There was once a time when the connection between what kids watched and what they played with felt almost inseparable.
From action figures and dolls to trading cards and playsets, some of the biggest childhood franchises found ways to take the characters kids had in their toyboxes and give them larger stories on the screen. And, in return, those stories gave kids even more reasons to bring those characters into their own adventures at home.
While that pipeline has never truly disappeared, it hasn’t felt quite as heavily leveraged this decade.
But one of today’s biggest toy brands might be ready to change that.
The world of Squishmallows is officially heading to the big screen, with Amazon MGM developing a new family feature based around the massively popular plush brand.
Amazon MGM is partnering with Squishmallows creator Jazwares on the project, with Moana producer Beau Flynn and his FlynnPictureCo banner also coming aboard. Though development is still early, the goal is reportedly to create a major four-quadrant family film with global appeal.
And if there is one modern toy brand with enough characters to build a world around, Squishmallows certainly has plenty to choose from.
Since first arriving in 2017, the ultra-soft plush line has exploded into a billion-dollar brand with more than 3,000 original characters. From Cam the Cat and the line’s colorful Bigfoots to axolotls, cows and even a sentient grilled cheese named Lil Gouda, Squishmallows has created a rather unusual universe of characters over the years.
More than 600 million Squishmallows have been sold, with the brand reaching well beyond its original audience of younger kids. Teens, adults and collectors have all embraced the plush line, helping turn Squishmallows into one of those rare modern toy brands capable of crossing generations.
Which makes a movie feel like a rather natural next step.
For years, toy companies have understood that giving a toy a story can change how kids interact with it. A character is no longer simply something sitting on a shelf or tucked into bed at night. Once they have a personality, friendships and a world of their own, they become the starting point for even more imaginative play.
It is an idea that helped define generations of children’s entertainment.
Brands such as Transformers, My Little Pony, Barbie, G.I. Joe and countless others built sprawling entertainment worlds around characters that children could then bring directly back into their playrooms.
And lately, we have started to see toy companies looking towards that relationship between storytelling and play once again.
Squishmallows is particularly interesting because much of that groundwork is already there. Each plush comes with its own name, personality and little piece of character lore. What they haven’t had is the larger screen story capable of bringing all of those individual personalities together.
That could finally be changing.
For now, Amazon MGM and Jazwares are keeping the creative direction of the movie under wraps. There is no word yet on whether the Squishmallows film will be animated, live-action or some combination of the two, nor do we know which members of the enormous Squishmallows family will make the jump to the screen.
But Cam the Cat seems like a pretty good place to start.
The project also has some interesting family entertainment experience behind it. Flynn previously produced Disney’s Moana and Jungle Cruise and is currently working on Warner Bros.’ upcoming Hello Kitty animated movie, giving him another rather massive character-driven brand to bring to the screen.
For Squishmallows, however, this could represent something bigger than simply adding another category to an already enormous licensing program.
It is an opportunity to turn characters millions of kids already know from their bedrooms, playrooms and collections into personalities they can follow on an adventure.
And maybe, once the credits roll, bring that adventure right back home with them.
Because sometimes the best children’s franchises don’t ask kids to choose between watching a story and creating one themselves.
They give them the characters and let them do both.