Greenlit hastily in the wake of Barbie’s immense success, an influx of gritty film adaptations based on childhood toys is furtively slinking towards our screens. From Daniel Kaluuya’s modern iteration of Barney the Dinosaur full of “millennial angst” to a horror comedy starring a Magic 8 Ball, there are reportedly 45 films currently in development at Mattel, the second largest toy company in the world.
The production of these films is the latest indicator of Hollywood’s lurch towards IP-driven filmmaking, as the dwindling success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe opens up a niche in the film market: blockbusters which appeal to audiences already familiar with the world it depicts. With famous brands such as Polly Pocket and Hot Wheels under their belt, Mattel has identified massive commercial potential in targeting toy-based films towards the adults that used to play with them. Such movies are able to capitalise on an emotional sweet spot by combining the happy nostalgia people feel for their youth with the reality of existing as a grown-up human being in a flawed world. Through one lens, it’s a mature and meaningful take on what it is to be a human featuring familiar characters from our collective childhoods. Through another, it’s psychological warfare guaranteed to generate both tears and tickets.
Movies based on toys are nothing new; Michael Bay’s flashy Transformers series began in the late 2000s and Barbie herself once starred in a lineup of 3D animated films featuring fairy princesses, evil mermaids, and the like. However, a new trend was set by 2014’s wittily riotous The Lego Movie. Although its feature length advertisement status matched the toy-based films that had come before it, the film’s self-aware and heartfelt messaging set it apart from its predecessors.
Not only did the film succeed both critically and financially, but its thoughtfulness resonated hugely with the adults watching it, so much so that 59% of its audience were over 18. The Lego Group’s successful blockbuster was clearly a huge inspiration for Mattel’s own venture into producing more self-critical, high-quality entertainment. Parallels abound between the two films: they both even star Will Ferrell as a comedic yet villainous CEO.
Greta Gerwig’s suited Mattel antagonist is admittedly hilarious, whilst his blatant greed and surface-level feminism constitutes an integral aspect of the character’s humourous superficiality. But without Gerwig’s snappy lines and distractingly colourful carousel of laughable ineptitude, Mattel’s profit-driven motivations are far less funny. However much we’d like to believe Barbie is purely Gerwig’s bedazzled blockbuster gift to womankind, the primary motivation behind the film is to secure a successful financial future for the toy conglomerate. Recent interviews with Ynon Kreiz (the real CEO who appears to be a far cry from Will Ferrell’s portrayal of comforting ineptitude) only prove this further. Speaking to Yahoo Finance and Bloomberg News, he refers to Barbie as the beginning of the company’s “entertainment strategy”, which centres on the goal of “taking brands that are timeless and making them timely”.
Kreiz’s mention of timeliness is of particular note as it alludes to a decision within Mattel’s marketing strategists to associate the Barbie brand with modern socio-political and feminist attitudes. Stemming from studies that showed that girls (and their wallet-owning mothers) no longer found Barbie to be relatable, Mattel undertook a complete overhaul of their product range, and in 2015, finally launched a new lineup of Barbie dolls that more accurately represented the vast range of ethnicities, skin tones and body types that exist in society. Whilst a welcome development, the fact remains that it took Mattel 65 years and was a decision only considered after a poor fiscal year for the company. In a world that has rapidly become more overtly progressive, businesses hoping to maintain relevancy (and consumers) must ensure they project an image of inclusivity and social consciousness, no matter how blatantly this might contradict their own capitalist agenda.
While Mattel’s principal concern is their financial success, now more than ever this depends on their ability to realign themselves with the ideals of their target consumer. Online discourse taking place on social media can quickly harm a brand’s image, particularly if the discussion is centred on historical controversies. Barbie as a brand has faced waves of criticism throughout its 63-year run, most recently surrounding a doll depicting the legendary Cherokee leader Wilma Mankiller as part of the “Inspiring Women” range. Responding to allegations that symbols on the packaging read ‘Chicken Nation’ rather than the intended Cherokee Nation, Mattel stated they were aware of the problem and were “discussing options”. Nonetheless, the incident suggests an element of carelessness within the company’s attempts to execute their new strategy, and points to big business’ proclivity to view feminism as merely something to profit from.
Both The Lego Movie and Barbie were huge financial successes for their respective companies, yet the frenzy over adapting every other toy brand into its own film suggests that danger looms. We only have to look at Disney, the current behemoth of family entertainment, to learn that chasing nostalgia leads to disaster as well as fortune. The dismal performance of Lightyear (2022), a spinoff of the beloved Toy Story series, was calculated by Deadline Hollywood to have lost the studio $106 million. The Little Mermaid (2023) live-action remake may have grossed $569.6 million, but this pales in comparison to the mammoth $1.663 billion intake of The Lion King (2019).
As Mattel’s onslaught of philosophical toy films hit cinemas over the next few years, we must be prepared to laugh, to cry, and to feel inclined to purchase more of their products. Mattel must in turn be prepared for nostalgia fatigue as they oversaturate viewers’ screens with product placement. Only time will tell if their entertainment strategy pays off; in the meantime, you can purchase a Mojo Dojo Casa House Ken Doll for the bargain price of £73.
Words by Elise Barry
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