In 1995, Toy Story first arrived to explore the exciting concept of toys who can talk, move, and think autonomously. After three sequel movies and several short animations, the characters of the Disney-Pixar franchise are still an important part of pop culture. Toy Story didn't try to reinvent the wheel with all its animations as several of them were depictions of pre-existing toys.
One of the oldest examples is the classic Mr. Potato Head toy, who is completed by Mrs. Potato Head as his love interest beginning in Toy Story 2. These decades-old toys have quite the history, and it began long before the Toy Story movies.
Mr. Potato Head Was First Imagined In 1949
In 1949, the Mr. Potato Head toy was first invented by George Lerner. Mr. Lerner was a Brooklyn-based designer and inventor who sought to give children a toy they could design themselves.
His idea was poorly received amid the food rationing of World War II, but a cereal company bought the toy for $5,000, distributing only its plastic accessories in their cereal boxes.
Mrs. Potato Head Followed in 1953
The Hassenfeld Brothers (also known as Hasbro) bought the rights to Mr. Potato Head from the cereal company and "gave Lerner $500 in advance and 5% royalties for every set sold."
After the incredible sales of the lone funny face Potato Head kit, the Hassenfelds decided it was time to expand their product, which would now include the Mrs. That's a tale not too far off from the addition of Mrs. Potato Head for Toy Story 2!
A Whole Potato Family
In addition to Mrs. Potato Head, the line grew to include a whole potato family--children named Spud and Yam, and their friends Cookie Cucumber, Pete the Pepper, Oscar the Orange, and Kate the Carrot. And it's true that real potatoes were used in the 1950s and early 1960s.
In fact, any vegetable was encouraged, but families had to supply the produce on their own. Early models did offer a styrofoam head form, but plenty of kids stuck the accessories in actual potatoes.
Toy Story Was Not Their First Time On Film
While Toy Story is the first time Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head were rendered in computer animation for a movie, the 1995 film was not the toys' first time on screen. Mr. Potato Head was first advertised on television in 1952. This advertisement was, in fact, the very first television commercial for a toy.
The original clip is incredibly hard to find, but a slightly later one from the 1950s shows a little girl and a little boy playing with the potatoes and attaching their accessories, which already included eyes, ears, mouths noses, hands, feet, mustaches, hats, and glasses.
A Changing Look
Pretty soon, parents were complaining about moldy potatoes all over their homes. It wasn't so cool to use food as a plaything anymore. Thus came the change that stuck around for good: a plastic potato body for every member of the potato family.
The new look was first sold in 1964, but the plastic mold was enlarged in subsequent decades to make it easier for small children to insert the accessories into the manufactured "potato."
Potato Head Kids
The Potato Heads' television journey continued well beyond the 1950s. Commercials continued through the years, but that wasn't all. The 1980s were the decade of commercialized cartoons; much of the programming for children at that time was little more than a series of half-hour commercials for popular toys.
Potato Head Kids was an animated series that aired on CBN Family Channel in conjunction with My Little Pony in 1986 and 1987. Years before the strange world of The Mr. Potato Head Show in the 1990s, the spud already had a starring TV role.
Toy Hall Of Fame Membership
Mr. Potato Head was officially inducted into the Toy Hall of Fame in 2000. Some would say this is because of the wild success of the first two Toy Story movies, but it also could have been because children had loved the toy for nearly fifty years at that point.
It was most likely a combination of the toy's legacy in itself and its prominence in the popular movies.
Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade Honoree
Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head have been around long enough to live through many movements of history. Apparently, a potato is a good statement piece. Mr. Potato Head has a reputation for espousing various causes, like healthy eating in the middle of the 2000s.
After being featured in some of Pixar's best movies, Mr. Potato Head was honored with his own float in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade from 2005 to 2007 to promote exercise and a healthy diet. While the 500-pound float didn't get to fly forever, Mr. Potato Head has been seen walking around with other characters before, too.
Special Permission For Potato Heads
While accounts on the financial side of the deal vary, it is clear that there were certainly some negotiations for the use of the Potato Heads as intellectual property in Toy Story's films.
Craig Good, who worked on several of the Pixar movies, said that producer Ralph Guggenheim had to speak with Mr. Potato Head's lawyer before the first movie. Good said the negotiations were "touch and go" until finally landing the rights to the beloved Hasbro/Playskool toy.
A Voice That Lives On
Comedian Don Rickles voiced Mr. Potato Head in the first three Toy Story movies, along with other uses of the character, like for attractions in Disney's theme parks. Meanwhile, Estelle Harris is the voice of Mrs. Potato Head in the franchise. Don Rickles had signed on to reprise his role in the fourth feature film, but he passed away before recording any new dialogue.
Rickles' family asked if the filmmakers could work in any archived lines Rickles had recorded through the years, and that is exactly what they did. Though Don Rickles didn't get to see the completed product, his voice lives on in Mr. Potato Head, one of the best Toy Story characters.