TVandToys:TheBestMarriageEver Part 1 of a Series

by Stuart Fischer

elevision and toys have always other products would follow. company so that the toy that was based been separate industries, art Toy companies would base their de - on the show had more potential to be a T forms, and activities, but they cisions on the popularity of a certain success. That show was Magilla Gorilla . have a few things in common: both tel - television show or motion picture, Ideal Toy Company, a major toy manu - evision and toys are part of popular cul - whether it was animated or live-action, facturer at the time, had the toy li - ture. Both are part of the general and then would go to their designing cense. entertainment business and their main departments to see if making a toy Both the show and the toy line goal is to entertain children and, in based on such an item was economi - worked, and Magilla Gorilla is still run - many cases, adults as well. cally and technically possible. ning as a show somewhere in the world Despite their similarities and their If the answer was “yes,” the toy (even though there are no toys at the differences as industries and art company would contact the studio or moment). forms, the two have proven many the owner of the property In 1969, ABC took a chance—and times over that they can make for and make a deal to man - it was a big one—on putting a show an excellent collaboration, and ufacture a toy, regardless based on Mattel’s Hot Wheels toy line both industries have used dif - of what the toy would be. on its Saturday morning schedule. The ferent methods to utilize the Then it would be up to the producer was a small animation house, talents and the influence of toy company to market the toy ac - Pantomime Pictures Corp., which had the other. cordingly and pay a royalty to the the Hot Wheels rights, and in the fall of Television was born in rights-owner. 1969, the show started on ABC. the 1940s, and the first In the 1960s, a slight ad - It was only a matter of time before television show produced vancement was made. With tele - someone at the FCC decided that the specifically for kids debuted in vision having become bigger and show was nothing more than a weekly the late 1940s. Toys have been stronger as a medium, more chil - TV commercial and that it was inap - around even longer, but the dren’s shows were produced, not propriate to have such a show running relationship between toys and just for the networks, but for the on television. After about a year or two, television actually started off-network market as well, then having been put under pressure, ABC earlier than most people re - known as syndication. pulled the show, and a toy-based series member. Hanna-Barbera Produc - didn’t appear on television for another Iconic Cobra Commader At first, a toy would fol - figure, from Hasbro’s tions, which carved a name decade. low a television series. original 1980s G.I. Joe for itself with the hit show The 1980s ushered in the “Reagan Shows such as Captain action figure line The Flintstones , as well as era,” and it was an era of de-regulation. Kangeroo , Howdy Doody , Gumby , Huckleberry Hound , Quickdraw Mc - The FCC loosened its tough standards Mickey Mouse , and Donald Duck made Graw , and Yogi Bear , decided to create as to what went on the air as long as it an impact on television, and toys and another show, but with the aid of a toy was not overly violent, or sexually or

90 • T HE TOY BOOK MAY /J UNE 2012 racially offensive, and saw no reason to toys at the time, the time. Most impor - prohibit shows that were based on toys. but a true television tantly, these collabora - Books, comic books, and comic strips hit. Hasbro produced tions showed that two were being made into television shows, the show through its creative mediums including shows directed at kids, so advertising agency, Grif - could get together and why not toys? fen-Bacal, and Marvel create a product to What began in 1983 with Masters Productons, Ltd., the ani - achieve a common goal. of the Universe , Rubik’s Cube , and G.I. mation studio arm of Mar - It proved the importance Joe exploded into a new program cate - vel Comics, which also of having a flexible mind so that gory, and there were some true suc - published a G.I. Joe comic new things could be accom - cesses that came from the collaboration book to spectacular re - plished. between the toy business and the TV sults. For much of the One drawback in this era business. Both mediums benefited 1980s, the comic was of the toy-driven show was from that success, along with the stu - among the most popular a 1980s Masters of the the lack of interest and sup - dios and toy companies that produced within the comic book Universe Skeletor figure, port whenever something from Mattel the shows. business. original was proposed to a The established trend of the toy Mattel and Hasbro had proven that network or studio to be done as a tele - coming out after the show was put in by working closely with their animation vision show. The first thing they would reverse beginning in the early 1980s. studio partners, more could be done in ask the person pitching the show was Masters of the Universe was already a the future and that new toys could be whether a toy company was involved. If huge success as a toy line, and when created not just within the halls of the there was not, the meeting would end Lou Scheimer of Filmation Associates toy companies, but also by animation right there. No toy line, no TV show. saw the toy and realized the great po - studios. And so began a revolution of The TV-toy tie-in has made its tential it had for a show—because of sorts, without any objections from gov - mark on the history of youth entertain - the fantasy aspect of the toy line and ernment agencies. Certain pressure ment. Following articles in this series the good character of the lead hero, groups objected, but that did not stop will take a look at TV-toy tie-ins that which was He-Man—he made a deal the toy companies or the studios from became successful and why. I with Mattel, which owns the toy line, doing what they thought was good and developed it for television. business. In the fall of 1983, the show began What followed were such shows as Stuart Fischer has worked at Uni - in syndication, and became a ratings The Gobots , The Transformers , Jem , versal Studios, where he helped develop winner almost immediately. Hasbro She-Ra: Princess of Power , Pound Pup - shows to be sold to networks, as well as then rolled out its G.I. Joe cartoon, first pies , My Little Pony , The Sky Com - Hanna-Barbera Productions, where he as an animated mini-series so that the manders , Bravestar , Thundercats , and developed shows to be sold to the net - waters could be properly tested. When Silver Hawks , among others. Even works and to the first-run syndication the ratings proved that it was a hit— Rambo was made into a TV cartoon se - market. Fischer has written the books and after a long layoff due to the Viet - ries and a toy line where one supported Kids’ TV: The First 25 Years and The nam War, which hurt the sales of the the other so as to attract maximum at - Hanna-Barbera Story: The Life and toy company back in the ’60s—Hasbro tention from kids. Times of TV's Greatest Animation Stu - realized that there could be a second The 1980s was a period where both dio , as well as various magazine and life for its line. From 1984 on, G.I. Joe the studio and the toy company were trade journal articles. He also created became not only one of the best-selling true partners, and it worked, most of his own comic book, The Man-O-Saurs .

MAY /J UNE 2012 THE TOY BOOK • 91