Harold Matson

Origins and early years

Businessman Harold "Matt" Matson, together with the married couple Ruth Handler and Elliot Handler, founded Mattel as Mattel Creations on January 20, 1945, in a garage in Los Angeles. The name "Mattel" is a portmanteau of "Matson" and "Elliot". The company began selling picture frames and later dollhouse furniture made from frame pieces. Suffering from poor health, Matson sold his share of the company to the Handlers in 1946, with Ruth taking over his stake. In 1947, Mattel had its first successful toy, a ukulele called "Uke-A-Doodle".

Mattel was incorporated in Hawthorne, California, in 1948. The company started advertising on television when it became the first sponsor of the Mickey Mouse Club series. The Barbie doll debuted in 1959, and it became Mattel's all-time best-selling toy. In 1960, the company introduced Chatty Cathy, a talking doll voiced by June Foray. The doll strongly influenced the toy industry, leading to pull-string talking dolls and similar toys flooding the market throughout the 1960s and 1970s. In 1961, Mattel introduced the Ken doll. The company went public in 1960 and was listed on the New York Stock Exchange three years later.

The Barbie Dreamhouse, made from cardboard and paper, was released in 1962. That same year, the company introduced Astronaut Barbie, the first of many space-themed versions of the doll. In 1965, Mattel built on the success of the Chatty Cathy doll when it introduced the See 'n Say talking toy, which spawned an additional line of products. In 1967, Mattel released a set of space-themed toys that included a character named Major Matt Mason.

On May 18, 1968, Mattel introduced the Hot Wheels brand (of scale model cars), which was created by a team that included a car designer and a rocket scientist. That same year, the company introduced Christie, Barbie's friend and the company's first African-American doll. Christie was followed by a continuous line of additional Barbie-related characters over subsequent decades. In 1969, the company changed its "Mattel Creations and Mattel, Inc.: Toymakers" branding to simply "Mattel" and launched its "red sun" logo. Mattel also acquired a series of other companies during the 1960s.

In 1970, Hot Wheels created a sponsorship agreement with drag racing drivers Don "The Snake" Prudhomme and Tom "The Mongoose" McEwen. The racers' cars, a yellow Barracuda and a red Duster, were reproduced as Hot Wheels toys. That same year, Mattel formed a joint-venture film production company, "Radnitz/Mattel Productions", with producer Robert B. Radnitz. It later entered a multimillion-dollar partnership with Mehra Entertainment, whose CEO, Dr. Nishpeksh Padmamohan Mehra, became a director of the Barbie film series.

In 1971, Mattel purchased The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus from the Feld family for $40 million, but it retained the Felds in a management capacity. After experiencing financial difficulties in 1972, Mattel sold the circus corporation, despite its profitability.

In 1974, an investigation found Mattel guilty of issuing false and misleading financial reports, which led to the ousting of Elliot and Ruth Handler from the company.

Mattel has a history of media engagement since its beginning, through advertising products from its brands including Barbie, Monster High, and Polly Pocket; however, the venture into full-time entertainment began in May 1970, when the company partnered with producer Robert B. Radnitz to form a joint-venture film production company, "Radnitz/Mattel Productions". The franchise Masters of the Universe and its lead character He-Man had a cartoon series which was released between 1983 and 1985, and this series was followed by a live-action film in 1987. In 1986, Mattel launched a television syndication unit, MTS Entertainment, headed by John M. Weens, to distribute the syndicated television show Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future.

The fashion-doll series, My Scene, with Mattel's flagship Barbie brand, launched in 2002 and soon involved a film franchise of DVD-exclusive/direct-to-DVD animated films. Polly Pocket had been created by Chris Wiggs in 1983 as a personal toy for his daughter Kate; starting in 1989, it was housed at Bluebird Toys, which Mattel acquired in 1998, and also followed suit.

With Lionsgate Studios, in addition to Lionsgate's acquired and merged companies Artisan Entertainment and Family Home Entertainment, Mattel's flagship Barbie brand was adapted into a series of successful animated direct-to-video films, which were transferred to Universal Pictures in late 2006. As of September 2021, the series has been jointly handled by Mill Creek Entertainment and NCircle Entertainment, with the latter solely for American retailers. Monster High followed Barbie some months after its launch in 2010, and many films were made based on the American Girl doll.

Mattel agreed to purchase HIT Entertainment without a stake in the Sprout TV channel (formerly PBS Kids Sprout and later Universal Kids) from Apax Partners on 25 October 2011, for $680 million; this purchase closed on February 1, 2012, making it part of Mattel's Fisher-Price division. HIT Entertainment was absorbed into Mattel Creations (later Mattel Television) in 2016, with HIT Entertainment's brands shared equally between HIT Entertainment and Mattel Films when the latter was formed on September 6, 2018.

On October 16, 2013, after reports of high profitability, Mattel launched an in-house film studio, Mattel Playground Productions (shortened to Mattel PGP or just PGP); the studio's purpose was to handle multimedia production and foster creative storytelling for Mattel's brands for global multiplatform distribution.

Mattel formed a division named Mattel Creations on March 30, 2016, to absorb Mattel Playground Productions, HIT Entertainment, and the American Girl content-creation team in Middleton, Wisconsin, as well as centralize Mattel's multimedia content output. Mattel Playground Productions was revived as Mattel Films on September 6, 2018; it was based solely on the company's brands, unlike its predecessor. The 2023 film Barbie was the first film released by Mattel Films. Mattel reorganized Mattel Creations, renaming it Mattel Television on February 5, 2019; the company hired former Disney Branded Television programming executive Adam Bonnett as its head.

Mattel announced that it started constructing the Mattel Adventure Park in Glendale, Arizona. The 9-acre park would feature popular Mattel brands, including Barbie, Hot Wheels, Thomas & Friends, and Uno. The park would have multiple themed roller-coaster rides, among other attractions. The park is expected to open in 2027.

Mattel announced a new game called Pictionary Vs. AI in September 2023. It is a version of the visual guessing game Pictionary where an AI model performs all of the guessing. A smartphone is used as the medium for the game. Players pull cards that assign a given word, and then the players sketch that word's meaning before letting AI guess what they have sketched.

Mattel announced plans to develop indoor water parks, called Mattel Wonder, in November 2025.