Hello and welcome to Mattel's 2024 Investor Presentation. This is an exciting time for our company. We are proud to share with you the progress we made in 2023 and the evolution of our strategic roadmap to grow Mattel's IP-driven toy business and expand our entertainment offering. Joining me are key leaders of our world-class management team: Lisa McKnight, our Chief Brand Officer; Josh Silverman, Mattel's Chief Franchise Officer; Robbie Brenner, President of Mattel Films; Steve Totzke, Mattel's President and Chief Commercial Officer; and Anthony DiSilvestro, our Chief Financial Officer. Let's begin with 2023, which was a milestone year for Mattel. We extended our leadership position in our key toy categories and gained significant share overall, and further strengthened our financial position. Of course, there was the extraordinary success of the Barbie movie.
The Barbie movie was a cultural phenomenon, achieving the largest global box office in 2023, becoming Warner Bros.' highest box office movie in the 100-year history, and the industry's 14th highest-grossing movie of all time. Most importantly, the Barbie movie was a showcase for the cultural resonance of our brands, the value we can capture by unlocking our IP portfolio, and the potential for Mattel Films. During the year, we generated more than $700 million in free cash flow, resumed share repurchases for the first time since 2014, and ended the year with over $1.25 billion of cash on hand. We achieved an investment-grade rating and have the strongest balance sheet we have had in years. Per Circana, for the full year, Mattel gained 70 basis points of share globally in the toy category, was the number two global toy company, and the number one toy company in the U.S.
For the 30th consecutive year, achieving its largest annual share gain in the U.S. on record. In fact, this was our highest full-year POS in 10 years. As we look to 2024, we believe we are very well positioned competitively and expect to continue outpacing the industry and gain market share. The global toy industry declined 7% in 2023 per Circana, following extraordinary growth of 25% from 2019 to 2022, reaching an all-time high. The industry in 2023 was 17% higher than 2019 pre-pandemic and the third largest ever. We expect the toy industry to decline in 2024, although at a lesser rate than 2023. The anticipated decline is due to a lighter toyetic theatrical film slate and the impact of a shift in consumer spending patterns towards experiences and services, which we expect will moderate over the year.
Beyond 2024, we believe trends will further improve, and that the industry will return to growth and continue to grow over the long term. The industry fundamentals are strong. Toys are an important part of consumers' lives, and retailers see the category as a strategic lever. Looking at the entertainment landscape, following the strikes, we are seeing more movies headed to the theaters, which is a positive for the industry, and Mattel brands are more in demand at a time when everyone is looking for big franchises and non-IP with a built-in fanbase. Our company's mission and purpose guided us very well in executing our strategy over the last few years. As we continue our journey, we have successfully broadened our reach outside of toys into new entertainment verticals and expanded to new demographics.
Perhaps the most important change in our approach is to think of people who buy our products as more than just consumers. They are fans that have a deep emotional connection to our brands. When you have a lot of fans, it becomes an audience. Once you realize you are speaking to an audience, it's a very different conversation, and a world of opportunity opens up. Mattel is now a leading global toy and family entertainment company, and we are evolving our purpose and mission to speak to that. Starting this year, Mattel's purpose is to empower generations to explore the wonder of childhood and reach the full potential, and our mission is to create innovative products and experiences that inspire fans, entertain audiences, and develop children through play. These changes better reflect the Mattel of today and where we are heading.
At its core, Mattel is a creative company driven by innovation. Our iconic brand portfolio, including some of the most beloved franchises in the world, is our key asset. We engage fans through our franchise brands as well as other popular properties that we own or license in partnership with global entertainment companies. We transformed Mattel from a toy manufacturer that was making items to an IP company that is managing franchises. To be clear, toys are foundational to our strategy. It is where we create the initial emotional connection with consumers that enables us to expand fan engagement into new entertainment verticals and capture more value for Mattel. Building off our success to date, we continue to evolve our strategy and now look to grow our toy business profitably and capture full value of our IP outside the toy aisle.
Here are the key priorities that will help us do that. Scaling our toy offering through consumer-centric innovation and creating insight-driven products and experiences is a mainstay of our strategy. We will scale our portfolio in the following ways: Expand our leader categories, Dolls, Vehicles , and Infant, Toddler, and Preschool , and our power brands, Barbie, Hot Wheels, and Fisher-Price, which have even more room to grow. Grow challenger categories where Mattel is not a global leader yet, such as Action Figures, Games, and Building Sets, but we can innovate and compete.
