Mattel Set to Drive Into Premium Non-Pre School Series, Announce Dates for ‘Thomas & Friends’ Christmas Special
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.
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“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.
“Barney’s World” is just the tip of the iceberg. “One of the things that struck me when I joined Mattel was the incredible breadth and depth of our intellectual property, our portfolio. We have unbelievable brands and franchises, characters and stories that are like multi-generational and universal iconic, 99%, 100% awareness. And so we have incredible toy box toys to play with,” Silverman said at Cannes.
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.
In its extensive coverage of Mattel, Variety has drilled down on Mattel’s film based on the “American Girl” doll line, with “Pet Sematary: Bloodlines” screenwriter Lindsey Anderson Beer on board and a release of a big-budget adaptation of “Masters of the Universe” with Amazon MGM Studios in June 2026, “Missing Link’s” Travis Night directing.
Skydance Media, Apple Original Films and Mattel are set to develop a “Matchbox” live-action motion picture, starring John Cena, directed by Sam Hargrave.
A live-action ‘View-Master’ movie, based on a 3D image toy from Mattel, in also in the works.
Silverman highlighted nine Mattel titles at Cannes via a screen display: “Barney’s World,” “Polly Pocket Adventures in Rio,” “Thomas & Friends: All Engines Go,” “Hot Wheels,” “Barbie Mysteries: The Great Horse Chase,” “Monsters of the Universe: Revolution,” “Monster High,” “Scrabble” and “Pictionary.”
Mattel will announce a new property on Monday, Silverman teased.
Mattel’s cutting-edge to entertainment cuts various ways. “Barney’s World” is a show for this Zeitgeist, in the dino’s message of love for oneself and others, Silverman argued.
“It is at its core about love, self-love, care, consideration, compassion, friendship. This is authentically Barney. The world we live in, as we all know, is a very complicated world. It always has been. And this is a really honest interpretation of wonderful educational elements and feelings for pre-schoolers to be able to express that love and that compassion and that kindness, but in an entertaining and musical way,” Silverman said on stage at MipJunior.
One of its recurring characters, Mel, aged 6, is multiracial from Korean and Mexican heritage, speaks three languages, and loves to share her culture with her friends.
“I’ll use the word authenticity. The team has certainly developed with Barbie as the brand purpose, the brand purpose of being inclusive, um, and really a reflection of the world and the communities that we live and operate in,” Silverman said.
“Thomas & Friends: The Christmas Letter Express”is made in colorful 2D animation with Corus Entertainment’s Nelvana. In it, Percy the mail engine discovers a child’s letter to Santa Claus forgotten at the bottom of his mail cart on Christmas Eve; he’s determined to make sure the letter is delivered.
On Nov. 21, the special will be available to stream in the US, Canada, Greece, Spain, Benelux, South Africa, Thailand, Indonesia, India, Philippines, Singapore, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Malaysia, South Korea, Taiwan
In 2025 it will become available in additional markets including the UK, Latin America, Italy, France, Poland and Turkey, according to reports.
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 said.
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