Mr. Potato Head

From Disney's Hollywood Studios Wiki

Mr. Potato Head is an American toy consisting of a plastic model of a potato which can be decorated with a variety of attachable plastic parts such as ears and eyes to make a face. The toy was invented and developed by George Lerner in 1949, and first manufactured and distributed by Hasbro in 1952.

Mr. Potato Head, based off of the toy, is also a main character in the Toy Story films.

Studios Reference

Mr. Potato Head appears/ed in Meet and Greet form in three Parades over the years, Toy Story - The Parade, Disney's Stars and Motor Cars Parade, and Block Party Bash.

He is also an audio-Animatronic barker in the queue of Toy Story Midway Mania!

There are also several Mr. Potato Head Toys that are exclusive to Disney Parts, including a Make your own Mr. Potato Head kiosk, with many exclusive pieces, located in some of the stores throughout the property.

Character Synopsis

Mr. Potato Head is outspoken, sarcastic and jealous. His patented design allows him to separate his detachable parts from his body by removing them from the holes on his body. He also has a compartment on his lower back to store extra appendages. For unknown reasons, he is the only toy shown to be capable of retaining control over his parts even if they are several cm/inches away from his main body. For example, he could see even if his detachable eyes are removed, as well as being able to move his hands if they were detached. In the first film, he is quick to accuse Woody of being a jealous "toy-killer" and leads a mutiny with the other toys, only to realize his error and make amends. In the following film, he is shown in a much more positive light by helping save Woody from Al the toy collector. After the wild ride in the Pizza Planet Truck where he saved three alien toys from flying out the window, he and his wife apparently ended up adopting them as their children. The audio commentary on the 10th anniversary DVD jokes that he is an Irish-Catholic. He is voiced by Don Rickles.

Toy History

In 1949, Brooklyn-born toy inventor George Lerner came up with the idea of inserting small, pronged body and face parts into fruits and vegetables to create a "funny face man."[2]

Lerner would often take potatoes from his mother’s garden and using various other fruits and vegetables as facial features, he would make dolls with which his younger sisters could play. The grape-eyed, carrot-nosed, potato-headed dolls became the principal idea behind the plastic toy which would later be manufactured.

In the beginning, Lerner's toy proved controversial. With the war and food rationing a recent memory for most Americans, the use of fruits and vegetables to make toys was considered irresponsible and wasteful. Toy companies rejected Lerner's creation.[2]

After several years of trying to sell the toy, Lerner finally convinced a food company to distribute the plastic parts as premiums in breakfast cereal boxes. He sold the idea for $5,000. But in 1951, Lerner showed the idea to textile manufacturers Henry and Merrill Hassenfeld, who conducted a small school supply and toy business (later known as Hasbro). Realizing the toy was quite unlike anything in their line, they paid the cereal company $2,000 to stop production and bought the rights for $5,000. Lerner was offered an advance of $500 and a 5% royalty on every kit sold. The toy was dubbed Mr. Potato Head and went into production.[2] Original 1952 Mr. Potato Head boxed set

Mr. Potato Head was born on May 1, 1952. The original toy cost $.98, and contained hands, feet, ears, two mouths, two pairs of eyes, four noses, three hats, eyeglasses, a pipe, and 8 felt pieces resembling facial hair. The Original Mr. Potato Head kit did not come with a "Potato Body," so parents had to supply their own potatoes for face-changing fun. His debut into the toy scene sent him straight to the top, becoming the first toy to ever be advertised on television. A number of the original accessories reflected certain features of the members of Lerner’s own family[citation needed]. Shortly after the toy's initial release, an order form for 50 additional pieces was enclosed in every kit.

On April 30, 1952, Mr. Potato Head was the first toy advertised on television. Over one million kits were sold in the first year. In 1953, Mrs. Potato Head was added, and soon after, Brother Spud and Sister Yam completed the Potato Head family with accessories reflecting the affluence of the fifties that included a car, a boat trailer, a kitchen set, a stroller, and pets called Spud-ettes. Although originally produced as separate plastic parts to be stuck into a real potato or other vegetable, a plastic potato was added to the kit in 1964.

In 1975, the main potato part of the toy doubled in size and the dimensions of its accessories were similarly increased. This was done mainly because of new toy child safety regulations that were introduced by the U.S. government. This change in size also increased the market to younger children, enabling them to play and attach the facial pieces easily. Hasbro also replaced the holes with flat slats, which made it impossible for users to put the face pieces and other body parts the wrong way around. In the 1980s, Hasbro reduced the range of accessories for Mr. Potato Head to one set of parts. The company did however reintroduce round holes in the main potato body, and once again parts were able to go onto the toy in the wrong locations.

In 2006, Hasbro also began selling individual pieces as sets to add to a collection instead of having to buy an entire Potato Head set with a body. Some of these themed sets included Mermaid, Rockstar, Pirate King Princess, Firefighter, Construction Worker, Halloween, Santa Claus, Chef, and Police Officer. In the same year, Hasbro introduced a line called "Sports Spuds" with a generic plastic potato (smaller than the standard size) customized to a wide variety of professional and collegiate teams.

In recent years, Hasbro has produced Potato Head sets based on media properties that Hasbro produces toys for under license, and that are featured at Disney's Hollywood Studios. These include the Star Wars-themed "Darth Tater", "Spud Trooper", and "R2-POTATOO", as well as "Luke Frywalker", "Spuda Fett", "Darth Mash", "Yam Solo", and "Princess Tater" which are esclusive to Disney Parks. a Indiana Jones-themed "Taters of the Lost Ark" set (which, despite the title, was released as a tie-in to 2008's Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull).