- published: 17 Feb 2014
- views: 257419
Kenner Products was an American toy company founded in 1947. Throughout its history the Kenner brand produced several highly recognizable toys and merchandise lines, including the original series of Star Wars action figures. The company was closed by its corporate parent Hasbro in 2000.
Founded in 1947 in Cincinnati, Ohio by brothers Albert, Phillip, and Joseph L. Steiner, the company was named after the street where the original corporate offices were located, just north of Cincinnati's Union Terminal. It was a pioneer in the use of television as a medium for advertising toys across the United States, beginning in 1958.
In the early 1960s, Kenner introduced its corporate mascot, The Kenner Gooney Bird, which would be used in both its company logo ("It's Kenner! It's fun!") and TV ads, in both animated form and puppetry. One commercial was produced by Muppets creator Jim Henson. The Bird was phased out by 1974.
The company was purchased by General Mills in 1967. In 1970, General Mills merged its Rainbow Crafts division into Kenner Products, bringing Play-Doh into the Kenner product line. In 1985, General Mills would spin-off both its Kenner and Parker toy divisions to form Kenner Parker Toys, Inc. The following year Kenner Parker sold off its Lionel Trains division.
Star Wars is an American epic space opera franchise, centered on a film series created by George Lucas. It depicts the adventures of various characters "a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away".
The first film in the series, Star Wars (later subtitled Episode IV: A New Hope), was released on May 25, 1977 by 20th Century Fox and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon. It was followed by the similarly successful sequels The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Return of the Jedi (1983); these three films constitute the original Star Wars trilogy. A prequel trilogy was later released between 1999 and 2005, which received a more mixed reaction from critics and fans, compared to the original trilogy. All seven films were nominated for or won Academy Awards, and were commercial successes, with a combined box office revenue of $4.38 billion, making Star Wars the fourth highest-grossing film series. The series has spawned an extensive media franchise—the Star Wars expanded universe—including books, television series, computer and video games, and comic books, resulting in significant development of the series's fictional universe. Star Wars also holds a Guinness World Records title for the "Most successful film merchandising franchise." In 2012, the total value of the Star Wars franchise was estimated at USD $30.7 billion, including box-office receipts as well as profits from their video games and DVD sales.
The Millennium Falcon is a spacecraft in the Star Wars universe commanded by Corellian smuggler Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and his Wookiee first mate, Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew). The highly modified Corellian Engineering Corporation (CEC) YT-1300 light freighter first appears in Star Wars (1977), and subsequently in The Empire Strikes Back (1980), Return of the Jedi (1983) and Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015). The ship also makes a brief cameo appearance in Revenge of the Sith (2005). Additionally, the Falcon appears in a variety of Star Wars expanded universe materials, including books, comics, and games; James Luceno's novel Millennium Falcon focuses on the titular ship. It also appears in the 2014 animated film The Lego Movie in Lego form, with Billy Dee Williams and Anthony Daniels reprising their roles of Lando Calrissian and C-3PO, with Keith Ferguson voicing Han Solo.
According to Star Wars creator George Lucas, the Millennium Falcon's design was inspired by a hamburger, with the cockpit being an olive on the side. The ship originally had a more elongated appearance, but this design's similarity to the Eagle Transporters in Space: 1999 prompted Lucas to change the Falcon's design. The original model was modified, re-scaled, and used as Princess Leia's ship, Tantive IV.
Actors: Edward Asner (actor), Brian Ward (actor), Keith David (actor), Brian Ward (actor), Clement von Franckenstein (actor), David Cohen (actor), Peter Jason (actor), Tommy 'Tiny' Lister (actor), Stuart Pankin (actor), Keith Robinson (actor), Johnny Gill (actor), Ella Joyce (actress), John Hermann (actor), Antonio D. Charity (actor), Ron Pucillo (actor),
Genres: Comedy, Romance,Actors: Beau Starr (actor), Forest Whitaker (actor), Jonathan Silverman (actor), Francis X. McCarthy (actor), Tyrone Benskin (actor), Paulino Nunes (actor), Alan C. Peterson (actor), Boyd Banks (actor), Matt Birman (actor), Gene Mack (actor), Daniel Kash (actor), Craig Eldridge (actor), Ossie Davis (actor), Bill Duke (director), Michel Colombier (composer),
Plot: The words "Black Power" bring back memories of names like Stokely Carmichael, H. Rap Brown, and Eldridge Cleaver, but in Bogalusa, LA a group of harassed Afro-Americans had decided they'd had enough and took up arms to defend themselves and force the white power structure to listen to them. This took place during "Freedom Summer", 1964, right after the Civil Rights Act had become law. Fact based movie stars Forest Whitaker and Ossie Davis, the former as the founder of the Deacons of Defense and Justice (DDJ) and the latter as a peaceful minister trying to prevent the unavoidable violence that will follow. The story revolves around the white-controlled factory which provides 70% of the town's income and employees 40% of its people. Segregation is still clinging on within the factory, with blacks denied the supervisory positions and forced into separate lunchrooms, bathrooms, and drinking fountains. The Ku Klux Klan (KKK) has its strongest power in this area and, as the DDJ gets armed the KKK brings in more members from throughout the U.S. There will be a war!
