Why did Mattel quit making Disney dolls in the 2000's?

[DodgerGirl]

In 1985 when Mattel signed a deal with Disney to debut a line of infant and preschool toys little did Mattel know that this would begin a longtime relationship with Disney and so when they debuted the Disney Classics doll line in 1991 they would be successful with Disney. I remember when I had lots of the Mattel Disney Classics dolls that Mattel did an amazing job making the princesses just like they were in the films and they were great. But ever since Mattel stopped making Disney dolls and Playmates Toys and Hasbro made them I think Mattel should've kept their contract with Disney and made more Disney dolls. But now the only Disney toys Mattel makes are plushies and action figures and what it tells me is that Disney and Mattel find that plushies and action figures are huge sellers in toys. I think Mattel and Disney should return to make dolls for it's movies because Mattel knew how to make the character dolls look just like the movie characters

 

[KatStrutt]

In 1985 when Mattel signed a deal with Disney to debut a line of infant and preschool toys little did Mattel know that this would begin a longtime relationship with Disney and so when they debuted the Disney Classics doll line in 1991 they would be successful with Disney. I remember when I had lots of the Mattel Disney Classics dolls that Mattel did an amazing job making the princesses just like they were in the films and they were great. But ever since Mattel stopped making Disney dolls and Playmates Toys and Hasbro made them I think Mattel should've kept their contract with Disney and made more Disney dolls. But now the only Disney toys Mattel makes are plushies and action figures and what it tells me is that Disney and Mattel find that plushies and action figures are huge sellers in toys. I think Mattel and Disney should return to make dolls for it's movies because Mattel knew how to make the character dolls look just like the movie characters

Hey, Its so random that I came upon this post, but I literally just opened my 25th anniversary WDW box. I was there 25 years ago and I found one of my Barbie Disney Dolls. I made a Youtube video about this as well. That video should be up later this week June 1st 2022 ish BUT I AGREE. I would so purchase some more Mattel Disney barbie dolls.

If you are interested in some Disney 25th anniversary Merch videos I would love to have you over to my channel type in
Kat Strutt Disney lounge fly and it should take you right to my videos

Have a good day

Kat

 

[DodgerGirl]

I remember when I bought my first Disney Classics Mattel doll which was the 1991 Cinderella doll and I was amazed at how well Mattel made Cinderella's doll just like the character and how you could tell if you had a Mattel Disney Classics doll that was authentic was the outfit had "pixie dust" sprinkled throughout. But I remember my mom telling me when The Little Mermaid debuted in 1989 Tyco made the dolls and based on that alone Disney wanted Tyco to make all the Disney movie dolls but when Mattel bought Tyco they got the rights for The Little Mermaid dolls when Mattel made The Little Mermaid dolls in 1997 when the film was rereleased in theaters. But I have to admit some of the Disney dolls made by Mattel were nice and some were cool but they needed improvement. Like when Frozen came out I cannot figure out why the Mattel dolls had painted clothing but the Hasbro Frozen II dolls were much better. But Mattel really knew how to make really good Disney dolls and they were of good quality which some of today's dolls and Barbie dolls lack. If you want to know more about Mattel Disney dolls a great book to get is titled Disney Dolls by a woman named Margo Rana who's also a Disney doll expert and the book tells about every Mattel Disney doll made and is really helpful to you
Glad to hear we share the same hobby Kat
Dodger

 

[starry_solo]

Pretty sure they lost the license.

Just like Burger King lost the license to McDonald's for Disney toys in the kid's meals.

 

[DodgerGirl]

I can also honestly say that when Mattel made Disney dolls they really hit a home run out of the ballpark with them and they became big sellers in toy stores. It's a shame that now the only Disney toys Mattel makes are few Star Wars toys and Disney plushies and what I think Mattel really should do with Disney is try to make the movie dolls again but of better quality. Because as I mentioned in my previous post why some of the movie dolls were not up to par I can't figure out. Like when Mattel made the Tangled series of dolls I can't figure out why the Flynn Rider doll had fragile legs that fell off when your child played with it or the poorly made Sing And Glow Rapunzel doll that only sang once and then the batteries would go dead and not to mention the hair was a mess. And when I was a little girl my mom had to return my Disney Classics Belle doll because her dress ripped and I got a new doll from Mattel. But I think these problems led to Disney ending their partnership with Mattel and switching to Hasbro and the Hasbro Disney dolls are made wonderful

 

[DodgerGirl]

As I mentioned in my previous post it seems that the only Disney toys Mattel wants to focus on are action figures and plushies because Mattel got the rights to make the Disney's Lightyear figures so I think Mattel wants to start making Disney dolls again. But if you look at a Mattel Disney doll and a Hasbro Disney doll you can see the faces of the princesses are made cartoonish and the Mattel Disney Princess dolls had really pretty faces and the only pretty dolls Hasbro has made for Disney were the Elena Of Avalor dolls and the Star Wars Forces Of Destiny dolls. But if Mattel wants to make Disney dolls again I think they would hit a grand slam out of the ballpark