was renamed TRTÉ and RTÉjr in 2010. Irish-language service TG4 provide two strands of children's programming Cúla 4 Na nÓg and Cúla 4 during the day. Commercial broadcaster TV3 broadcast a children's strand called Gimme 3 from 1998 to 1999. And then broadcast a new strand called 3Kids . Children's channels that exist in Australia are ABC Family , ABC Kids , and its spin-off CBeebies , Nickelodeon and its spin-off Nick Jr. , and Cartoon Network and its spin-off Boomerang . Children's channels that exist in Japan are NHK Educational TV , Kids Station , Disney Channel , Disney XD , Nickelodeon (also under

7007-621: The show instead of airing the national telecast. For some time, local shows all over the world used the same script but with local children. Nancy Cledenin Terrell (born 1940, Richmond, Virginia) (known to audiences as "Miss Nancy") was the national hostess in the 1960s and early 1970s, when Romper Room was seen on ABC -owned and operated stations throughout the United States in locales that did not have their own hostesses. Some affiliates, starting with KWEX-TV in San Antonio , translated

7098-570: The show’s content. On December 24, 2018, Mattel announced the loss of the DC Comics toy license to Spin Master starting in the spring of 2020, hitting an 18-year low on its share price which concluded at $ 9.25 for a share. Mattel reorganized Mattel Creations and renamed it Mattel Television on February 5, 2019, which would be headed by former Disney Branded Television programming executive Adam Bonnett. On June 30, 2020, Fred Soulie in turn

7189-473: The syndicated series was Sharon Jeffery, the only African-American to host the show. Miss Sharon hosted the show from 1987 until the series was last filmed in 1992, although new episodes were aired until 1994. Jeffery's shows were filmed at KTVU in Oakland, California (the longtime San Francisco Bay Area affiliate of the series). Children%27s television The purpose of these shows, aside from profit,

7280-417: 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 On April 16, 2015, Mattel announced a partnership with invention platform Quirky to crowd-source a number of products. Mattel added

7371-474: The top global toy property and the top-selling global toy of the year for 2020 and 2021 by The NPD Group , a global information research company. Businessman Harold "Matt" Matson and the husband-and-wife duo of Elliot and Ruth Handler founded Mattel as Mattel Creations in January 1945 in a garage in Los Angeles . The company name chosen is a portmanteau of the surname of Matson and first name of Elliot, with former chairman and CEO Bob Eckert revealing at

7462-605: 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 , which would kickstart Mattel's venture into full-time entertainment to accompany its most famed toy TV commercials, and later entered a multimillion-dollar partnership with Mehra Entertainment, whose CEO, Dr. Nishpeksh Padmamohan Mehra and Nishchal Shome, are one of Mattel's Inc.'s main directors for Barbie (film series) . The card game Uno (now stylized as UNO )

7553-419: Was "role-tripled" to general manager and senior vice president of the new division. On March 9, 2019, Mattel celebrated Barbie's 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

7644-420: Was depicted on Cartoon Network , Disney Channel , and other alike channels. Some argued that cable television, which began to pick up in the 1990s, "opened the door for more representation" even though various levels of approvals remained. Through the 2000s', advocacy group GLAAD repeatedly highlighted the lack of LGBT representation in children's programming in particular. Two years later, they recorded

7735-486: Was first introduced with Sesame Street on PBS in November 1969. It was produced by what is now known as Sesame Workshop (formerly Children's Television Workshop, known as CTW). In the United States, Saturday mornings were generally scheduled with cartoons from the 1960s to 1980s. In 1992, teen comedies and a "Today" show weekend edition were first to displace the cartoon blocks on NBC. Starting in September 2002,

7826-522: Was invented by Merle Robbins in 1971, 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 on as management. Mattel sold the circus corporation by December 1973 although it was profitable; 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

7917-529: Was it replicated, due to a number of factors unrelated to its popularity: children whose parents did not buy them the vinyl sheet would draw with crayons directly on the television screen itself, potentially causing expensive damage; there were also concerns that having children within arm's length of a television screen of the era could expose them to harmful radiation. Later and more recognisably modern shows for young children include Sesame Street , The Electric Company and Mister Rogers' Neighborhood . In

8008-451: 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. Hot Wheels celebrated its 50th anniversary

8099-479: Was named the company’s new chairman and improved its financial performance in 1987 by focusing on core brands. It paid off as sales of Barbie dolls and accessories increased from $ 430 million to almost $ 1 billion between 1987 and 1992. Mattel secured licensing and sponsorship rights from The Walt Disney Company for a new line of infant and preschool plush toys in 1988, sponsor attractions and to develop and sell toys at three Disney theme parks. Mattel also negotiated

8190-548: Was not a particularly high priority for the networks. This practice continued in a toned-down manner through the 1980s in the United States after the Federal Communications Commission prohibited tie-in advertising on broadcast television. These regulations did not apply to cable, which remains out of the reach of the FCC's content regulations. Due in part to the success of He-Man and the Masters of

8281-590: Was presented by Nancy Terrell and filmed in Baltimore from its inception in 1953. Romper Room was also franchised internationally at various times in Canada , the United Kingdom , Japan , Finland , New Zealand , Puerto Rico , Paraguay , Australia , and Argentina . Romper Room was a rare case of a series being both franchised and syndicated, and some local affiliates— Los Angeles and New York being prime examples—would produce their own versions of

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