Keywords: civil-rights-movement, docudrama, ku-klux-klan, vigilanteActors: Jeff Sackman (producer), James Toback (writer), Peter Locke (producer), Edward R. Pressman (producer), Joe Pingue (actor), Donald Kushner (producer), Joey Lauren Adams (actress), John Neville (actor), Sarah Michelle Gellar (actress), Eric Stoltz (actor), Al Franken (actor), Adrian Grenier (actor), Phillip Jarrett (actor), Alan Abrams (miscellaneous crew), James Toback (director),
Plot: College has always been a time for experimentation, sexual, cultural and otherwise. "Harvard Man" plays out against a background of love, sex, basketball, crime and experimentation. Action and philosophy in young people's quest to discover their true identity.
Keywords: airplane, airport, auditorium, basketball, bisexuality, boston-massachusetts, box-office-flop, cheerleader, cigar-smoking, collegeActors: Bennett Fidlow (miscellaneous crew), Tom Berenger (actor), Shawn Lawrence (actor), Barry Flatman (actor), Soon-Tek Oh (actor), John 'Frenchie' Berger (miscellaneous crew), J.S. Cardone (producer), J.S. Cardone (writer), J.S. Cardone (director), Tim Jones (composer), Len Doncheff (actor), Jefferson Mappin (actor), Stephanie Lee Berger (miscellaneous crew), Barry Newman (actor), Richard Chevolleau (actor),
Plot: Rembrandt Macy (Tom Berenger) is a maverick cop assigned to a case where the primary evidence is a woman's hand found in a pond. Investigators identify the dead, and Macy is lead into a young woman's past. Macy's primary path to understanding the victim is through one of her roommates, Nikki. Through Nikki and others, Macy learns of the victim's shady contacts at City Hall, the involvement of a gang of Asian drug runners, and the sordid affairs of one of the city's bigwigs. As Macy begins to understand how all these crimes fit together, he learns that his new friend Nikki is not an innocent bystander.
Keywords: asian-american, barbecue, blackmail, corrupt-cop, corruption, houseboat, murder, murder-mystery, neo-noir, nightmareActors: Jim Wynorski (producer), Glenn Plummer (actor), Corbin Bernsen (actor), Benjamin Sacks (miscellaneous crew), Alan B. Bursteen (producer), Jim Wynorski (director), David Wurst (composer), Matt McCoy (actor), Eric Wurst (composer), Marc Kunis (miscellaneous crew), Steve Franken (actor), Steve Latshaw (writer), Michael Mantell (actor), Marc Vahanian (actor), Alison Semenza (producer),
Genres: Action,Actors: Leigh Whannell (actor), Leigh Whannell (actor), John Fox (miscellaneous crew), James Wan (director), James Wan (writer), Gil Poznanski (producer), Gil Poznanski (actor), Shannon Young (producer), Shannon Young (writer), Shannon Young (director), Ryan Gibson (actor), David Lorensene (actor), Lorna Pettifer (actress), Dominic Redfern (actor), Nathan Barnes (actor),
Genres: Horror,Actors: Ted Raimi (actor), Sharon Kane (actress), Robert Kubilos (producer), Robert Kubilos (director), Rolfe Kent (composer), Robert Kubilos (writer), Nigel Dick (director), Daniel Licht (composer), Bernard Rose (actor), Bernard Rose (writer), Bernard Rose (director), J.D. Donaruma (miscellaneous crew), Antoine Fuqua (director), Neil Grieve (editor), Paul Rachman (director),
Plot: Playboy does to softcore sex films what HBO's Tales from the Crypt did for horror. Contains the stories: "Natalie Would"; "Modivation"; "Put Asunder"; "Save The Wetlands"; "The Thief"; "Jilted Lover"; "Three On A Match"; "What Anna Wants..."; "Video Mate"; and "My Cyberian Rhapsody".
