Fisher-Price Reboots Little People

Fisher-Price has refreshed its 54-year-old Little People brand to contemporize the franchise for today’s kids and expand it into a full lifestyle property.

The reboot includes a complete toy design refresh as well as the creation of supporting musical and video content.

The company enlisted the Emmy award-winning producer Kevin Mowrer to guide the expansion of the franchise narrative, which now forms the foundation for an IP that Fisher-Price plans to use across multiple platforms. The company also enlisted Emmy award-winning lead writer Jen Hamburg and singer/songwriter Genevieve Goings to develop new music for the brand.

"One of the key aspects of our Fisher-Price growth strategy has been to own, develop and grow world-class brands and intellectual properties," says Dave Ciganko, vice president of design, Fisher-Price. "We believe the Little People brand has the potential to further evolve into an entertainment property through rich storytelling that typically fuels demand for the brand in other areas like licensed products and experiential partnerships. Bringing the characters forward offers children more content to explore and potential licensees a greater library of resources, thereby increasing sales in and outside of the toy aisle."

A new series of Little People webisodes will launch this summer, featuring a multicultural, ensemble cast of characters. Additionally, the “Little People Live” show will be touring for its fifth consecutive year, traveling to top zoos across the country, as well as performing onboard Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines throughout 2013.