Introduction

The Toys That Made Us is an American documentary web television series created by Brian Volk-Weiss.

• 

• 

Outline

During the 1970’s, Hasbro was on the brink of bankruptcy due to the oil crisis. The company’s Advanced R&D Department came up with My Pretty Pony, which sold 500,000 units in 1981. A year later, My Pretty Pony was shrunken down, made with softer plastic materials, and painted in bright pastel colours to become My Little Pony, which made US$80 million on its first year. In 1984, the toyline’s first animated TV special Rescue at Midnight Castle was released, followed by a theatrical feature film and a TV series in 1986. My Little Pony was discontinued in 1992, but was revived in two generations with mixed results. It was in 2010 that animator Lauren Faust fully revitalised the franchise with My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. The show and accompanying toyline became heavily popular not only among girls, but also a male demographic known as “Bronies”.

Special Guest: Tara Strong.

The Toys That Made Us Series

You can find a full index and overview of The Toys That Made Us here.

Production & Filming Details

• Creator(s): Brian Volk-Weiss.
• Narrator(s): Donald Ian Black.
• Director(s): Brian Volk-Weiss and Tom Stern.
• Producer(s): Brian Vol-Weiss, Tom Stern, Cisco Henson, Anne Carkeet, and Edwin Zane.
• Writer(s): Nicholas Ferrell and Benjamin J. Frost.
  Music:
• Cinematography: Samuel Brownfield.
• Editor(s): Benjamin J. Frost, James Anderson, Dan Cerny, Nick Ferrell, Dan Cotter, and Doug Nolan
• Production: The Nacelle Company.
• Distributor(s): Netflix.
• Release Date: 15 November 2019.
• Running Time: 43-51 minutes.
• Country: US.
• Language: English.

Video Link