HiT Entertainment

**HiT Entertainment** (now known as Mattel Television) is a British-American entertainment company owned by Mattel and originally established in 1982 as **Henson International Television**. It was founded as the international distribution arm of Jim Henson Productions.

In 2017, HIT was rebranded to Mattel Creations, then Mattel Television; The company is legally known as **HIT Entertainment Limited** for copyright reasons.

## History

### Henson International Television

HiT was originally formed as **Henson International Television** (*hit!*) in 1982 as a branch of the Jim Henson Company in order to coordinate the co-production of Fraggle Rock in London, England, United Kingdom. This subsidiary was later sold and retains none of the original Henson company architecture except for the name. It later rebranded itself as "**HiT Entertainment**".

### HiT Entertainment

On 9 February 2001, they acquired Lyrick Studios for a deal of $240 million.

On 1 February 2012, it was announced that Mattel purchased HiT Entertainment from Apax Partners, it's previous owners, for $680 million (US). Other bidders included Viacom, Disney, Chorion, Hasbro, Saban Brands, and Tomy.

HiT announced a DVD distribution deal with Universal Pictures Home Entertainment on May 2, 2014.

In 2017, HiT Entertainment was rebranded as Mattel Creations for business and distribution reasons.

Mattel Playground Productions was closed later that year but reformed as Mattel Films.

## Releases

### UK VHS and DVD Releases

* The Green Lady Vanishes and Other Stories
* On His Majesty's Toddler Service and Other Stories
* Snow and Peace and Other Stories
* The Tattered Umbrella and Other Stories
* Forbidden Cannonball and Other Stories
* Queen of Snowy Mountains and Other Stories
* Written on the Drum and Other Stories
* Knock on Frog and Other Stories
* Male on the Bank and Other Stories
* Kiss Me, Practice and Other Stories
* What's Up, Santa? and Other Stories
* The Valentine's Day Massacre and Other Stories
* The Black Beans and Other Stories
* Balloon Cry and Other Stories
* The Absent-Minded Bogeyman and Other Stories
* Robin and the 5 Hoods and Other Stories
* A Day of Fright and Other Stories
* Perfume for a Coward and Other Stories
* Her Fish Lover and Other Stories
* Blackout Fear and Other Stories
* The Outdoor Point and Other Stories
* All That Parrot Allows and Other Stories
* The Magician and I and Other Stories
* An American Shoe in Paris and Other Stories
* Prisoner in Hiding and Other Stories
* Rear Art Gallery and Other Stories
* Tax Time Heat and Other Stories
* Dance from the Hill and Other Stories
* My Fair Kylie Jean and Other Stories
* History of the World, Part III and Other Stories
* The Day the Castaway Stood Still and Other Stories
* The 3,000 Fingers of Mr. Jim and Other Stories
* Classic Collection
* The DVD Collection
* The Beauty Queen - Complete 1st Series
* Maiden Queen - Complete 2nd Series
* Styling Queen - Complete 3rd Series
* Tiara Queen - Complete 4th Series
* Faithful Queen - Complete 5th Series
* Boxset Queen - Complete Series
* Kylie Jean Returns - Volume 1
* Kylie Jean Returns - Volume 2
* Kylie Jean Returns - Volume 3

### Logos

1983–1989 as Henson International Television1989–1996 logo1994–1996 logo1996-2001 logo2000–2008 logo2001-2007 logoThe Current Logo (2007-present)
### Opening/Ending Sequence

Logo that was only used for the pilot episodeSeries 1-4 (episodes 1-13)Series 2-3 (home video releases)Series 3 and some Series 2 episodesSeries 4 (home video releases and episodes 14-24)
Series 1-3 (later home video releases)Series 5