Behind the Screen Study Guide Licensed Merchandise Licensing is an arrangement in which a studio or producer is paid a fee (usually a royalty) so that a manufacturer can use an actor's or character's image on its products. The practice dates back to the 1910's, but the Walt Disney Company brought character licensing into the modern age in the 1930's. In 1934, Disney began aggressively licensing its six-year-old character Mickey Mouse. Within a year, over eighty companies were granted licenses, sales of Disney merchandise reached $35 million, and Disney's royalty income accounted for nearly a third of its 1935 profits. In the early days of the studio system, stars were under exclusive contract and signed away the rights to their names and likenesses. They did not share in the profits from the merchandising campaigns that borrowed their names, and they had no control over images in motion picture promotion. Shirley Temple was an early exception to this rule. Her parents worked out profitable arrangements with 20th Century Fox for marketing the child star. For Christmas 1934, the Ideal Toy Company manufactured the first Shirley Temple doll, dressing her in a costume from Baby Take a Bow. Although licensing was originally conceived as a way to promote films and boost box office revenue, it has become an important independent source of income for studios and producers. The Star Wars trilogy made over $1.2 billion at the box office but more than twice that in sales of licensed merchandise. Licensed merchandise is an integral part of our culture. Mighty Morphin Power Ranger dolls, Malcolm X baseball caps, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles lunch boxes—these and countless other objects weave television—and film-related images into the fabric of everyday life. back | index | next