Hasbro, based in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, is a global leader in the toy and games industry, and perhaps the leader in integrated
toy-based entertainment. The company was founded in 1923 as a textile remnant factory and expanded into toys in the 1940s. Its first big success was Mr. Potato Head, which arrived in 1952. In 1965, Hasbro created the
Ur-Example of the action figure with
G.I. Joe. In 1982, Hasbro launched the
A Real American Hero sub-franchise, and with it, pioneered a new multimedia strategy as
comic books and
an animated TV series became hugely successful, thanks to the storytelling work of
Marvel Comics and its animation division. Hasbro and Marvel then duplicated their success with
My Little Pony that same year, which was a hit with girls, and in 1984 with
The Transformers, using toys repurposed from two Japanese toylines
note which were both spin-offs of Microman, which in turn was a lineal descendant of Takara's license of the original G.I. Joe.
Jem, Hasbro's 1986 attempt to compete with
Barbie in the doll market, failed, although the cartoon gained a cult following. The
Maxie line and its animated series
Maxie's World were only slightly more successful than
Jem. Hasbro's next attempts to create action figure/cartoon franchises,
Inhumanoids,
Visionaries and
C.O.P.S., got cult followings but weren't as successful as
G.I. Joe or
Transformers.
In 1991, Hasbro purchased Tonka, which gained them not only the truck line, but
Kenner Products (one of their main competitors) and the Parker Brothers board game line, including
Monopoly and
Candy Land, as a complement to
Milton Bradley, a 1984 purchase; they were previously owned by Pillsbury, who have since been bought out by
General Mills. Tonka, through Kenner, also had the toy rights to
Star Wars, a property which would prove valuable for the company. 1994 saw the acquisition of British game company Waddingtons, inventor of
Clue (which had been licensed by Parker Brothers prior). As part of Hasbro, Kenner would go on to re-ignite the
Transformers brand in 1996 with
Beast Wars. In 1998, Hasbro bought
Galoob, maker of
Star Wars Micro Machines, so that they would have exclusive toy rights to the franchise; also purchased that year was
Avalon Hill, producer of strategy-oriented tabletop games. 1999 saw Hasbro buy
Wizards of the Coast (which they integrated Avalon Hill into by 2004), giving them
Magic: The Gathering and
Dungeons & Dragons along with the
Pokémon Trading Card Game.
As a media entity, the company reached its peak in 2007, when the first
Michael Bay-directed
Transformers film was released. The success of the film (and its sequels) enabled Hasbro to increase its mass media exposure, including film versions of
G.I. Joe and
Battleship. In 2010, Hasbro and Discovery Communications would launch
The Hub, whose launch programming (much of it produced by Hasbro Studios, an in-house production company launched the year before) included
My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, which stumbled upon massive interest from
older men, and
Transformers Prime, a mere success within the core demographic of the franchise. In 2015, Hasbro and Universal Studios resurrected
Jem as a live-action musical based off the animated series from the 80s, known as
Jem and the Holograms. They also plan a live-action comedy from
Adam Sandler based off the preschool-based board game
Candy Land in the near future, but the project has jumped from
Universal Studios to
Columbia Pictures to
Warner Bros.. 2016 saw comic book partner
IDW Publishing jumpstart the
Hasbro Comic Universe with the
Revolution crossover, spinning out from their
Transformers and
G.I. Joe series to encompass nearly all the other IDW Hasbro titles (the newly-launched
Micronauts (IDW),
ROM and
Action Man, plus
M.A.S.K.;
Jem and the Holograms is also a part of the universe, but isn't involved in
Revolution).
Then, on November 3, 2017, following the moderate success of
My Little Pony: The Movie, Hasbro signed an exclusive, five-year production and distribution deal with
Paramount Pictures (producer of the
Transformers and
G.I. Joe movies) to begin producing their own slate of films and television programs under the Allspark Pictures banner, covering both live-action and animated fare. Paramount will co-own and distribute the films and shows worldwide under the deal and give Paramount access to a large number of Hasbro franchises.
Franchises created and/or owned by Hasbro note Not including Wizards of the Coast products :
Works that Hasbro has created toys or games for:
- The Adventures of Teddy Ruxpin (manufactured under license from Alchemy II, Inc.; sold as a Playskool electronic toy)
- Animorphs (under the Transformers brand)
- Angry Birds
- The Baby-Sitters Club
- Barbie (sold as a licensed electronic Giga Pet)
- Barney & Friends (1993-2001; currently owned by Mattel)
- Batman
- Beverly Hills, 90210
- Beyblade
- For more about the toys, click here
- Blockbusters (Milton Bradley, 1982; Waddingtons, 1986/89 in the UK)
- Bratz
- Bucky O'Hare and the Toad Wars
- Buffy the Vampire Slayer
- Cityville
- Concentration (Milton Bradley, 1958-1982)
- Charlie's Angels
- Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers
- Clueless (sold as a licensed electronic Dear Diary, based on the 1996 TV show)
- Conan the Adventurer
- Disney Princess
- DuckTales
- Eye Guess (Milton Bradley, 1966-69)
- Finding Nemo
- Frogger (manufactured under license from Konami)
- Frozen
- Full House
- Goosebumps
- Hannah Montana
- High Rollers (Milton Bradley/ES Lowe, 1975-76; Parker Brothers, 1988)
- The Hollywood Squares (Milton Bradley, 1980 & 86; Parker Brothers, 1999)
- Indiana Jones
- Jackpot (Milton Bradley, 1975)
- James Bond Jr.
- Jeopardy! (Milton Bradley, 1964-1982; Parker Brothers, 1999)
- Jurassic Park
- The Legend of Zelda
- Little House on the Prairie
- Lizzie McGuire
- The Magic School Bus
- Marvel Comics
- Men in Black 2
- The Nightmare Before Christmas
- Password (Milton Bradley, 1961-1987)
- Pictionary (trademark currently owned by Mattel)
- The Pirates of Dark Water
- Pokémon (Milton Bradley, 1999-2003; Wizards of the Coast, 1998-2004)
- Pollyanna
- The Powerpuff Girls
- The Prince of Egypt
- Sabrina the Teenage Witch
- Sesame Street (since 2011)
- Shrek 2
- The Simpsons
- SpongeBob SquarePants
- Star Trek
- Star Wars
- Strawberry Shortcake (since 1980)
- Sweet Valley High
- Taboo (manufactured under license from Hersch & Company)
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003)
- Terminator 2: Judgment Day
- That's So Raven
- Three on a Match (Milton Bradley, 1972)
- Titan A.E.
- Toy Story 3
- Wild West C.O.W.-Boys of Moo Mesa
- Wheel of Fortune (Milton Bradley, 1975; Parker Brothers, 1999)
- Zoids