Was Tyco planning to make all the dolls and toys for Disney movies based on the success of their The Little Mermaid toys?

[DodgerGirl]

I heard a story many moons ago that after releasing The Little Mermaid dolls and toys Disney wanted Tyco to make all the toys and dolls for all their upcoming movies but Tyco said no and that's what led Mattel to make the Disney movie dolls and toys starting with the launch of the Disney Classics doll series in 1991. I did hear that when Tyco bought Mattel Mattel also bought the rights to The Little Mermaid and that's why Mattel made The Little Mermaid dolls when Disney rereleased the film back in theaters in 1997. What happened to Tyco not wanting to make the Disney movie toys and dolls after the success of their The Little Mermaid toyline in the 90's? What caused them not to do it?

 

[DodgerGirl]

In my own words I think Tyco didn't really want to make all the Disney movie toys and dolls was because Tyco was very afraid that they would take Mattel's glory away because during the 80's Mattel was starting their relationship with Disney with the launch of the Disney toyline of infant and preschool toys and they felt that if Tyco wanted to do more with the Disney movie toys and dolls after Tyco's successful The Little Mermaid toyline Mattel's relationship with Disney would fade. But I think once Tyco bought Mattel in 1997 that began to change and I think that's why Mattel has been the king of Disney movie toys for so long. I own several of the Tyco The Little Mermaid dolls and I can say Tyco did a wonderful job with these dolls and if you look at the 1992/93 versions of The Little Mermaid dolls those dolls are actually great and I think Tyco based this second line of The Little Mermaid dolls on The Little Mermaid TV series because many of the dolls are based on episodes from that cartoon series. But if Tyco hadn't been bought by Mattel we would've seen more excellent Tyco Disney movie toys and dolls

 

[DodgerGirl]

Why I think Tyco wanted to make the toys and dolls for The Little Mermaid in 1989 was so they could compete with Mattel because during the 80's Hasbro overtook Mattel as the number one toy company in the world and so when it was announced that there would be toys and dolls based on The Little Mermaid Tyco jumped at the chance to make the dolls and toys for the movie but even though The Little Mermaid toys were a huge seller why Tyco didn't begin a long relationship with Disney to make toys and dolls for it's movies is a mystery unsolved. But when Tyco bought Mattel Mattel already was doing Disney movie toys with the famous Disney Classics doll line beginning in 1991 and they felt with Mattel already making Disney dolls and toys for their movies Tyco forgot about it and focused on making other dolls and toys

 

[DodgerGirl]

I also think that Tyco thought making Disney toys would earn them more money but Mattel had already had a relationship with Disney beginning in the 80's when the Disney infant and preschool toyline debuted. But I can say Tyco did a great job with The Little Mermaid dolls and they looked true to the movie. But when Mattel bought Tyco and made the second version of The Little Mermaid toyline for the movie's rerelease in 1997 I think those versions were odd and why the Ariel doll's face mold looked weird is a surprise to me. Also that Ariel face mold is the exact same face mold for the Disney's Tarzan Jane dolls and I couldn't believe that the Jane doll and Ariel doll shared the same face mold. Sounds like they wanted to save money in my eyes