Revitalize and relaunch catalog IP, which we have done successfully with Monster High, Masters of the Universe, and Polly Pocket, and are preparing to do with Barney this year, and more on the way. Develop new brands and play patterns like Enchantimals, Color Reveal, Hot Wheels RC, and Skate, as well as Pictionary vs. AI, the first board game to integrate AI into gameplay.
Add and expand partner IP as we continue to strengthen our relationships with the major entertainment companies and IP owners such as Universal, Disney, and Warner Bros., and win new licenses. Enter new whitespace opportunities such as a growing adult collector market and an important new segment for Fisher-Price by leveraging our global scale and resources. Lisa McKnight will talk more about this and how we apply our evolved Mattel Playbook to scale our portfolio, as well as highlight some of our 2024 key product innovations. Optimizing operations is about continuously looking to strengthen our core capabilities from ideation and design to engineering and manufacturing, all the way to putting the right product at the right price, on the right shelf, at the right time, all over the world.
We have made significant improvements to our operations over the past few years, such as enhancing our product development processes by driving earlier alignment between product design, consumer-led insights, and commercial execution, driving productivity and operational efficiency in our supply chain, as well as outsourcing manufacturing as part of our capitalized strategy, exiting underperforming product lines and segments, and improving service levels for our retail partners. We also recently made several organizational changes, including in category management, most notably at Fisher-Price and American Girl, as well as in design and development, integrated marketing, and global supply chain, to further leverage and enhance our capabilities and skill sets. With this optimization mindset, we have already achieved over $1.3 billion of cost savings since 2018, and we are not stopping there.
We recently announced a new three-year program called Optimizing for Profitable Growth that targets an additional $200 million in savings between 2024 and 2026. Anthony DiSilvestro will talk about this new program and provide more detail on our financial outlook and capital deployment priorities. Evolving demand creation is a competitive advantage for Mattel, and we have elevated this to a strategic priority. In an ever-changing media landscape, with virtually unlimited supply of content and ubiquitous distribution, where consumers spend more and more time online, brands have to work harder than ever for share of mind. At Mattel, we have built robust in-house teams, capabilities, and our own tools to reach kids and family shoppers across platforms. We are also leveraging our retail network of approximately 500,000 stores where our product is sold to do that.
Connecting our brands with pop culture and societal trends to amplify fan engagement and broaden appeal is key to our success. Adopting our approach and continuously updating our methodology to find consumers wherever they are is no less important. This was demonstrated with the successful launch of the Barbie movie, as we partnered with Warner Bros. to amplify our demand creation expertise to turn a theatrical release into a cultural phenomenon. For that, we received industry awards, including the leading marketer of the year by Ad Age. Mattel Creations, our growing D2C business serving adult collectors, is another showcase where we bring together consumers, commerce, community, content, and culture to create demand in an important growth area for Mattel. Steve Totzke will talk about the evolution of Mattel's demand creation capabilities and the execution behind our collector D2C destination.
Mattel owns many distinct brands that have a rich heritage and high awareness. These are well-known iconic brands with passionate built-in fanbases, many of which have generated $hundreds of millions of revenue over the years, and others that have the potential to do so. These franchise brands have multiple consumer touchpoints and the potential to drive meaningful business both in and outside of the toy aisle. They include Barbie, Hot Wheels, and Fisher-Price, our power brands, as well as American Girl, Barney, Enchantimals, Imaginext, Little People, Magic 8 Ball, Masters of the Universe, Matchbox, Mega, Monster High, Pictionary, Polly Pocket, Thomas & Friends, and UNO, among others. The more franchise brands we own and the more they grow, the more that we can strengthen, diversify, and scale our toy portfolio. Our franchise brands start their journey as toys and are the bridge to our entertainment strategy.
They set us apart and enable us to create significant value in both toys and entertainment. We will talk more about how we are extending our toy brands to maximize the reach and impact across multiple consumer touchpoints. Beyond toys, we have significant upside in capturing the full value of our iconic brand portfolio in highly accretive business verticals. The Barbie movie is the most obvious showcase, but it is not the only one. We have been making significant progress across several verticals and are now looking to accelerate our offering. Mattel Films' vision is to collaborate with leading filmmakers to make standout quality movies based on our iconic brands that will resonate in culture and appeal to global audiences. Mattel Television Studios develops and distributes episodic and long-form content to expand Mattel characters and stories across linear and streaming platforms worldwide.
