The Lego Group world's largest toy company by revenue, with sales amounting to US$2.1 billion, surpassing Mattel, which had US$1.9 billion in sales. On 11 August 2017, Lego announced that Niels B. Christiansen would become the new CEO, effective 1 October of the same year. The history of Lego spans nearly 100 years, beginning with the creation of small wooden playthings during the early 20th century. Manufacturing of plastic Lego bricks began in Denmark in 1947, but since has grown to include factories throughout the world. In 1961, Lego was managed by Samsonite until 1972 in the United States and 1986 in Canada.
History of Lego Party mouthpiece "Global Times" praised Lego for its "good business sense" while the decision drew condemnation online. Lego fans offered to donate Lego bricks to Ai Weiwei instead. In 2017, Warner Bros, DC Entertainment and The Lego Group released "The Lego Batman Movie", as a spinoff based on one of the lead characters of Lego's first animated movie. Lego has since released another animated movie based on one of its toy lines, Ninjago, entitled "The LEGO Ninjago Movie" in 2017. In the first half of 2017, Lego saw its first revenue decline in 13 years, announcing plans in September 2017