Matty Mattel

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Matty Mattel was the boy mascot for Mattel Inc. Toymakers, host and sponsor of TV's Matty's Funday Funnies in the 1960s. Matty was part of Mattel's advertising from 1959 to 1970 and then re-newed in the 1980's, printed in Mattel warranty information.

The serrated seal logo for Mattel was designed in 1959 and based on a concept by Mattel co-founder Elliot Handler. The character of "Matty" derived his name from Mattel, which in-turn was named after founders, Harold Mattson and Elliot Handler - thus the hybrid name of Matt + El (short for Elliot) yielded Mattel. This serrated seal, sometimes referred to as 'The Mattel', had a giant letter M in the center with a small boy shown waving, and wearing a crown on his head... this was Matty. Elliot Handler and his wife Ruth Handler bought out Mr. Mattson's share in the company and became the sole owners of Mattel Inc. Toymakers. Mattel was most famous for producing the Barbie doll in 1959, a record breaker by anyones standard...in various transformations, it is still being produced and will turn 50 years old in 2009. With the publishing of Ruth Handler's autobiography, "Dream Doll" in the early 1990's, we get a fascinating look inside toyland.

Matty was featured on all Mattel products and TV commercials from 1959 through 1970 as the company's logo. He was the familiar mascot that jumped atop the giant "M" in Mattel TV commercials and shouted, "You can tell it's Mattel, it's swell". The serrated seal with Matty seated and waving from the giant "M" was replaced with a new serrated seal design with the name Mattel printed across it in 1970, which was the company's 25th anniversary. The new serrated seal is still used today. In 1970, David Weissman, Head of Boy's Product Design, updated the logo for the company by translating it into a more graphic design and corporate logo. Mattel's position as "the King of Toys" is today known as a mark of quality and fun world-wide. Matty Mattel and his Sister Belle were the hosts of a Sunday morning cartoon show called, "Matty's Funday Funnies" from 1961-1963. Cartoon shorts of Bugs Bunny, Casper the Friendly Ghost and Beany and Cecil were a big part of the show... in-between Mattel toy commericals were duly shown. Mattel had introduced a talking doll called, Chatty Cathy in 1960, that spoke 11 different phrases with the pull of a "Chatty Ring". They rode a tidal wave of success in the '60s & '70s producing talking dolls and toys with many different personalities. In 1961 Matty the talking boy, Sister Belle and Casper the Friendly Ghost were made as talking dolls that said 11 different phrases with the pull of the Chatty Ring, one of Matty's phrases was, "I'm Matty Mattel!". It is good to note here too, that Mattel had trademarked the word Chatty, and most of these dolls carried the tag line on their packaging, "A Chatty Doll by Mattel" or "A Chatty Toy by Mattel". Other famous Mattel talking dolls were, Chatty Baby, Charmin' Chatty, Beany Boy, Cecil the Seasick Sea Serpent, Bugs Bunny, Herman Munster & Mrs. Beasley. See 'N Say was another hugely successful Mattel talking "Chatty Toy".

Starting in 1979, Matty appeared again as the character associated with Mattel's consumer "hotline" where he was featured on packages along with the company's 800 number.