There are two items on my 3-year-old’s Christmas list that she would be crushed if Santa did not bring her—-a minivan for her dollhouse and Squawkers McCaw the talking parrot.
Interestingly, they are among the only toys in all of Toyland that are not tied to a movie or TV show. (Though, for the amount of times we’ve seen that Squawkers commercial, he might as well have had his own TV show.) If you have children or are shopping for kids this Christmas, you understand what I’m talking about.
From action figures to bicycles to books, stuffed animals, Play-Doh and LEGO, the vast majority of kids’ toys and games these days are tied in with the likes of Sesame Street, Jack Sparrow, Disney or Dora the Explorer. What’s more, if existing toys want to compete, there’s only one thing for them to do–appear in their own movie or TV show.
Transformers, Bratz, Masters of the Universe, Care Bears, and My Little Pony, I can’t remember which came first—-the toys or the movies. However, I do know that they are all lines of toys that have received movie-star treatment.
To see where this relationship began you have to go back a few decades. The first notable production of a toy based on a film continues to be popular around the world today—-Mickey Mouse.
In 1928, Walt Disney created the famous mouse and he was an instant hit on the silver screen. Two years later, the first stuffed Mickey Mouse dolls went on sale, beginning a successful tie-in that has spanned nearly 80 years. Other licensed toys followed suit. In 1952, Mr. Potato Head became the first toy to be advertised on television. Sales for the plastic spud were rejuvenated when he appeared in Disney’s Toy Story movies. And talk about continuing movie trends, the other day I discovered that you can now buy Mr. Potato Head dressed up as Darth Vader and Spiderman.
The relationship between films and toys was taken to a whole new level in 1977, with the release of the movie Star Wars. I give a lot of credit to George Lucas (the film’s creator and director). He shrewdly realized that his movie’s heroes, villains, monsters and spaceships could move effortlessly to the toy market.
As for toy-related TV shows such as Care Bears, My Little Pony and Strawberry Shortcake, well, they are doing their jobs. My daughter wouldn’t even know that the characters existed if it were not for the fact that CBS is now airing Care Bears and Strawberry Shortcake cartoons on Saturday morning.
In fact, back in October all my daughter wanted for Christmas was the plastic versions of Strawberry Shortcake and all her scented friends along with a plastic pie cart and a pink car strawberry car whose trunk opened far enough so Strawberry’s pet cat Custard could go along for the ride. But, even back then I couldn’t find the toys anywhere. The stores I checked were (and still are) completely sold out.
So now it looks as though Santa might have to bring Squawkers after all. Never mind that our home already has a 3-year-old talking parrot with brown hair and two arms that follows me everywhere.
Related Articles:
Red Hot Trends: Bilingual Toys
Could It Be The Next Hula Hoop?
Remote-Controlled Toys and Air Travel—What You Need To Know
Pop Culture Potpourri: Cool New Toys For Kids and Cool New Names For Babies