- By Puma
- 32 Items
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**Disney's the Lion King stuffed animals and toys by Applause Inc. of Woodland Hills, CA**
Applause was a company that produces stuffed toys and collectible figurines. The company produced licensed toys from Warner Bros., Disney, and Jim Henson's Muppets. Its principal subsidiaries included Dakin Inc. and International Tropic-Cal Inc. The Applause brand survives today as part of Russ Berrie.
The company built a strong retail business by focusing on its classic entertainment licensed brands with award-winning in-store merchandising displays to stabilize revenues and profitability as a platform for incremental growth from entertainment event properties,e.g. The Lion King, Pocohantas, Little Mermaid, Mulan, A Bug's Life, Star Trek, and Star Wars. Also during this period, one of the most significant events was the company's acquisition of the licensed rights to the very popular Looney Tunes characters.
In late 1995 the company acquired Woodland Hills, California company, Dakin Inc., the most widely recognized brand name in stuffed animals. Dakin was founded in 1955 by Richard Dakin as an import business. This acquisition strengthened Applause's generic stuffed animal business to balance out its already strong entertainment license portfolio.In 2005, CEO Bob Solomon died, and the company was forced to file for bankruptcy. It was acquired in a bankruptcy auction by Russ Berrie.
- A casual collector
- From the United States
Puma's Collections:
Puma! Thanks for all of the comments! I am SO EXCITED to see pictures of your Applause giraffe! I hope he is as amazing as I think he will be. I absolutely love the other grassland animals, and I hope one day to find them. I'm glad you're finally uploading photographs of the rest of your collection; I'm sure it's a mean feat.