Hasbro and Disney are redesigning and rereleasing every Princess doll, even Pocahontas, which few stores carry. Hasbro, meanwhile, has traditionally kept to the boys’ side of the toy aisle, with brands such as Nerf and Transformers. Mattel owns the doll market, and despite her recent stumble, Barbie is still the best-selling doll of all time. “Disney Princess was probably the greatest coup that Hasbro has had in the last three decades,” says Gene Del Vecchio, a former Ogilvy & Mather executive who has worked with Mattel and Disney in the past and helps Hollywood studios translate their movies into what he calls “merchandise opportunities.” Adweek likens Hasbro’s achievement to the Chicago Cubs winning the World Series.ĭisney is taking a risk turning to Hasbro. 1, when Disney packs up its glass slippers and takes them to Mattel’s biggest rival, Hasbro. With sales of Mattel’s most famous toy, 56-year-old Barbie, tumbling 20 percent from 2012 to 2014 and still falling, Princess dolls have been a much-needed revenue stream.īut not for long: The princess business disappears on Jan. Last year, Mattel put the size of its Disney Princess doll business at $300 million, though analysts at Needham say it’s closer to $500 million. Mattel has worked with Disney since 1955, when it became the first sponsor for the Mickey Mouse Club, and it’s been the company’s go-to dollmaker since 1996. Specifically, 12-inch Barbie-esque figurines that girls can dress and undress until the dolls’ hairdos get tangled, they’ve lost their shoes, and it’s time to buy another.
In toys, the most lucrative Disney Princess license is dolls. It licenses them to all sorts of companies: Glidden makes pink and purple wall paint, Stride Rite makes sparkly shoes. last year, selling $531 million worth of dolls and dresses, according to NPD Group.ĭisney doesn’t manufacture most of the Princess products. The movie spawned the top toy brand in the U.S. (Disney’s new Star Wars movie might change that.) That doesn’t even include Frozen, which came out in 2013 and which Disney measures separately. Princess merchandise-dolls, clothing, games, home décor, toys-is a $5.5 billion enterprise and Disney’s second-most-profitable franchise, after Mickey Mouse. Since Walt Disney lumped Sleeping Beauty, Belle, and its other poofy-dressed ladies together under the brand Disney Princess in 2000, the market for all things pink and sparkly has skyrocketed. Keeping a 3-year-old girl away from Disney’s princesses is a lot like trying to get through January without hearing about the Super Bowl. She knew about the so-called princess phase that little girls go through, but, she says, “I assumed it was something girls do when it’s thrust upon them.”
She’s not even in preschool yet,” Keithler, 31, sighs. “I really didn’t think this would happen. I'd much rather my daughter be indoctrinated by this than by stories where the beautiful, vapid princess marries the handsome prince and nothing else actually happens.Photographer: Sarah Anne Ward for Bloomberg Businessweek
There are simple, clear girl-power messages throughout this film. They're pleasant, joyful, sometimes a little bit silly, and sung well. She might have a king falling in love with her, but she's got her own dreams that don't necessarily coincide with his, and she's going to be true to herself first. The Pauper, Erika, is cheeky, goofy, and independent. Princess Annalise is a geek (a pretty geek, but still a geek), has the hots for her impoverished tutor rather than her intended kingly husband, and ends up saving the kingdom with her geological talents and business acumen (really!).
The characters are one-dimensional stereotypes, but the title characters (both 'played' by Barbie) are actually quite likable. But it perfectly hits the expectations of its target audience: it's pretty, engaging, colorful and clean. The animation looks like cut-scenes from a video game, rather than the quality you'd expect from an animated movie. My four-year-old daughter has been watching this over and over, and has drawn crowns on her shoulders to match Princess Annalise's crown-shaped birthmark.