The Adventure of Product Development
How a rejected concept became the first and only dual connect-to-build toy set in the history of the Happy Meal.
Amplifying the Toy Experience
From early in Toy Story 4’s ideation I was fervently exploring methods to enable our toy collection to connect and build a play set - an experience we had not delivered in the Happy Meal for decades.
These initial efforts were rejected, backed by exhaustive explanations of why this type of collection was no longer possible:
A child who only received 2-3 toys would need to be able to meaningfully partake in the connect-to-build experience without requiring the entire set. How do you design a setpiece that can both be built with the entire set and also with just 2-3 toys?
Each toy could not compromise on its stand-alone value by appearing to rely on its connection with other toys to achieve its ‘full’ functionality.
What may appear as obstacles were actually guide rails through which – if we could find a path – the ultimate connect-to-build experience could be created. Beyond that, we could finally ‘unlock’ connect-to-builds for future promotions to deliver similar experiences.
I worked tirelessly with a colleague to design a solution that would satisfy these challenges, and discovered that with some clever engineering we could deliver multiple layered connect-to-builds with this program.
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Each design would be a fun stand-alone carnival game featuring a headlining character from the movie.
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As more designs were collected, they could connect to each other one-by-one to build an ever-growing carnival.
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A completed carnival strip collection could transform into a completely different set-piece from the movie – the RV.
Delivering an Expanded Scope
As development continued, the RV build presented a unique challenge: when assembled, the ‘carnival side’ of each design faced inwards, placing firm restrictions on the height, width, and length of each toy.
I first focused development efforts on the RV’s size and shape, proving out each toy’s functionality within its available volume, and balancing all toy costs within the program budget.
Once the RV’s size had been established, focus was then shifted to the ‘carnival side’ of the toys, maximizing functional movement and boosting the visual presence and scale of each character.
Engineering Value Through Design
Improvements made throughout development placed the program tightly against its budget, meaning further enhancements would need to be engineered through design for manufacturing and assembly.
Assembling the RV resulted in loose characters, but I wanted to ensure that all pieces had a purpose in both of the buildable configurations. I proposed that we creatively alter the parting lines between our tool cavities along the RV’s roof to add ‘free’ mounting studs, enabling every loose character to attach to the assembled RV at no additional cost.
The bottom and back sides of each toy would create the outside of the RV, so these areas needed to be gray. This initially resulted in a significant amount of gray being visible on the ‘carnival side’ of the toys, making them appear dull. Creatively adjusting the cavity design for each of these base housings enabled us to maximize the visual presence of our vibrant carnival colors.
Creative Legal Compliance
Since all surfaces of every toy would be utilized in each of the buildable configurations, I was faced with a unique conundrum: which of our buildable set-pieces would be marred by the required legal text engraving?
After some discussion with our legal compliance team, I discovered the toys only needed to arrive with this text visible. I proposed that we place this text on the RV’s windows, which consumers would already be covering with included window stickers. This approach was approved and resulted in a final toy without any visible legal text negatively impacting its aesthetics.
Exceeding All Expectations
The Toy Story 4 Happy Meal program was a resounding success at every measurable level – setting records as one of the best performing Happy Meal programs of all time.
The news and social media were abuzz with excitement over the toys. We had already inflated our supply in anticipation of its popularity, but the program rocketed past our expectations and sold out in record time.
Even nearly half a decade later, a single question inevitably surfaces during every new toy ideation:
“What could it connect to build?”
