Candyland (2000's Franchise)

Candyland is a board game published by Hasbro and Milton Bradley. First published in 1949, Candyland over the years evolved from it's board game formula. The 2000s era of Candyland was considered the biggest and most nostalgic of the eras, not only releasing board games, but toys, video games, animated films and even gaining a live show.

SUMMARY OF HISTORY
First designed by Eleanor Abbott in 1948 to entertain kids while recovering from polio, The game was suggested by the children to be sent to Milton Bradley. The game was bought and the next year it was released on store shelves. It would soon become Milton Bradley's top selling game. Nearly 40 years later in 1984, Hasbro would purchase Milton Bradley and revamp the board game for the first time. This would introduce a new story, new art style and would introduce the iconic Candyland characters.

The board game would eventually receive it's next big revamp in 2002, spawning the 2000s franchise of Candyland. People became intrigued with the new designs, and the popularity grew. Alongside My Little Pony G3 and Mr Potato Head, Candyland became one of Hasbro's top 3 best selling toys around the time. This popularity would result in Hasbro creating merchandise outside of board games and the franchise being involved in bigger projects and charities. It would even garner attention outside of North America (Australia was Candyland's biggest foreign partner). However, by 2008 the era's popularity was slowly decreasing. Though there was still a large amount of customers buying the products, it wasn't as big as the previous years. It would only continue to drop in 2009. In an attempt to gain back the large sales, Hasbro made the decision to make a small transition a redesign the artwork of the 2000s series as well as change it's style of products. Though everything stayed mostly the same, some characters were cut out, the art style was changed and there was even a CGI transition. This attempt was unfortunately unsuccessful. By 2010, CEO Brian Goldner made the decision to rebrand the Candyland franchise once again, discontinuing the 2000s franchise and ceasing all production on further 2000s products.

CHARACTERS IN MERCH

 * King Kandy (Voiced By: Scott McNeil)/2002 - 2010
 * Princess Lolly (Voiced By: Britt McKillip)/2002 - 2010
 * Princess Frostine (Voiced By: Kathleen Barr)/2002 - 2010
 * Mr Mint (Voiced By: Ian James Corlett)/2002 - 2010
 * Grandma Nutt (Voiced By: Ellen Kennedy)/2002 - 2010
 * Lord Licorice (Voiced By: Mark Oliver)/2002 - 2010
 * Jolly (Voiced By: Doug Parker - 2004 - 2006/Samuel Vincent - 2007 - 2010
 * Jib (Voiced By: Alberto Ghisi - 2005 - 2007/Parker Goris - 2008 - 2010
 * Princess Lemon Drops (Voiced By: Maggie Blue O'Hara)/2006
 * Saltwater Taffita The Taffy Mermaid (Voiced By: Chantal Strand)/2006 - 2007
 * Archigum Miworm (Voiced By: Trevor Devall)/2007
 * The Lollipop Trio (Voiced By: Emilie Claire Barlow - Cherry/Andrea Remanda - Berry/Cassidy Ladden - Merry/Live Show Exclusives

MAJOR NOTE
This is the first year of the Candyland 2000s franchise. During this time, not much was planned for the rebrand as Hasbro was unsure how popular this rebrand would get. The articular figures were utilised as an experiment by Hasbro to test the sales of the game.

TOYS

 * New CandyLand Board Game Makeover.
 * New Candy Land articular Figurines (Featuring King Candy, Princess Lolly, Princess Frostine, Mr Mint, Grandma Nut and Lord Licorice)/Available at Walmart.

MAJOR NOTE
The original test for the Candyland merchandise seemed to have been a success, as sales had increased during late 2002. As a result of this success, Hasbro would continue to experiment with new toys. This included blind bags and playsets.

TOYS

 * New Candy Land playsets.

King Candy’s Castle (With accessories, wind up staircase, light up and music playing throne, working light up gumball machine and Metallic King Candy)/Available at Target.

Princess Lolly’s Sweet Treat Circus (With a swinging taffy trapeze and target, “Lolli-Cycle” on sour strap tightrope that can be pulled on, “lolly-top” that can hold one figurine and spin them around and a “Gumdrop” princess lolly with 2 outfits/Available at Target.