Consumer products complement our toy business through best-in-class product offering and exciting brand partnerships across all shopper categories and retail platforms. Mattel Digital Games extend physical play to the virtual world by creating digital games and experiences that drive sustained engagement for fans of all ages. Live events and experiences bring our brands to life through immersive environments where fans can share experiences and create lasting memories. Publishing, which turns our brands into stories in print format to inspire, educate, and entertain readers of all ages. With our strong financial position, we will now consider strategic investments to support our entertainment strategy and drive organic growth consistent with our capital allocation priorities. You will hear more about our entertainment strategy from Josh Silverman, who will talk about these highly accretive business drivers, and from Robbie Brenner, who will share more about the progress across our film slate.
Up next is Lisa McKnight, Mattel's Chief Brand Officer. Lisa has an incredible track record of success over her 25 years with the company. She was a chief architect of the revitalization and ongoing success of Barbie, head of the brand since 2016, and adults category since 2019. She was also instrumental in evolving Mattel's playbook. Lisa assumed her role in 2023 and hit the ground running. She will talk about our playbook and exciting brand portfolio. I will now turn the stage over to Lisa.
Thanks, Ynon, and hello everyone. It is great to be here and speak on behalf of such an incredible team of world-class creators, designers, engineers, marketers, and brand strategists. I'm also very proud to represent a portfolio of toys and brands that matter and are resonating in culture. Play is our language, and we use it to connect with our fans, children, and families every day. As Ynon said, at Mattel, our products and experiences are designed to inspire fans, entertain audiences, and develop children through play. In 2023, Mattel toys continued to be in demand and grow market share. Per Circana globally, we grew share in our three leader categories: Dolls, Vehicles , and Infant Toddler Preschool, as well as in building sets. Barbie and Hot Wheels were the number two and number five top toy properties for the year. Hot Wheels was the number one toy.
UNO was again the number one card game and the number one traditional game. Monster High was the number one dolls growth property. Inspired by our mission and purpose, and guided by our strategic roadmap and the Mattel Playbook , we have a tremendous opportunity to build upon. Mattel's playbook has been a game-changing approach to brand management and integral to our recent success. As we evolve into a new era, our playbook is evolving too. While you'll recognize a few similarities to the previous playbook, we think this evolution is revolutionary for its potential. With that, I'd like to walk you through the evolution of our brand playbook. Take a look at this simple from to. Brand purpose is about amplifying the distinctive reason for being in each of our brands with intent and authenticity.
Through purposeful play, we harness the impact of our brands to promote and influence behavior to create a better world. We also know this is becoming increasingly important to consumers, retailers, partners, and other stakeholders who share these values. Here are some examples. Barbie's brand purpose, to inspire the limitless potential in every girl, resonates beyond childhood. Monster High celebrates individuality and the acceptance of differences, an inclusive message that's increasingly more relevant. Hot Wheels ignites and nurtures the challenger spirit. Fisher-Price helps children have the best possible start in life. And UNO fosters togetherness through the universal language of play. Consumer-centric innovation is about creating insight-driven products and experiences designed to capture the hearts and minds of fans globally.
We've evolved from design-led to consumer-centric to reflect the importance of embedding retail and consumer insights throughout every stage of our innovation, from design and development to packaging and point of sale. We put the consumer first by proactively seeking inputs from the marketplace, retailers, and shoppers even earlier in the process. This increases the likelihood of meeting and exceeding consumer expectations. Cultural relevance is about connecting with pop culture and societal trends to amplify fan engagement and broaden appeal. This is why our brands mean so much to our fans. We aim to ensure that our timeless brands are also timely by staying in lockstep with culture. There's no better example of this than a theater filled with fans and head-to-toe Barbie core, a trend that was so pervasive we saw legions of apparel companies and retailers drafting off the sudden popularity of the color pink.
Franchise mindset is about maximizing reach and impact for our brands across multiple entertainment verticals and consumer touchpoints. This holistic approach broadens our audience by giving them more ways to engage with the brands they love. It provides a bridge between toys and our entertainment verticals and allows us to expand the fan and audience relationships in both. We are very excited about this evolved playbook, which focuses and guides us, and we believe is a competitive advantage. So let's talk toys. We operate our toy business through a category management structure, which enables us to leverage Mattel's expertise, infrastructure, resources, and scale. We are a global leader in Dolls, Vehicles , and Infant Toddler Preschool, and a challenger in action figures, games, and building sets. 2023 was the year of dolls for Mattel. Our dolls portfolio gained 760 basis points of global market share per Circana.
