American Girl
| American Girl | |
|---|---|
The current logo for American Girl
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| Creator | Pleasant Rowland |
| Original work | Dolls and books released by Pleasant Company (1986) |
| Print publications | |
| Books | See American Girl (book series) |
| Films and television | |
| Films | See American Girl (film series) |
| Audio | |
| Soundtracks |
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| Miscellaneous | |
| Toys | Various (dolls and playsets) |
Molly McIntire, one of the American Girl dolls
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| Type | Doll |
|---|---|
| Inventor | Pleasant Rowland |
| Company | Pleasant Company/Götz, Mattel |
| Country | United States |
| Availability | 1986–present |
| Slogan | Follow your inner star! |
| Official website | |
American Girl is an American line of 18-inch (46 cm) dolls released in 1986 by Pleasant Company. The dolls portray eight- to eleven-year-old girls of a variety of ethnicities. They are sold with accompanying books told from the viewpoint of the girls. Originally the stories focused on various periods of American history, but were expanded in 1995 to include characters and stories from contemporary life. Aside from the original American Girl dolls, the buyer also has the option to purchase dolls that look like them. The options for the line of Truly Me dolls range from eye color, eye shape, skin color, hair texture, and hair length. A variety of related clothing and accessories is also available.
Pleasant Company was founded in 1986 by Pleasant Rowland, and its products were originally purchasable by mail order only. In 1998, Pleasant Company became a subsidiary of Mattel. The company has been awarded the Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Award eight times.
The Historical Characters line of 18-inch dolls were initially the main focus of Pleasant Company, which were initially derived from the 18-inch dolls made by Götz in Germany during the late 1980s to the 1990s. This product line aims to teach aspects of American history through a six-book series from the perspective of a girl living in that time period. Although the books are written for girls who are at least eight years old, they endeavor to cover significant topics such as child labor, child abuse, poverty, racism, slavery, animal abuse and war in manners appropriate for the understanding and sensibilities of their young audience.
In 1995 Pleasant Company released a line of contemporary dolls called American Girl of Today. In 2006 the product line was renamed Just Like You; it was changed again in 2010, to My American Girl, and in 2015 to "Truly Me". This line has included sixty-six different dolls over the years. Each doll has a different combination of face mold, skin tone, eye color, and hair color, length, texture, and/or style. American Girl states that this variety allows customers to choose dolls that "represent the individuality and diversity of today's American girls." A wide variety of contemporary clothing, accessories, and furniture is also available, and there are regular releases and retirements to update this line. Each year, a Girl of the Year doll is released who has her own special talent. For example, Mia St. Clair, the Girl of the Year for 2008, did ice skating; and Marisol Luna, the Girl of the Year for 2005, was a dancer.
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Wikipedia