From his creativity back to the TV screen, the iconic red dinosaur Barney returns this week in Max’s new animated series “Barney’s World.”
In a bid to drum up what Mattel franchise director Josh Silverman calls “newstalgia,” the reincarnation of the ’90s sensation is the latest entertainment project from the toy giant, which last year provided its IP to “Barbie” by Greta Gerwig. and is now working on a live-action “Barney” film with Daniel Kaluuya, a film based on the American Lady doll line and the release of a big-budget adaptation of “Masters of the Universe” with Amazon MGM Studios next June .
“Barney’s World,” which premiered Monday on Max and will have its linear release Oct. 18 on Cartoon Network, is a great example of how Mattel’s TV and film teams are working harder to keep millennial consumers , Gen Z and preschoolers (of whom they like to seek advice as “followers”, according to Silverman) engaged in their eight decades at the company.
“Next year we will celebrate our 80th anniversary at Mattel, which is incredible,” said Mattel franchise director Josh Silverman. Selection. “It was born in a garage in 1945, and next year will be eight years of Mattel. And now we have some really cool, amazing plans to share across the entire portfolio. And the Mattel brand has always had resonance, now it also has relevance, coming off the back of the movie ‘Barbie’. And so we’re really excited to continue to develop the model and the entire portfolio that exists within it.”
Learn Selection‘s interview with Silverman about Mattel’s leisure and consumer products plans across franchises, including Barney, Barbie, American Lady and more, below.
How did you decide to bring “Barney” back to TV and why did you feel now was the right time?
When we look at our portfolio of brands and franchises, characters and stories, it has incredible depth and breadth. That was an extremely exciting thing for me when I joined – take a look at all these amazing, iconic, multi-generational, popular, well-known IP products. “Barney” was certainly one of the difficult diamonds we met at the beginning. We recognize that “Barney” has a very passionate fan base. Gen Z and Millennials who grew up with the gift had an incredible connection. To this day, you can even whistle a “Barney” tune and people are like, oh my God, I know that. This emotion can be really vital. These sensory memories, especially for Gen Z and Millennials, transport you back to this glorious time of childhood where these stories were so resonant, so important. Many fans are now parents, and we saw this as a great opportunity to relaunch the franchise. The insights we had about “Barney” and certainly the many conversations we had with our followers showed us the opportunity to really connect with our viewers to the term we refer to as “newstalgia.” It refers to something new for this young technology, in this case, preschoolers, but nostalgic for those who grew up with it. And the power they have to do this collectively is absolutely different.
We started revitalizing “Barney” over a year ago. We actually launch adult-focused clothing and accessories, some streetwear brands, collaborations and hoodies, cool tees, throwbacks, Crocs. And we also announced that we have a live-action “Barney” movie with Daniel Kaluuya. And this is the first step on a journey. And we’re excited about the show, and now we have even more planned.
Is the very fact that Daniel Kaluuya’s film is planned as live-action the reason you chose to reboot “Barney” on TV in an animated format – to differentiate the two projects, rather than also returning to live-action TV?
No, but our television and film teams work very well together. We are very much holding hands and performing live. And Robbie Brenner, who leads our film division, which is just unimaginable, she and I spent a lot of time collectively talking about this. We need to have a transparent narrative. In the case here, the movie “Barney” will ultimately be what it will be, and in this show, we feel like we need to stay true to authenticity. This is really vital. If it’s not genuine, we won’t do it. We want to stay true to authenticity, to the “Barney” DNA, but we also want to update ourselves. And we thought an animated show was a way to really do that and certainly be able to get together with the preschoolers again. That’s not to say we won’t make other types of content in the future with “Barney” that we can share more in the future, but this is just a step along the way. The show is great, the music is great, but it wasn’t necessarily a departure from the movie. We consider our IP and content strategy holistically. So it’s all going to be very thoughtful and deliberate with great insights and ultimately a method for it. But we would like each offer to live in your personal area.
Why did you choose Max as the show’s streamer, considering they’re still experimenting with what children’s programming works for them after previous cancellations and strategy changes?
It all starts with a connection. First, we work with practically all platforms: Netflix, Max, Paramount, Amazon. We really try to create programming and bring our properties to life on platforms where there is a connection and an interest. In this case with Max, they are focused on developing their children’s businesses. The elders our team worked with showed a real passion for property, which is absolutely, so important. We felt that, given the connection we had with them and their desire to help, it was an excellent home for that. Obviously we worked with them on “Barbie” and they did a great job and we’re excited to have the show there. We’ll even have it on Cartoon Community. And then ultimately, as we get to international markets, we will continue to increase distribution, eventually get to the open air and so on.