Our dolls portfolio was $2.4 billion in gross billings, up 15% from 2022. When we talk about our success in dolls, there's no better place to start than with Barbie. Barbie is so much more than a doll. She's a pop culture icon with societal impact. Barbie gross billings grew more than $500 million since 2017. The pink tidal wave swept across the globe, leading the cultural conversation and energizing and expanding the Barbie fanbase. In 2024, we will introduce new play patterns, a new segment, new content, and exciting promotions. Welcome to Mini BarbieLand. Minis are taking the world by storm. It's a $1.6 billion global market per Circana. But while the product is mini, we believe the size of the opportunity is enormous, and we want in. Mini BarbieLand is a great example of our consumer-centric approach to design.
We were inspired by our research, which showed that kids love all things mini and that they aspire to collect and play with Barbie's entire world. Mini BarbieLand will replicate Barbie's world at a 1.5 inch scale, perfect for collecting as well as on-the-go play. Take a look.
For older girls, we're going after a new fashion doll segment called Barbie Dream Besties. The Dream Besties are aspirational BFFs: Barbie Malibu and Barbie Brooklyn, as well as Teresa and Renee, who older girls know from Barbie content. We're also thrilled to bring horses back to the Barbie line this year, a proven play theme with girls. We will offer an immersive play experience that includes dolls, a stable, and an interactive horse that has realistic movements and sounds. This year, we are celebrating Barbie's 65th anniversary, and nobody celebrates anniversaries better than Mattel. This will be a big party and a year full of exciting activations, including honoring a host of women role models all around the world, from Viola Davis to Kylie Minogue, launching new content platforms such as an all-new podcast, and tapping into Barbie's fashion heritage with design collaborations that only Barbie can do.
Don't worry, we haven't forgotten about Ken. We will look to surprise and delight fans with a new Ken-bassador program recognizing male role models who are more than Kenough. More to come on that. American Girl is a brand like no other, with loyal fans and a trusted partner in building girls of strong character through engaging stories and immersive play experiences. As Mattel's premium doll line, we see exciting opportunities to leverage our scale and optimize operations to drive profitable growth. We've made changes that will improve performance and recently announced that American Girl will become part of our North America commercial organization. This will combine the brand with our proven expertise in demand creation and will better align our overall D2C strategy.
We will also be consolidating the American Girl campus into El Segundo to benefit from the market-leading capabilities of our world-class dolls design team. Guided by the Mattel Playbook , we will connect American Girl with pop culture and societal trends to amplify fan engagement and broaden its appeal. For example, last year, even American Girl joined the fun with Barbie with our first-ever American Girl Loves Barbie doll. The presale event sold out on Mattel Creations in 25 hours, and we're excited to build on this collection later this year. We recently announced that we're developing an American Girl feature film in partnership with Paramount Pictures. We also have a lot in store with our omnichannel approach through our proprietary online channel and experiential retail locations anchored by flagship stores in New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles.
The retail stores are destinations where families can engage with the brand in a variety of ways and create unforgettable memories, and of course, buy our products. Last year, we relocated and opened our L.A. flagship store, and this year we're opening a premium boutique in Dallas. Check out this amazing floor-to-ceiling dollhouse. Of course, American Girl is all about exceptional product. To align with Q4 seasonality when American Girl does approximately 50% of its business, we shifted our Girl of the Year launch to October, allowing us to jump-start the holiday season. Historically, we missed this opportunity by announcing the Girl of the Year in January, not anymore. Lila Monetti, the Girl of the Year in 2024, who loves horses and gymnastics, was a success and sold out this past holiday.
Our 2025 Girl of the Year doll will launch even earlier this year in September to take full advantage of this year's holiday season. While I can't reveal her yet, it will be a very popular play theme. We also announced the expansion of our successful collaboration for American Girl with Disney Princess and Disney Frozen by introducing new mainline dolls to complement the successful premium collection launched last year. American Girl is a treasured brand with multi-generational fans, and we're confident about its future and profitable growth going forward. Moving on to Disney Princess. Last year, we successfully launched our line of Disney Princess and Disney Frozen product and are rolling it out globally. Consumers quickly realized the level of detail and quality in the Mattel relaunched fashion doll and small doll lines.
