Mattel Regains License for Disney Dolls

Mattel has won back the lucrative license from Hasbro.

Mattel has won back the lucrative license from Hasbro.

Back in 2016, Mattel lost the rights to produce dolls based on Disney properties to its rival company, Hasbro. This was a major blow to the toy manufacturing giant, as Disney dolls, particularly those based on characters from properties like Frozen, were one of their biggest moneymakers.

Today, however, Mattel announced that they had successfully negotiated the reacquisition of the Disney doll license back from Hasbro, which means they can start producing princess dolls again. On this news, Mattel’s stock value increased by 6%. The new line of dolls will launch next year and will be managed by the same team that currently manages the Barbie line of dolls.

“As the worldwide leader in dolls, we look forward to bringing our unique Mattel Playbook approach to brand management, product and marketing expertise,” Mattel President and Chief Operating Officer Richard Dickson said in a statement.

As for Hasbro, while this is a potentially large loss, it has been swiftly offset by the announcement that they have renewed their deal with Lucasfilm to continue producing toys based on the Star Wars franchise. Not only that, but for the first time since 2008, they will also begin producing toys based on the Indiana Jones franchise to coincide with the release of a new film in the series.