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  • 3/25/2025
Mr. Potato Head without the “Mr.,” Barbies of all body shapes and skin colors...

Here are four times toys entered the 21st century.
Transcript
00:00It's the ultimate genderless toy already.
00:02First of all, it's a potato, and it has those little interchangeable parts so you can make it whatever you want.
00:17By the middle of the 1900s, Mr. Potato Head here was the toy that was flavor of the month.
00:31Unlike other toys, Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head came to life through the movie Toy Story.
00:36And so they have really distinct male and female personalities,
00:40and detaching a little from that is a bold move,
00:43but an important move to fit into today's different dimensions of families.
01:00It's the ultimate genderless toy already.
01:31I feel like it's really nice that every girl can feel like they're special.
01:52When we don't have toys that children can look at themselves and see,
01:57they start to feel like I'm invisible.
02:19We're an international group of children's toys that are revolting against the companies that made us.
02:25They build us in a way that perpetuates gender-based stereotypes.
02:30It is a new kind of day, and certainly as a doll that represents a female,
02:35it's really important to have a positive message.
02:43Well, I think that it was cool that he came out, and I like that he was a drummer, and that's cool.
02:50That's cool, and I like Tenny and the boy, and I think that was a good idea,
02:54and I did not think that that was going to happen.
03:13Oh my gosh, we've been so excited.
03:15We actually have been waiting since the announcement was made that they were going to be making Logan.
03:20I've seen a lot of girls change their dolls into boys,
03:23and maybe it's something that they saw that would be a great idea,
03:27and I wish they would have done it earlier.
03:46Our audience is both boys and girls,
03:49and for a long time the core steam team, the key engines that live at Tidmouth Sheds,
03:56have been six boys and one girl.
03:58So we thought it was about time to really bring in more female characters.
04:15This is just wonderful!
04:17We worked with UN Women, who helped advise us on how to bring this strong character to life,
04:22and what the important elements of her character were.
04:25So because she's from Africa, it was really important to us that when you look at her,
04:29you get that feeling of, you know, she's a Kenyan engine.
04:32It's not just about girls being empowered by seeing girls being the central character,
04:37it's about boys understanding that the norm is that they have to be empowered.
04:41It's not just about girls being empowered by seeing girls being the central character,
04:46it's about boys understanding that the norm is that girls and boys are equal.