Elsa and Anna Freeze Out Barbie
December 2, 2014
For the first time in 11 years, Barbie has been bumped from her number-one spot on an annual list of toys for girls that parents plan to buy this holiday season. Taking her place are dolls and other merchandise linked to Frozen (2013), the most successful animated film in history. The list, the Holiday Top Toy Survey, has been compiled since 2003 by the National Retail Federation (NRF), an organization that represents retailers in the United States and 45 other countries. According to the NRF, 20 percent of parents surveyed said they planned to buy Frozen dolls or another of the more than 300 items in that line, compared with 17 percent who reported plans to buy Barbie dolls and related merchandise.
Frozen, produced by the Walt Disney Company, is loosely based on the fairy tale “The Snow Queen,” by Danish writer Hans Christian Andersen. In the movie, a princess named Anna braves a difficult journey through snowy mountains to find her sister, Princess Elsa, who has accidentally trapped their kingdom in eternal winter. The film earned more than $1.3 billion in ticket sales worldwide.
The number-one toy for boys on the survey was LEGO construction sets.