Who hasn’t wanted to own a toy of their favorite television character at some point in their lives? This mentality is why toy-driven shows have been a staple of children’s television for decades. While some shows get a toy line once they become popular, others are created specifically to sell merchandise, and often have to introduce new characters and plot elements to promote new products, or remove long-established characters if their toys are not selling well.
While toy-driven shows can be rather bumpy, there are a fair few that still manage to turn out a solid story. Even decades after the toys were discontinued, fans can look back at these programs and enjoy their strong writing and memorable characters.
10’Batman Beyond' (1999–2001)
Created by Bruce Timm, Paul Dini, and Alan Burnett
Batman: The Animated Seriesbrought The Dark Knight to a new generation of fans and revitalized superhero shows with its unique aesthetic and strong writing. However, as the show ended, Warner Bros. told the creative team that they wanted a new show that focused on a teenage protagonist, since that would be more relatable to kids and thus sell more toys. The team complied, but rather than make the show lighter and softer, they jumped decades into the future and focused on Terry McGinnis, who is mentored by an aged Bruce Wayne on how to be the new Batman.
Batman Beyondcontinued DC’s winning streak of animated shows, wowing audiences and critics with its inventive take on the Batman universe, the phenomenal voice cast, and Terry’s character progression. The Gotham of the future is the love child of dystopian anime likeAkiraandFrank Miller’s iconicThe Dark Knight Returns, but rather than appear run down and decrepit, it looks sleek and almost idealistic if one can look past the rampant crime and corruption.Terry’s new gadgets and creative rogues' gallery meant that there were plenty of toys to be pushed, particularly his upgraded Batmobile.
Batman Beyond
9’Spider-Man: The Animated Series' (1994–1998)
Created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko
Following the success ofX-Men: The Animated Series,Avi Arad, then CEO of Toy Biz, and CCO of Marvel, created Marvel Films Animation to createSpider-Man: The Animated Seriesto promote a new line of Marvel toys. Arad initially wantedMartin Paskoto helm the show, but after negotiations failed,Stan Leebrought inJohn Semper Jr., who wrote nearly every episode of the show. WhileArad just wanted the show to sell toys,Semper Jr. managed to weave in multi-episode story arcs, an act that almost got him fired, but resulted in one of themost belovedSpider-ManTV shows.
While the show’s animation can be quite stiff, the editing choppy, the writing adapts classic stories from comics to television while juggling dozens of other Marvel characters and the mandatory toy promotions. One of the best examples can be seen in the two-part introduction for the Hobgoblin: Semper Jr. didn’t want to use the character, but toys had already been made during Pasko’s brief time on the show, so he did what he could to tell a compelling narrative while showing off Hobgoblin’s many weapons and gliders. The show is also important to the history ofSpider-Manbecause its finale saw the beginning of the “Spider-Verse.”
Spider-Man: The Animated Series
8’My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic' (2010–2019)
Created by Lauren Faust
With the success ofMichael Bay’sTransformersmovies, Hasbro decided to try rebooting another of their beloved toy lines:My Little Pony. Rather than just target little girls, the new show would be written for families to hopefully keep parents invested.Lauren Faust, wife and creative collaborator toThe Powerpuff GirlsandFoster’s Home for Imaginary Friends' creatorCraig McCracken,was brought on as the showrunner, and she further broadened the audience by focusing on strong character writing to makeeachMy Little Ponycharacterdiverse and relatable.
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magicexceeded all expectations when it amassed a fanbaseof primarily young boys and grown men. This was due to several factors, including its stylistic Flash animation, a phenomenal voice cast,Daniel Ingram’s music, and the emphasis on strong character writing, which made the ponies feel not like a glorified commercial, but like living, breathing people with universal hopes and fears. The show still had its product placements, such as the introduction of new buildings like Twilight’s Castle or the School of Friendship, but the main focus of the writers was always on the characters, their interactions, and the lessons about friendship.
My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic
7’She-Ra: Princess of Power' (1985–1987)
Created by Larry DiTillio and J. Michael Straczynski
Filmation’sHe-Man and the Masters of the Universewas one of the juggernauts of 1980s culture, so they naturally wanted to expand the brand to appeal to young girls as well. They teamed up with Mattel to create a spinoff focused on Prince Adam’s long-lost sister, Princess Adora, who was brainwashed to serve the villainous Evil Horde and their leader, Hordak, who had conquered the land of Eternia. After breaking free, Adora formed a rebellion with other freedom fighters and gained the ability to transform intoa powered form called She-Ra.
She-Ra: Princess of Powerwas one of the first female-led action series, and did an excellent job showing that Adora was worthy of the title of hero with or without the sword. The show later crossed over withHe-Man,leading to some fun team-up episodes between the two superpowered siblings and their villains. As for the toys, they combined the action ofMasters of the Universewith the feminine aesthetic ofBarbie.
She-Ra: Princess of Power
6’G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero' (1983–1992)
Created by Ron Friedman
WhenRonald Reaganlifted the restrictions on advertising to children on television, Hasbro decided that it was time to reboot theirG.I. Joefranchise with a tie-in comic by Marvel. Naturally, a television show was also put into production so that kids could see the Joes battle against the evil terrorist organization, Cobra, with their diverse list of characters and weapons. It proved to be one of themost successful cartoons of the 1980s, and even saw a movie released in 1987, though it was made straight to home video due to the poor box office ofThe Transformers: The Movie.
