Line #53 Creator/Kenner


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7	->''"It's Kenner! It's fun!"''
8
9	Kenner Products was a [[UsefulNotes/{{Ohio}} Cincinnati-based]] toy company that was formed in 1947 and absorbed by its eventual owner, Creator/{{Hasbro}}, at the TurnOfTheMillennium. During its 50+ years of existence, Kenner became one of the leading toy manufacturers in the world.
10
11	Kenner first became famous for successful toy lines such as the Easy Bake Oven, Give-a-Show Projector and Spirograph. It was bought by UsefulNotes/GeneralMills in 1967. In TheSeventies, it got into licensed action figures with ''Series/TheSixMillionDollarMan'' and ''Series/TheBionicWoman''; during this time it also added Play-Doh to its holdings (General Mills had owned that brand since 1965). Toys/StretchArmstrong, a gel-filled figure with stretching limbs, was also popular. While all these lines did well, they were mere preludes for the franchise that really made Kenner: ''Franchise/StarWars'', an unexpected smash hit that propelled Kenner into the front ranks of the toy industry.
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13	''Star Wars''' blockbuster success enabled Kenner to get more big licenses, such as Creator/DCComics[[note]]Considering they thought Creator/JackKirby's ComicBook/NewGods characters like ComicBook/{{Darkseid}} were perfect for the ''Super Powers'' toyline, they were the ones to finally give the underappreciated comic artist the first direct royalties he ever earned for his creations when he was commissioned to design their action figures. The young Creator/GeorgePerez got the same treatment when he designed the action figure for ComicBook/{{Cyborg}}[[/note]] and ''Franchise/IndianaJones''. The firm's later action figure successes included ''WesternAnimation/TheRealGhostbusters'', ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}'' and ''Franchise/JurassicPark'', as well as its own creation ''WesternAnimation/{{MASK}}''. Other original lines that sold well included ''Toys/NERFBrand'' and ''Toys/LittlestPetShop'', both of which continue today. By 1985, General Mills spun off Kenner and Creator/ParkerBros into their own company, Kenner-Parker Toys, which was then acquired by Creator/{{Tonka}} in 1987, forming Kenner Parker Tonka; this gestalt toy company was then acquired by Hasbro in 1991. Kenner continued as a semi-separate division until 2000, when Hasbro, facing financial issues, closed Kenner and their Cincinnati facility for good.
14
15	Hasbro occasionally revives the Kenner name for select releases from long-running lines such as ''Star Wars'', ''The Real Ghostbusters'' and ''Marvel Legends''.
16
17	!!Franchises created by Kenner:
18	[[index]]
19	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Centurions}}''
20	* ''Toys/LittlestPetShop''
21	* ''WesternAnimation/{{MASK}}''
22	* ''Toys/NERFBrand''
23	* ''WesternAnimation/SkyCommanders''
24	* ''Toys/StretchArmstrong''
25	* ''WesternAnimation/TheYumYums''
26	[[/index]]
27
28	!!Series created as a subsidiary of Hasbro:
29	[[index]]
30	* ''WesternAnimation/GIJoeExtreme''
31	* ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'' (from ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars'' up to ''WesternAnimation/BeastMachines'')
32	* ''WesternAnimation/VorTechUndercoverConversionSquad''
33	[[/index]]
34
35	!!Works that Kenner created toys for:
36	[[index]]
37	* ''Franchise/{{Alien}}''
38	* ''Literature/TheBabySittersClub''
39	* ''ComicBook/{{Batman}}''
40	** ''Film/BatmanReturns''
41	** ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries''
42	*** ''WesternAnimation/BatmanMaskOfThePhantasm''
43	** ''Film/BatmanForever
44	** ''Film/BatmanAndRobin''
45	** ''Legends of Batman'' (A toyline based on ''ComicBook/{{Knightfall}}'' and {{Elseworlds}} ideas)
46
47	* ''Film/{{Beetlejuice}}''
48	* ''Franchise/BillAndTed''
49	* ''WesternAnimation/CapitolCritters''
50	* ''WesternAnimation/CaptainPlanetAndThePlaneteers'' (European distributor)
51	* ''Franchise/CareBears''
52	* ''WesternAnimation/ChuckNorrisKarateKommandos''
53	* ''Film/{{Congo}}''
54	* ''Film/{{Dragonheart}}''
55	* ''WesternAnimation/FluppyDogs''
56	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}''
57	* ''Series/TheHardyBoysNancyDrewMysteries''
58	* ''Film/TheHuggaBunch''
59	* ''Franchise/IndianaJones''
60	** ''Film/RaidersOfTheLostArk''
61	* ''Franchise/JurassicPark''
62	* ''ComicBook/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica'':
63	** ''The Super Powers Collection'' (Creator/DCComics characters; included tie-ins with the last two seasons of ''WesternAnimation/{{Superfriends}}'')
64	** ''Total Justice'' (ostensibly a ''Batman'' toyline, but most of the figures are based on the greater DC Universe with many based on past, current, or eventually future members of the Justice League)[[note]]About the only heroic character who got a figure made that ''wouldn't'' eventually be in the JLA was ComicBook/{{Robin}} (Tim Drake)[[/note]]
65	** ''ComicBook/JLA1997'' (towards the end, it also acted as a toyline for ''ComicBook/YoungJustice'')
66	* ''Series/KnightRider''
67	* ''WesternAnimation/LittlestPetShop1995''
68	* ''WesternAnimation/TheMagicSchoolBus''
69	* ''WesternAnimation/TheMask''
70	* ''WesternAnimation/MummiesAlive''
71	* ''WesternAnimation/PoliceAcademyTheAnimatedSeries''
72	* ''Franchise/{{Predator}}''
73	* ''Film/{{Quintet}}'' (a board game, not released)
74	* ''WesternAnimation/TheRealGhostbusters''
75	* ''Film/RobinHoodPrinceOfThieves''
76	* ''Franchise/RoboCop'' (the 1988 AnimatedAdaptation ''Robocop and The Ultra Police'')
77	* ''WesternAnimation/RosePetalPlace''
78	* ''Series/SabrinaTheTeenageWitch''
79	* ''WesternAnimation/SilverHawks''
80	* ''Series/TheSixMillionDollarMan''
81	** ''Series/TheBionicWoman''
82	* ''Film/SmallSoldiers''
83	* ''Franchise/StarWars''
84	** ''Film/ANewHope''
85	** ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack''
86	** ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi''
87	** ''WesternAnimation/{{Ewoks}}''
88	** ''WesternAnimation/{{Droids}}''
89	** ''Literature/ShadowsOfTheEmpire''
90	* ''WesternAnimation/StrawberryShortcake''
91	* ''Film/{{Steel}}''
92	* ''Series/{{Streethawk}}'' (not released)
93	* ''ComicBook/{{Superman}}'':
94	** ''WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries''
95	** ''Superman: The Man of Steel'' (no relation to the toyline for ''Film/SupermanReturns'', basically a toyline about ''ComicBook/TheDeathOfSuperman'', ''ComicBook/SupermanDoomsdayHunterPrey'', and ''ComicBook/TheDeathOfClarkKent'')
96	* ''ComicBook/SwampThing'' (the 1991 AnimatedAdaptation)
97	* ''Series/VRTroopers''
98	* ''Film/{{Waterworld}}''
99	* ''Franchise/{{Zoids}}'' (under the MarketBasedTitle ''Techno Zoids'')
100
101
102	[[/index]]

Context Creator / Kenner