Disney Princess became the number two global growth doll property led by Mattel's line per Circana. We're expanding the line this year with innovations including a spin-and-reveal storytelling fashion doll, a frozen reveal small doll, and affordably priced multi-princess play sets. Here's an example of our new Disney Princess Frozen Ice Reveal product.
Recently, Disney announced Moana 2 will voyage into theaters in November of 2024. We're excited to build on the successful line that we created for Moana and will celebrate new characters and products that will support this beloved franchise. We're also excited to hear that Disney will head back into the unknown with the anticipated release of Frozen 3 sometime in the next two years. Finally, Mattel is developing a new line of dolls for one of Disney's older girl properties supported by the Disney Channel. So there is a lot to look forward to with Disney and our doll line. Another exciting partnership this coming holiday season will be with Universal for the much-anticipated cinematic event, the feature film adaptation of the award-winning, record-shattering Broadway musical Wicked. You may have seen the spectacular teaser during the Super Bowl.
Worth noting, the Wicked story will benefit from two theatrical releases over the next two years, and we will be supporting it with beautifully detailed dolls for fans of all ages. Monster High enters 2024 on a, well, Monster High, its second year of global growth. This year, we will be building out the world with a high school playset with innovative features including trap doors and other hidden surprises. We will introduce new scales and form factors as well as great new fashions with our Monster Ball line, reinforcing the strength of our most popular ghouls. Check it out.
In addition, we're broadening our adult collector line, which consistently sells out on Mattel Creations. This premium series is renowned for its unique collaborations and clever monstrifications of pop culture characters. Monster High will launch its first entertainment mashup with Wednesday, the hit show on Netflix. While we can't show any product yet, the line will be released on both Mattel Creations and at mass retailers this fall. Shifting gears to vehicles. Our vehicles portfolio has grown for the last five years and just achieved another record year of gross billings, reaching $1.6 billion in 2023. The horsepower driving success in this category is Hot Wheels, delivering its sixth consecutive record year in 2023. This year, we're growing our adult space through the expansion of our collector series, both at mass retail and on Mattel Creations. We're broadening our channel distribution of diecast models in EMEA and Asia.
We're accelerating growth in adjacent vehicle categories such as RC and skate, where we're continuing our partnership with Tony Hawk. Check out our spring 2024 Hot Wheels skate offerings and key driver, the Hot Wheels Tony Hawk Signature Skateboard.
We also love the Mega-Wr ex Alive RC planned for fall. It delivers a dramatic light show and interactive sounds. We will build on the successful 2023 launch of Racerverse, our new character franchise that brings entertainment brands to the world of Hot Wheels. Our core product line will benefit from integration in the upcoming Hot Wheels Let's Race animated series, which Josh will discuss shortly. As we look to fall 2024, we will reveal several new drivers, including the Hot Wheels Ultra Shark Car Wash, which brings together kids' favorites: car wash, sharks, and the transforming magic of color reveal. While Hot Wheels is about racing and fantasy, Matchbox is about realism and our aim to create products that are more sustainable. We launched our first mass-produced diecast assortment that uses recycled metal and features plastic-free packaging.
We will continue to innovate our play sets with themes around land, sea, and air, anchored by our new play set, Matchbox Transportation Hub. Take a look. We will partner with automobile manufacturers around the world as we look to amplify realism within the brand. Disney Pixar Cars is another important brand in our vehicles portfolio, and we couldn't be happier with our decades-long partnership. In 2024, we're bringing more toy innovations with new storytelling developed with Disney. The Global Racers Cup will have Lightning McQueen host a racing invitational with racers from around the world. Next, let's talk Infant, Toddler, and Preschool . The infant, toddler, preschool category is the third largest in the industry per Circana. Mattel outperformed the category in 2023 and extended its leadership position.
Fisher-Price continued to be the number one property in the category and was also the number six overall global toy property in Q4 and number seven for the full year in 2023. Our infant, toddler, preschool business achieved $1 billion in gross billings in 2023 and is anchored by Fisher-Price. Our portfolio is comprised of several segments that span the critically important first five years of childhood and is divided between Infant and Toddler and Preschool. Infant and Toddler includes Fisher-Price branded products such as Laugh & Learn, Link Squad, and Little People, as well as Power Wheels and Baby Gear. This is a product-driven segment which addresses the prenatal and zero to three-year-old market and speaks to parents. Preschool includes toys and play systems based on owned IP such as Thomas & Friends, Barney, and Bob the Builder, as well as partner entertainment brands.
