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About this video
In 1999, Mattel made one of the most expensive acquisitions in the history of educational software. It paid approximately $3.5 billion for The Learning Company, the publisher behind some of the most recognisable computer games of the 1990s, including Reader Rabbit, Oregon Trail, Carmen Sandiego and Math Blaster.
Just 18 months later, Mattel sold the business for a mere $27.5 million.
What went wrong? How did a company controlling an estimated 50 to 60 percent of the consumer educational software market collapse so spectacularly under one of the world's biggest toy manufacturers? And what happened to the beloved games that millions of children grew up playing?
This documentary traces the rise of Softkey, the acquisitions that created The Learning Company, Mattel's disastrous takeover, the enormous financial losses and the eventual breakup of its legendary software catalogue. We also follow the later histories of Reader Rabbit, Carmen Sandiego and Oregon Trail, and explore how these childhood classics survived long after the company behind them was dismantled.
Some of the most memorable software of the 1990s outlived the corporations that owned it. And the story of The Learning Company is a remarkable example of what happens when a valuable creative legacy becomes just another corporate asset.
Just 18 months later, Mattel sold the business for a mere $27.5 million.
What went wrong? How did a company controlling an estimated 50 to 60 percent of the consumer educational software market collapse so spectacularly under one of the world's biggest toy manufacturers? And what happened to the beloved games that millions of children grew up playing?
This documentary traces the rise of Softkey, the acquisitions that created The Learning Company, Mattel's disastrous takeover, the enormous financial losses and the eventual breakup of its legendary software catalogue. We also follow the later histories of Reader Rabbit, Carmen Sandiego and Oregon Trail, and explore how these childhood classics survived long after the company behind them was dismantled.
Some of the most memorable software of the 1990s outlived the corporations that owned it. And the story of The Learning Company is a remarkable example of what happens when a valuable creative legacy becomes just another corporate asset.
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