4 times toys entered the 21st century

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.