The franchise has had several more shows over the years, butnone are as recognizable or beloved asG.I. Joe: A Real American Hero. While it was created to push merchandise, it found its audience thanks to its long list of memorable characters and the creative situations the writers could connect to justify another clash between the Joes and Cobra. Following the movie, DIC Entertainment took over production of the show’s remaining seasons, and while a few episodes are remembered fondly, most fans prefer the earlier Sunbow era.
5’ThunderCats' (1985–1989)
Created by Ted Wolf
When people hear the name Rankin/Bass, their minds likely jump to their stop-motion holiday specials or a few of their fantasy films, such asThe HobbitandThe Last Unicorn. However, the company also produced one of the most famous cartoons of the 1980s,ThunderCats. Animation was complete by 1983, but the show wouldn’t air until 1985, coming after a toy line had been produced by LJN Toys.
It’s hard not to get sucked intoThunderCats, withits iconic theme song, creative storytelling, and one of the best villains of 1980s cartoons in Mumm-Ra. It even managed to find an organic way to integrate the mandatory life-lessons that had to be in cartoons at the time by having its main character, Lion-O, be a child in a man’s body who still needs to learn the ways of the world. The show wasn’t as dictated by its toy line as other shows, though it would sometimes adjust its character designs after the toys were released.
ThunderCats
4’Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' (1987–1996)
Created by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtlesbegan life as a parody comic book byKevin EastmanandPeter Laird. It became a surprise hit, and soon Playmates Toys signed a toy deal, but they wanted an animated show to go alongside it. The result is one of themost successful 1980s cartoons, which then led to a multimedia franchise that has cemented itself as one of the world’s most recognized brands in popular culture.
The show deviated hard from the comics, adopting a more goofy and lighthearted toneas opposed to a serious and gritty one. To better tell the turtles apart from the toys, each was given a unique colored bandanna, initial belts, and their personalities were adjusted in a way that fit classic archetypes: the stern leader, tech guy, immature goofball, and wisecracking cynic. While it did push a lot of characters and new gizmos, the show rarely felt like a commercial, as each new addition was presented as something that furthered the turtles' stories and growth.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
3’The Transformers' (1984–1987)
Created by Jim Shooter and Bob Budiansky
In 1983, Hasbro’s product developer,Henry Orenstein, discovered two toy lines from Japanese toy company Takara:Microman, which featured 12-inch figurines, andDiaclone, which placed little drivers into vehicles that could transform into robot forms. When the toys were brought to North America, they were combined into a single new toy line, and following the success ofG.I. Joe: A Real American Hero,the toys would be promoted through a comic series by Marvel Comics and a cartoon. The story follows two factions ofalien robots called Cybertronians, the Autobots and the Decepticons, who crash-land on Earth and re-ignite their war with humanity caught in the middle.
The Transformers, now known as G1, remain the most iconic look of the franchisethanks to the simple but creative designs of the characters and the sheer number of Cybertronians introduced for toy sales. It also led to a feature film in 1986, which Hasbro used as an excuse to kill off many beloved characters to make way for new toys. Among the casualties was Optimus Prime himself, but he would later be revived due to fan backlash.
The Transformers
2’Beast Wars: Transformers' (1996–1999)
Created by Bob Forward and Larry DiTillio
Bob ForwardandLarry DiTillio, writers for bothHe-Man and the Masters of the UniverseandShe-Ra: Princess of Power,were given the helm for aTransformersshow that would hopefully revitalize the franchise. This time, instead of turning into vehicles, the robots would become animals, and the story focused on the conflict between stranded crews of Maximals and Predacons on a foreign world. Mainframe Entertainment, the company behindReBoot, would handle the animation, but since the cost of CGI was high, the writers decided to limit their number of characters as opposed to the dozens present in the original series.
The smaller cast meant that the writers could focus on character arcs and longform storytelling, and as a result,Beast Wars: Transformersis often ranked among thebestTransformersTV shows.It was a series that respected its audience’s intelligence and wasn’t afraid to show the heroes losingnow and again, leading to some powerful episodes such as “Code of Hero,” a harrowing episode about redemption, defiance against impossible odds, and fate vs free will. New toys were used to justify transformations in the characters, though sometimes it led to superfluous storylines, such as TigerHawk, introduced near the end of the show and killed a few episodes later.
Beast Wars: Transformers
1’He-Man and the Masters of the Universe' (1983–1985)
Created by Lou Scheimer and Hal Sutherland
Once the ban on toy-focused shows was lifted, Mattel was quick to jump at the new opportunity to promote theirMasters of the Universebrand. They turned to Filmation, an animation company known for using limited animation, to create a television series. It followed Adam, prince of Eternia, who used the Sword of Power to transform into He-Man and battle against the evil wizard Skeletor and his minions.
It cannot be understated howHe-Man and the Masters of the Universedominated the 1980s, and even 40 years after release, theMasters of the Universebrand is going strong with toys, comics, and multiple new shows. The show was the perfect blend of science fiction and high fantasy elements, and though its writing is quite corny by today’s standards, there is a beautiful sincerity to it. The show isn’t trying to be anything more than what it is, and if you’re willing to accept that, you’ll have a great time with its simple but fun stories, memorable characters, and plethora of iconic moments that have given birth to internet memes.
