Outside the UK, the US, and Canada, Fisher-Price continued to produce Barney toys all the way up until the late 2000s.Īfter Mattel purchased HIT Entertainment, owners of Barney, HIT Entertainment became managed under Fisher-Price once the merger was completed on February 1, 2012. Jakks Pacific's 'Child Guidance' and 'Play Along Toys' got the rights to Barney in 20 respectively, ending Mattel's ownership of the license in those territories. įisher-Price continued to license Barney in the US and Canada until 2004 and in the UK until 2005. Fisher-Price would also donate Barney toys for hospital playrooms during the original tour of Barney's Colorful World!. Barney toys from Fisher-Price were donated to hospitals when visited. The same year Barney products were scheduled for initial release, Fisher-Price co-presented Barney's Purple Park Tour, a tour meant to promote the seventh season of Barney & Friends. The deal was part of the plan of Peter Orton, who was the CEO of HIT Entertainment at the time, to reinvigorate the Barney brand, which was considered to not be as significant as before as the license under Hasbro tumbled to number forty-three on the best-selling character license in the world. Barney toys from Fisher-Price were released earlier than expected in December 2001.

The initial toys were scheduled to be released in early 2002 and was intended to last for five years. Products within the deal included a line of infant and preschool toys, electronic learning aids, games and puzzles for the Barney and Barney for Baby brands. It was confirmed on Febru that Fisher-Price, the subsidiary of Mattel, had an exclusive worldwide toy licensing deal to make and distribute Barney toys, taking over from Hasbro. In February 2001, at the same time as Lyrick Studios was being acquired by HIT Entertainment, HIT had signed a licensing deal with Mattel.

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