Have certain networks or streamers gone out of business — like Peacock, which had Barney’s “I Love You, You Hate Me”? Did this document affect your decisions in bringing “Barney” back for a TV series?
The documentary was not taken into consideration here at all. Our “Barney” followers are passionate and other people have views to share, and that’s okay. We respect that. But we really agreed to make sure we’re telling the right story for the audience and celebrating all the amazing things that make Barney so unique and again and, even now, so important. Positivity, optimism, self-love, care, kindness. These are issues that I believe we should all keep in mind at all times, and especially ensure that preschoolers have the opportunity to really dive in and study these lessons and have the ability to have fun with music, most of the time.
Mattel has had a huge year in the last 12 months with the “Barbie” movie. Moving forward, what is Mattel trying to do to maintain this momentum and how much are you relying on current intellectual property and how much are you expanding into new territory?
One of the unimaginable things about our company is this intellectual property portfolio. “Barbie” was amazing, evergreen and iconic before the movie, literally throughout the movie, and now post-movies this year, celebrating its 65th anniversary and will continue to be a true cultural moment. We take great care to make sure we all know that everything we do is relatable, genuine, inspiring and aspirational. In fact, we consider our customers as followers. And the reason this is important is because it allows us to really think about who they are, where they are, what they are serious about, and it expands our openness and the opportunity to engage with them wherever and whenever every time they need to interact with these tales. And so, whether it’s a live experience, in the case of “Shot Wheels,” we have a “Shot Wheels” monster truck, we’re opening a park, or we have incredible options in digital games, the wave has “Hot Wheels Let’s Race” on Netflix , which has been absolutely phenomenal – the goal for us is essentially to start to come together and orchestrate a style where our fans have, in all their various aspects of the day, the ability to interact deeply. And I would be remiss if I didn’t highlight my enthusiasm for “Masters of the Universe.” Talk about world-building; June 26th will be unimaginable. And we’re so excited about Travis Knight’s direction that we’ve featured a lot of solid actors, Nicholas Galitzine. And one thing is we’re going to increase the number a little bit as we go along. We want to continue to expand our iconic IP, sometimes it will be to relaunch, in the case of “Barney”, or take advantage and tell new stories that would follow a different path.
Mattel is currently involved in an “American Lady” film. Do you see this as your next “Barbie,” given how fans interact with the history and lore behind these dolls and the meta nature she can tap into?
We handle all of our IP in a few discreet ways and we want to tell these stories and interact with our followers in a way that is meaningful to them and therefore not a distinction or comparison. We really want to support each other and love the IP and make sure we’re giving followers the things they can expect, but also the things they don’t expect. I believe this is a real energy for us: wanting to go around corners and anticipate wants and desires and create questions that can break the frame and shock and delight with whimsy. In relation to American Lady, it is a pioneer in experiential retail. It was the first and continues to be, in my opinion, the best. Mattell does a lot in live experiences, places, leisure, experiential. However, the genuine article, the originator, was American Lady. The audience ranges in age from zero to 99 years old. People love stories and they are linked to each story, “The care and maintenance of you”, there is the Lady of the year. There are so many elements through which you can go into the story to create films, create some television content.
How are you adapting in the gaming space with what kids today have access to, in terms of advancing technology? How are you balancing the physical experience of the toys, but also assembling them, realistically, where they are most of the time: on devices?
We profit from the tactile nature of toys, and toys are fundamental to what we do. The game patterns that have existed over the years have proven to be really connected and interesting for our followers. The power to play with a doll or run on its Fiery Wheels, no matter what it is, is fundamental to us. What we do in the digital game aspect is to prolong that story. We had an incredible partnership on Roblox with “Barbie Dream Home Tycoon”. It launched late last year, was largely only there in the fourth quarter, and was the biggest branded game launch of the year for Roblox, which has over 285 million unique visits in a relatively short period of time and still remains considered one of its main brand video games. What we really want to do is acquire the ability to play with a toy and then extend that into a digital world. It’s very natural, now better than ever. We license to many top tier AAA partners. We have our tripartite partnership with NetEase. We recently announced that in addition to these partnership models, we will begin publishing our own mobile games based on our IP and this is very complementary to our current licensing and tripartite partnership models.
This interview has been edited and condensed.