charlesoberonn:

It’s not because of ratings or reviews, it’s because of demographics. Specifically toy buying demographics.



Cartoons have been desegragated for a good number of years now. Today’s cartoons appeal to both female, male and all viewers alike, and often strive to do so.

But when it comes to toys, this is not how they work. Even if the product they’re selling the toys of appeals to all demographics, their toys don’t. The way the toys companies see it, the cartoon is an advertisement to sell their toys, and not the other way around, even though that hasn’t been the case for over 10 years.

And when it comes to the way they sell toys, the toy aisles have been strictly segregated by gender for over 30 years now.

So how does WOY and SVTFOE come into play? WOY is hard to sell to the toys companies because its design negates the toy companies strategies, especially when it comes to gender. There aren’t enough female characters to make it “a show for girls” and there isn’t enough violence to make it “a show for boys”. And when there is violence, it’s mostly Sylvia who’s doing it, and the toy companies don’t want to sell a female action figure to boys for some reason (hence why Rey was excluded from most Star Wars sets and was sold separately for example).

Other aspects include the lack of settings (the only two recurring settings are Hater’s ship and Dominator’s ship) and a lack of armours and accessories. (only character with a battle suit is Dominator, who’s female and thus “can’t be sold to boys”)

Star Vs The Forces of Evil on the other hand, even though it appeals to everyone, can easily be sold to girls. This is due to its colorful aesthetic, the large number of outfits Star wears, the fact they can call her a “disney princess” and the large number of cute companions and accessories she has.

Don’t be surprised if when SVTFOE toys do come out that they completely remove the fighting and action aspects of the show. I wouldn’t be surprised if Marco and Tom are reduced to love interests or princes for Star.