Keywords: anthology, erotica, female-nudityActors: Meshach Taylor (actor), Roger Corman (producer), Robert L. Goodman (editor), Mike Elliott (producer), Luis Llosa (producer), Terry Plumeri (composer), Orlando Sacha (actor), Kevin Tent (director), Ed Tomney (composer), Ramsay Ross (actor), Ramsay Ross (actor), Augusto Tamayo San Román (director), Diego Bertie (actor), Mark Bringelson (actor), Dack Rambo (actor),
Plot: After the nuclear holocaust, one man rises from the ashes to become the leader of a ragged gang of survivors. They soon discover that their greatest challenge is yet to come; they must fight a battle for the ages against the evil minions of The Bishop.
Keywords: independent-film, post-apocalypse, post-nuclear-warActors: Henry Fonda (actor), Ernest Hemingway (writer), Robert Nichols (actor), Nancy Marchand (actress), Robert Young (director), Mark La Mura (actor), Robert Geller (writer), Robert Geller (producer), Robert Pusilo (costume designer), Robert Hitt (actor), Richard Backus (actor), Tom Kubiak (actor), Edward Beyer (editor), Bryan Utman (actor), Lane Binkley (actress),
Plot: Harold Krebs went off to fight in World War I, "the war to end all wars." But when he comes home, Harold finds that he doesn't fit in any more. He needs peace and quiet to figure out what has happened to him and who he has become, but his mother pressures him to rejoin society.
Keywords: alienation, based-on-short-story, mother-son-relationship, soldier, world-war-oneActors: Lawrence Dobkin (actor), Thomas Martin (actor), Robert Adler (actor), Parley Baer (actor), Richard Boone (actor), Mike Mahoney (actor), Charles Bronson (actor), Paul Dubov (actor), Harry Carter (actor), James Griffith (actor), John Close (actor), Jeffrey Hunter (actor), Richard Crenna (actor), Henry Kulky (actor), Robert Nichols (actor),
Plot: When a large forest fire breaks out in the mountains of Montana, a squad of 'Smoke Jumpers', the paratroop-corps of fire-fighters in the U. S. Forest Service, is flown to the scene from their regional headquarters in Missoula, Montana. The Forest Rangers, under Cliff Mason, put out the blaze, but several of the fire-fighters are killed. Ed Miller, son of one of the dead rangers, thinks he died because Mason was a coward, and sets out to prove it.
Keywords: 1950s, airplane, amnesia, arson, backfire, barracks, based-on-novel, bravery, cigarette-smoking, co-pilotKenner products was formed in Cincinnati Ohio in 1947. Their most significant claim to fame was of course the insanely successful and influential Star Wars line but if you look at their history they were behind a great deal of the toys we remember. Stay tuned for future videos about all the major toy manufacturers (and some of the best little ones). Are you an Action Figure collector? Are you looking for Checklists? Want to know how to grade and value your figures? Want to read Action Figure news and reviews? Then sign up for 3 FREE issues of the AFR Magazine. The world's first digital magazine for ACTION FIGURES http://www.action-figure-resource.com/action-figure-resource-magazine.html
Unproduced Kenner Playlist http://tinyurl.com/hexhlp This is one in a series of vids uploaded showing scans from a Tomart collector’s booklet. Credits are in the video. This shows an unproduced Rebel Blockade Runner for 3-3/4" action figures, Mini Rigs, X-wings including a two-seat trainer with Rebel Pilot with his goggles in the down position, Droids & Ewoks packing concepts. Revenge of the Jedi packaging layouts for the Rebel Transport, Millennium Falcon, AT-AT, And Power fo the Force A-Wing Fighter. It also shows concepts and protoypes for the Droids White Witch vehicle.
Obrigado
RetroBlasting concludes its Super Powers feature with a look back at the Kenner action figure line from 1984-1986!
RetroBlasting completes the restoration of Michael's childhood vintage Star Wars Kenner Millennium Falcon!
Da uma conferida ae rapaziada ☆ 7 KENNER Ja sabe Né quem tiver SUGESTOES de Videos Comentem abaixo
It's time for a Retro Review! Pixel Dan takes a look at the Alien vs Predator 2-pack released in 1994 from Kenner! For more toy review videos, be sure to visit http://www.Pixel-Dan.com! SUBSCRIBE to Pixel Dan on YouTube so you never miss a video! FOLLOW Pixel Dan on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/PixelDan
I see stars
So far away that
I'm looking up when I'm down
Time man
Nothing that you say
Can melt me like him
His words make me swim
Twilight from the screen he sees
Into my past