First Barbie now… View-Master? Mattel tees up next toy-to-movie adaptation

It’s not unusual for toy-to-movie adaptations to raise an eyebrow when they’re first announced. Though it’s hard to remember now, no-one could quite picture how Warner Bros were going to pull off a LEGO movie — now it's a mega successful franchise several movies deep. The same went for the 2023 adaptation of Mattel’s Barbie dolls which, against all odds, went on to become an Oscar-bothering cultural phenomenon the likes of which is rarely seen.

Now Mattel is hoping lightning will strike again for its next plaything-to-silverscreen flick. But… a View-Master movie?

Well… it’s happening! Not since the bizarre Battleship film staring Rhianna have we been this intrigued.

Before we had VR headset or smartphones jam packed with streaming services, poor kids of the dark ages (read: the 1940s through the 1990s) used to pop a little plastic visor in front of their eyes, loaded up with small colour photos that could be magnificent and viewed through the lenses. Working like an old-school carousel photo projector, you could then click a button to rotate through a circular-disk’s worth of images. From breath-taking landscapes to Disney characters, there was a View-Master disc for everything — but it’s popularity faded as kids TV rose in popularity and personal devices got infinitely smarter.

Still, there’s a lot of retro charm to the View-Master toy, and Mattel is hoping it will be able to tap into that with this new adaptation. No cast has been announced yet, but Kevin McKeon, Arturo Thur de Koós, Todd Black, Jason Blumenthal, Steve Tisch and Tony Shaw are onboard as producers, with Mattel working the production with Sony and Escape Artists.

Inspired generations

“View-Master has inspired generations to embark on boundless adventures, offering a treasure trove of storytelling possibilities for this film,” said Robbie Brenner, president of Mattel Films.

“We’re thrilled to work with Sony Pictures Entertainment and Escape Artists’ Todd Black to bring this Mattel franchise to life. Their creative and filmmaking expertise sets the stage to introduce a modern take on this beloved toy to audiences everywhere.”

“View-Master has long been a window to the wonders of the world, sparking imagination in kids and adults alike,” reads a statement Escape Artist's Todd Black.

“Teaming up with Robbie Brenner and Mattel Films gives us the chance to honor that legacy while creating an entirely new adventure for today’s audience. We can’t wait to bring this treasured toy’s sense of exploration to the big screen.”

We’re still racking our brains on how you build a plot around the View-Master. Each picture wheel transports a character to another world perhaps? Or what’s seen in the View-Master becomes real in our world? Or maybe the View-Master itself gets legs and arms and runs around like a cursed toy-based Microsoft Clippy? Either way, it’s reason enough for us to go into the loft and dust off our old View-Master disc collection…

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