34 Facts About Mattel

Mattel, Inc is an American multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company founded in January 1945 and headquartered in El Segundo, California.

Mattel has presence in 35 countries and territories and sells products in more than 150 countries.

Mattel operates through three business segments: North America, International, and American Girl.

Mattel began selling picture frames, and later, dollhouse furniture out of sediments from those frames.

Mattel started advertising on TV when it became the first sponsor of the Mickey Mouse Club TV series.

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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.

Mattel went public in 1960, and became listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 1963.

Mattel acquired a number of like-minded companies during the 1960s.

Mattel sold the circus corporation by December 1973, despite its profit contributions, as Mattel showed a $29.

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 and Ice Follies for $12 million.

In 1980, Mattel introduced the first diverse line of Barbie dolls with a Hispanic doll and the first African-American Barbie.

Mattel negotiated the exclusive rights to sell dolls, stuffed characters, and preschool toys based on Disney characters.

In 1991, Mattel moved its headquarters from Hawthorne to its current El Segundo site, in Los Angeles County.

Mattel entered the gaming business in 1992 with the purchase of International Games, creators of UNO and Skip-Bo.

In 1998, Mattel acquired Pleasant Company and Swindon, England-based toymaker Bluebird Toys (along with its most prized property, Polly Pocket).

That same year, Mattel acquired View-Master, and Hot Wheels partnered with NASCAR drivers Kyle Petty and Jack Baldwin.

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.

Mattel earned the first grant for the Disney Princess doll license in 2000.

Two years later, the companies extended their partnership, with Mattel becoming master licensee for Batman, Superman, Justice League and the Looney Tunes toys for all markets except Asia.

In 2002, Mattel closed its last factory in the United States, 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.

Mattel re-wrote its policy on magnets, finally issuing a recall in August 2007.

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.

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.

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Mattel had only sold Cinderella, Ariel, Belle and the two Frozen princesses around its last year of the Disney license.

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.

Two months later, the company laid off 2, 200 employees partially due to 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.

Mattel released “Creatable World, ” a line of gender-neutral dolls.

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 syndicated television show.

Mattel agreed to purchase HiT Entertainment without the stake in the Sprout TV channel from Apax Partners on 25 October 2011, for $680 million, and closed on 1 February 2012, to become part of its Fisher-Price division.

On October 16, 2013, with reports of high profitability, Mattel launched an in-house film studio, Mattel Playground Productions as its in-house film studio to handle multimedia productions and foster creative storytelling for its brands for global multi-platform distribution.