Mattel Targets Premium Non-Pre School Series

As it rolls out new animated series “Barney’s World” on Max and Cartoon Network and prepares a live-action “Barney” movie with Daniel Kaluuya, Mattel will be driving into live action non-pre school premium TV series to grow its brands and properties, Josh Silverman, Mattel’s chief franchise officer, announced on Sunday at his MipJunior leadership keynote at Cannes, entitled Beyond the Toybox: Shaping the Future of Play.

Silverman also confirmed the Netflix release date of “Thomas & Friends: The Christmas Letter Express” one-hour holiday special as Nov. 21 in the U.S. Global launches will be made across a bouquet of broadcast and streaming platforms including Milkshake! on Channel 5 and Nick Jr. in the U.K. and Cartoonito in Italy.

“We always done a really nice job on the kids animation side. We’ve had some some great offerings on the unscripted side,” Silverman told Variety. 

“One area that we’re really looking to double down in as we move forward here – and we’ll certainly share more over the coming months – is our focus on developing and creating really high quality, premium scripted live action content. That’s been an area that we haven’t really stepped in and threw previously, at least in a meaningful way,” he added.

At MipJunior Silverman also drilled down on Mattel’s playbook, taking in four principles: Brand propose, consumer-centric innovation, cultural relevance – “We are timeless and timely,” he noted – and a franchise mindset. 

He also broke down Mattel’s dramatic expansion into film and TV, with 14 films in development and 14 TV titles in 2024, with 13 in production and 35 in development. 

Mattel will be celebrating its 80th anniversary next year. “We’ll be doing a really great brand campaign. We’re really proud of our continued evolution as a company as a high performing toy company, and we’re really proud about that,” said Silverman. “There’s so many incredible elements, their tactile nature of toys, the toyetic elements, the globally iconic brands and franchises and characters and stories that really resonate with our audiences which are multigenerational and universal. We have an incredible toy box to play with,” he added. 

“Evolution ahead as a high performing toy company is to expand entertainment offerings and move into really being an IP company crossing all dimensions of our business to really just connect with our fans,” Silverman summed up.

More to come.