Destroying nostalgia: The surge of toy movie adaptations
After the success of “Barbie,” Mattel plans to adapt 40 more projects centered around toys. The Panther spoke to several students about their beloved childhood pastimes hitting the big screen. Photo collage by SIMRAH AHMAD, Staff Photographer
What do you think a movie adaptation of the game UNO could possibly be about? A possessed set of cards. An animated adventure with the Plus-four card as the villain. An intense duel over Uno’s controversial double-stacking rules. Now try this exercise with a Magic 8 Ball. How about Hot Wheel or Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots?
After the success of the “Barbie” movie last year, Mattel is expanding its slate with over 40 more projects based on their toys. That’s right… 40. Some films in development include a live-action Hot Wheels franchise with Star Wars director J.J. Abrams set to produce, an UNO action-heist-comedy about Atlanta’s hip-hop andrap scene with Grammy-nominated rapper Lil Yachty and a Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots film with “Fast and Furious” actor Vin Diesel.
Film students are no strangers to intellectual property (IP) adaptations like short stories, video games or toys made into movies and T.V. shows. However, this massive boom in the post-Barbie era isn’t the news they wished for. While students and smaller filmmakers struggle to fund their original passion projects, large studios are emptying their bank accounts into toy movies — but why?
“The only projects producers are picking up are ones that are already attached to existing franchises and IP. You are guaranteed an audience. You’re guaranteed seats in the theater. You are guaranteed tickets sold. If you do something that is completely original, you’re starting from square one — and you’re at the risk of losing money.”
We are not acting like movies about toys are some kind of news headliner comparable to if an alien crash-landed on Earth. They have been around since sliced bread and haven’t always been fan favorites. “My Little Pony,” “Battleship” and “Ouija” are a few to forget. However, in the interviews The Panther conducted for this article, one movie came out on top every single time.
“I think ‘The Lego Movie’ is, unfortunately, one of the best examples of how to take an existing IP and run with it,” said Bella Gerencser, a senior screenwriting major. “The first one I remember seeing as a kid and not really looking forward to it — but I ended up really liking it. It was one of the first movies I was really shocked by as a child.”
Now, it may have been a fan favorite of Gerencser, but even “The LEGO Batman Movie” still holds up for Tullo.
“After ‘Barbie,’ a movie about womanhood — which is beautiful and great — they are all trying to be these serious dramas with a serious message trying to make a difference in the world,” Tullo said. “But in the end, it's a movie about a doll. What (“The LEGO Batman Movie”) does so well is it doesn’t take itself seriously. It has fun with it.”
Maybe you don’t believe Hollywood would pump money into projects based on toys just because they are toys. Mattel CEO Ynon Kreiz thinks otherwise.
“Our ambition is to build film franchises,” Kreiz said in an interview with CNBC.
Kailey Schulz, a freshman creative producing student, wishes that some of the short films made by Chapman students could have the chance to be adapted to features on the big screen over the choices Hollywood is currently pursuing.
“If there are fresh stories in just one film school, there’s fresh and exciting narratives all over that execs at these big companies need to turn their attention to,” Schulz said.
Interviewees were disappointed to hear that after the success of “Barbie,” studios chose to focus their future endeavors on more toys rather than stories of womanhood and the relatability of being a woman. Despite not agreeing with this course of action, Gerencser knows the reason is clear.
“It’s profitable, and it's easy,” said Gerencser. “It's so much easier to put money into something like IP because it's less of a gamble than an original story. Little do we know, a lot of original movies are based on articles, short stories or are reboots of things that played on cable. “‘The Fall Guy,’ the Ryan Gosling movie coming out, was a TV show in the ‘80s that they bought and revamped.”
It doesn’t seem like the studios are slowing down production on these cash-grab toy movies anytime soon. They are hoping that audiences will flock to the theaters to see Lily Collins play a Polly Pocket or an ensemble film about American Girl dolls that will likely be directed by a man. Think of a toy, and the film rights have probably already been sold to a studio to adapt.
“At this point, they’re just throwing their money away,” Tullo said. “Hollywood has become a bonfire, and they are just shoveling their cash into it.”