Grandma Nut’s Treehouse (With a small variety of accessories, twisting nut slide, brittle ladder, spinning hammock, mechanically opening and closing dog house and a “Brittle” textured Grandma Nut and Bazz/Available at Target.

Lord Licorice’s Trap Tower (With a small variety of accessories, working mechanical traps, mechanically opening bridge and door with puzzles and codes, hidden light up and music playing statue and “Rock Candy translucent” Lord Licorice/Available at SEARS for limited release.


 * Candy Land “Sweet Wrapper Surprise” articular figure blind bags with 6 characters in 6 varieties.

CHARACTERS: Mr Mint/Princess Lolly/King Candy/Princess Frostine/Grandma Nut/Lord Licorice.

VARIETIES: Shiny Straps/Metallic

Gumdrop/Glitter

Rock Candy/Translucent

Brittle/New Texture

Neon Colours

New Outfit.


 * Candy Land “Sweet and Sour Parlour” display set with shelves.
 * Candy Land “Candy Case” To carry on the go./All available at Toys R Us.

MAJOR NOTE
This is the first instance of a new character being added to the main cast, as Jolly would make it first toy appearance through playsets and blind bags. He would be one of two newly introduced characters to stay with the main cast until the end of the era. This year would also see a new higher sales rate for Candyland and Hasbro, as the 2000's series would grow in popularity further. Candyland would not only introduce special holiday themed accessory sets and spin off toy lines, but they would also begin to branch to foreign countries, as well as partaking in charities.

TOYS

 * Re-release of Candy Land board game.


 * New CandyLand Blind Bag Character: Jolly as well as 6 different varieties (With 3 new ones).

VARIETIES: Neon Colours

Gumdrop/Glitter

New Outfit

Rainbow Switch (Colour changing in water)

Candy Floss (Soft figures)

Painted Patterns/Available at Toys R Us.


 * Special themed Candy Land characters and “Celebration Set Ups” accessory sets are released for the holidays.

Jolly’s Jolly Hop Hunt (For Easter)

Mr Mint’s Magical Mallow-Venture (For Winter/Christmas)/Both available for a limited time at KB Toys.


 * Two “Sparkling Light Sweet” CandyLand figurines with a small variety of accessories as well as re-releases of previous CandyLand toys exclusively made and partnered by the Children’s Wish Foundation of Canada with proceedings going to the Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami as well as importing toys to the victims.


 * New Playsets get released while some get re-released at Target.

Mr Mint’s Peppermint Cabin (Featuring a variety of accessories, a light up mechanical fireplace, spinning chair, a miniature light up beaver and a new outfit Mr Mint).

Princess Frostine’s Fancy Dress Dance (Featuring a variety of outfits and clothing accessories, a play ice rink that lights up, a music playing speaker, a podium and a candy floss Princess Frostine.

Jolly’s Gummy Fun House (Featuring a small variety of accessories, a bouncy slingshot, a room of mirrors, a light up colour changing room and a gumdrop Jolly.


 * A new Candy Land line of toys “Kandy Kartz” are released in small sets that include candy land characters and character themed vehicles.

Line also comes with themed playset called the “Rainbow Road” featuring a rainbow track, a small variety of accessories and a bonus Princess Lolly and cart./All available at Costco.


 * Plush Toys of 4 out of the 7 characters are released exclusively in New Zealand and Canada (Mr Mint/Lord Licorice/Jolly and King Candy).

MAJOR NOTE
2005 and 2006 would be considered the biggest years for the Candyland franchise. Sales would reach an all time high, increase the income Hasbro and Milton Bradley had received, as well as beginning a set of fanbases and rise of popularity. Alongside My Little Pony and Mr Potato Head, Candyland would be considered among Hasbro's top 3 best selling brands at the time. The rise of popularity resulting in new branches to the brand. Video games, animated films and even an interactive website would be released. This would also mark the first year where the Candyland characters gained official voice actors, beginning with the animated films towards the end of the era. Outside of that, Candyland would introduce a new character, Jib the Gingerbread Boy. Like Jolly, Jib would be one of the 2 newly introduced characters to stay with the main cast until the end of the era.