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Toy to Toon: Commercial Cartoons and How They Affected Saturday Morning
by Dark Star
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Ask any man or woman in their twenties, or late teens, what they did on Saturday mornings in the 1980s and most will reply they would get up to watch Saturday morning cartoons. He-Man, She-ra, Transformers, and Care Bears were all the rage in 1983 all the way to 1988, these syndicated cartoon series were launched as a way to promote toys that the companies, Hasbro-Bradley, Mattel, and others, were making at the time. And, not surprisingly, the cartoons worked. Toy sales picked up drastically, and since that time syndicated cartoons have been the norm on television. In fact most modern day shows have syndication in the 80s to thank for their success. Shows like Power rangers, Batman Beyond, and other shows that are on TV as of this date, can attribute most of their success to the fact that they have a cartoon show on the air. A show who's way was paved by the cartoon shows like the Transformers in 1984.
What is increasingly surprising in the fact that shows that are only living commercials are not getting the same criticisms that they were given back in the 1980s when there were more then 40 syndicated shows on the air. Ask any parent if they now feel if the syndicated cartoon show that their child is watching is bad, and they will tell you no. Most parents, since most grew up in the 80s time period, will actually say that the shows are far more interesting now then they were when they were kids. But Back in the eighties this syndication was felt to be a new way for toy advertisers to create a generation of children that were weaned on sugar coated cereal, and could become mass consumers. The bid paid off though in the end for most toy companies, and still today older adults that grew up watching the shows will now happily shell out money to buy the toys that the makers advertise. Action Figures coming out on the market will most certainly have a cartoon show that will pull fans in and make them want to buy their favorite character to stage mock battles. It is after all the way of any child to use their imagination and created their own world by using toys.
Syndicated, or Commercial, Cartoons are cartoons that were developed by a toy company to market a specific toy to a group of children, under the pretense that it is a cartoon rather then a half hour commercial. The history of such cartoons started out in 1980s when toy companies noticed that the low sales in new toys needed a boost. Rather then spend millions on ads the old fashioned way on television, a mass marketing campaign with ads in magazines, newspapers, and on television with short commercials, they created a whole story to involve their toys in and created a cartoon series.
The best by far has been the commercial success of Hasbro's Transformers-a toy line that converts robots into vehicles, and more recently into beasts-which has been having success from 1983 to 1988, and more recently from 1993 and on. In 1984, He-man, and the Masters of the Universe, by Mattel; had sold up to $500 million in sales world wide within three years of being on the air. He-man had a mass following and some of the older toys are now worth in the 300 to 500 dollar range if they are in good condition. At the time though the company had trouble keeping up with the demand for the toy, and people stores had tons of back orders for some of the more expensive He-man merchandise.
"One of the first characters to benefit from this marking strategy was Strawberry Shortcake, a tiny girl in an outsized mop cap. When she and three related figures were launched in 1980 by a consortium of American Greeting Corp. and General Mills, they appeared on products from five companies. By 1983 the line had grown to 20 characters, who appeared on more then 1,200 items from 68 companies and accounted for hundreds of millions of dollars in retail sales. Three syndicated television specials had helped to make little girls aware of all the Strawberry Shortcake characters." (Solomon) The main goal of the toy companies was to push toy sales and garner more interest in the new toys and additional characters that they created. In doing so they pulled in millions more then they put out for making the cartoons. Watch any old 80s cartoon, especially He-man, and She-ra, and you can see the animation isn't at all that great, in fact at points its down right awful, yet children the country, and in some cases the world, over would sit down to watch these haphazard shows with delight and complete interest in the characters.
Not only did toy manufactures see an increase in sales thanks to these cartoons but they also saw the demand go above and beyond their expectations all together. `Says Joseph Mendelsohn III, president (at the date of 1985) of General Mills Inc.'s Kenner Div. "Until recently, we would come out with a product, put on a TV commercials, and kids would ask for the product after seeing the commercials, Products The payoff is much bigger."
Now, instead of being confined to a 30-second spot, Kenner weaves product based characters, such as Care Bears and Strawberry Shortcake, into half -hour animated programs. Indeed, the marketing edge that comes from turning a toy into a television star is proving increasingly irresistible to toy companies. The number of toy based shows has jumped from 14 to 40 [and beyond this number as 2000] in the past two years. Mattel's Masters of the Universe line-priced from $5 to $30- racked up $500 million in world wide sales in 1984, it's third year. The company has had problems keeping up with the demand.' Statement taken from the article "Are the Programs Your Kids Watch Simply Commercials?" (Wikies et al)
By the time 1984 rolled around more toys were being featured, in fact a duo company known as Hasbro-Bradley (That's Milton Bradley) were trying to market a toy designed by Japanese company Takara, that was a transforming robot. Called Transformers it was basically marketed to young boys, though it attracted the attention of young girls as well. `Helped by a TV show called The Transformers, Hasbro-Bradley Inc.'s Transformers toy line-which can change from vehicle to robots-pulled in more then $100 million in its first year, making it the most successful toy introduction ever.' Statement taken from the article "Are the Programs Your Kids Watch Simply Commercials?" (Wikies et al)
The most shocking thing about these cartoons were the fact that not only did they work they actually garnered a fan base. And thanks in part to the internet these fans have been able to re-connect with the old 80s shows that they grew up with. The fan base of different cartoons even have gone so far as to have conventions hosting the voice actors, the animators, and writers of these shows. A good example is a group who set up a large site to Transformers, calling it Big Bot after the nick name for leader Optimus Prime from the series Transformers, the site sells merchandise, and exclusives from Hasbro Transformer toys at their Transformer convention, called Botcon.
These cartoons have called forth old and new fans alike which has sparked the interest in the old manufactures that now are working on an 80s revolution of sorts. Old cartoons have been selling off sites like E-bay and other auction houses like hot cakes; and clothing manufactures have been seeing a renewed interest in old 80s characters on their t-shirts. The interests sparked in the older show has even created a giant leap towards internet suppliers who sell toys that have been remade in Japan and other places. Mattel in fact has released a whole new set up for the Master of the Universe series, and Hasbro has not only brought out the old molds of the G.I. Joe Characters that they own, but they are also importing the Car Robots show from Japan. It seems that more and more people are clamoring for the older cartoons.
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