As Mattel releases the new animated series “Barney’s World” on Max and Cartoon Network and prepares a live-action “Barney” movie starring Daniel Kaluuya, Mattel will commit to live action non-preschool premium TV series to further its brands and properties let it grow. , Mattel Chief Franchise Officer Josh Silverman announced on Sunday during his MipJunior leadership keynote in Cannes, titled Beyond the Toybox: Shaping the Future of Play.
Silverman also confirmed the Netflix release date of the one-hour holiday special “Thomas & Friends: The Christmas Letter Express” on November 21 in the US. Global launches will take place across a range of broadcast and streaming platforms, including Milkshake! on Channel 5 and Nick Jr. in the UK and Cartoonito in Italy.
“We have always done very good work in the field of children’s entertainment. We’ve had some great deals on the unscripted side,” Silverman shared Variety.
“One area we really want to hone in on as we move forward here – and we’ll certainly share more in the coming months – is our focus on developing and creating really high-quality, premium scripted live action content. That’s an area we haven’t really delved into before, at least in a meaningful way,” he added.
At MipJunior, Silverman also delved deeper into Mattel’s playbook, considering four principles: brand proposition, consumer-centric innovation, cultural relevance – “We are timeless and current,” he noted – and a franchise mentality.
“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 portfolio. We have incredible brands and franchises, characters and stories that are multi-generational and universally iconic, 99%, 100% awareness. And so we have incredible toy chests to play with,” Silverman said in Cannes.
He also ended Mattel’s dramatic expansion into film and TV, with 14 films in development and 14 TV titles by 2024, with 13 in production and 35 in development.
In his extensive coverage of Mattel, Variety has further delved into 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, directed by Travis Night of “Missing Link”.
Skydance Media, Apple Original Films and Mattel will develop a live-action “Matchbox” film starring John Cena and directed by Sam Hargrave.
A live-action “View-Master” movie based on a 3D display toy from Mattel is also in the works.
Silverman highlighted nine Mattel titles at Cannes through a screen: ‘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 groundbreaking entertainment has many sides. “Barney’s World” is a show for this zeitgeist, in the dinosaur’s message of love for self and others, Silverman argued.
“At its core, it is about love, self-love, care, attention, compassion, friendship. This is authentic Barney. The world we live in is, as we all know, a very complicated world. That has always been the case. And this is a very strange, honest interpretation of wonderful educational elements and feelings for preschoolers to be able to express that love, that compassion and that kindness, but in an entertaining and musical way,” Silverman said on stage at MipJunior. .
One of the recurring characters, Mel, 6 years old, is multiracial of Korean and Mexican descent, speaks three languages and enjoys sharing her culture with her friends.
“I use the word authenticity. The team has certainly evolved with Barbie as the brand purpose, the brand purpose of being inclusive, um, and really reflective of the world and the communities in which we live and operate,” Silverman said.
“Thomas & Friends: The Christmas Letter Express” was created in colorful 2D animation using Nelvana from Corus Entertainment. In it, Percy, the postal machine, discovers a children’s letter to Santa Claus that was forgotten at the bottom of his mail cart on Christmas Eve; he is determined to make sure the letter is delivered.
On November 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 and Taiwan
According to reports, it will become available in other markets in 2025, including the United Kingdom, Latin America, Italy, France, Poland and Turkey.
Mattel will celebrate its 80th anniversary next year. “We are going to do a very nice brand campaign. We are very proud of our continued evolution as a company as a high-performing toy company,” said Silverman. “There are so many incredible elements, the tactile nature of toys, the toy elements, the globally iconic brands and franchises and characters and stories that really resonate with our audience, which is multigenerational and universal. We have an incredible toy box to play with,” he added.
“The evolution ahead of us as a high-performing toy company is to expand our entertainment offering and grow into a true IP company that crosses all dimensions of our business to truly connect with our fans,” said Silverman.