Elliot Handler Elliot Handler Elliot Handler (April 9, 1916 – July 21, 2011) was an American inventor, businessman, and co-founder of Mattel. With his wife, he developed some of the biggest-selling toys in American history, including Barbie, Chatty Cathy, Creepy Crawlers, and Hot Wheels. Handler was born to a Jewish family in Chicago, Illinois, on April 9, 1916, and grew up in Denver, Colorado. He studied industrial design at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California. In 1929, he met his future wife Ruth Mosko at a B'nai B'rith dance for teenagers. They later married and had two children: a
Applause (toy company) which came with the licenses to Disney, Sesame Street, and Raggedy Ann and Andy. In 1986, the company changed its name to Applause Inc. and released California Raisins merchandise. It would also produce various Batman merchandise, focusing largely on small figures and dolls, from the late 1980s into the early 1990s. In 1992, Applause released the Magic Trolls Babies toy line. From 1991 to 1995, the company built a strong retail business by focusing on its classic entertainment licensed brands with in-store merchandising displays as a platform for entertainment event properties, e.g. The Lion King, The Flintstones, Pocahontas, The Little