It also includes Imaginext, our own form factor for action figures specifically designed for young children. This segment is brand and character-driven and speaks to kids aged two to five. In terms of financial profile, the Infant and Toddler segment is divided into two areas. The first is Fisher-Price Core, which has been consistently generating around $700 million of gross billing annually over the past six years. This has been a stable business, albeit at low margin. The second is Power Wheels, our ride-on business, and Baby Gear, which includes entertainers, jumperoos, and seats. These two businesses have been declining over the past six years, from around $275 million in gross billings to around $125 million, and is very low margin. Much of the decline in Power Wheels is a result of low-priced competition, and in Baby Gear is due to our decision to proactively exit certain product lines.
Preschool is a more cyclical business that has declined over the past six years from more than $400 million in gross billings to about $200 million. The decline is primarily due to fewer toyetic entertainment licenses and weakness in Thomas & Friends, as well as last year's lighter film slate, which impacted the Imaginext line. We recently decided to concentrate our iInfant, Toddler, and Preschool strategy in Fisher-Price Core and preschool as we prioritize profitability and position us for longer-term profitable growth. We will strategically outlicense or exit Power Wheels and continue to exit additional lines of Baby Gear, which are lower margin and do not align with our IP-driven toy strategy. Now let's cover product highlights within each of the key segments where we will operate going forward. Fisher-Price is celebrating its 94th anniversary this year.
With its roots in child development and nearly a century of experience and an on-site play lab where we study newborns and toddlers on a daily basis, Fisher-Price core is uniquely positioned to lead this category. Our newborn line is a great example of these capabilities. We consistently lead in baby play mats and gyms. This year, we're updating our Kick & Play Piano, which continues to be the number one gym globally and number one item within the Infant and toddler segment per Circana. We've evolved the design toward a softer aesthetic tied to popular home decor that we know millennial parents love. Yet we retained the features and sounds that are universally popular. We even got John Legend's attention last year when he covered our classic Purple Monkey song.
The newborn line has also benefited from multiple cultural moments. Initially designed for newborns, we were pleasantly surprised to find a new audience drawn to our soothing toys. Our Soothe 'n Snuggle Otter is the number one infant plush item globally per Circana. To date, it has sold nearly 2.2 million units and found its way into the arms of stressed-out Gen Zers. It's even a great companion for puppies. We're dialing up the cute factor this year with the new adorable Soothe & Settle Bunny. From toys that support the growth and development of Little People, let's talk about the Little People brand itself. Last year, the Little People Farm with Smart Stages was the number seven item in all of infant, toddler, preschool in the U.S. per Circana. We're building out this world with tractors, more characters, and lots of animals.
We've also made a positive societal impact in our Little People line by introducing characters that are more representative of the broad spectrum of ethnicities and identities around the world. As a brand, we are playing into pop culture like never before by driving buzz around programs such as our Little People Collector Range, which celebrates existing fandoms across multiple genres, including our recent Super Bowl set. Little People will also take on unexpected franchises such as Breaking Bad, Squid Game, and Cobra Kai. This kidult opportunity taps into the nostalgia trend which is real and growing. Take a look. Little People is a strong example of the Mattel brand playbook in action. We're excited to share that Fisher-Price is entering a new segment, Wood. This is an $800 million market within the Infant, Toddler, and Preschool category per Circana.
This is a white space opportunity for us, and with our child development roots, an area where we believe we can play and win. Fisher-Price Wood stands out for its on-trend design and accessible price point. Fisher-Price Wood will tap into key developmental play patterns. This, by the way, is a terrific example of consumer-led innovation. As we're speaking to millennial parents who want products with an elevated aesthetic that are also made from materials that are better for the planet, we are looking forward to the North America exclusive launch at Walmart later this spring and a global launch beginning in the second half of 2024. This is a margin-accretive opportunity with plenty of runway from newborn toys and gyms to play sets and role play.
Going forward for Fisher-Price Core, we're looking to drive top-line growth and higher profitability by emphasizing innovation, quality, and proven play systems while better utilizing our design and engineering capabilities and meaningfully reducing cost of goods sold through improved planning. When it comes to preschool, it's all about driving kid demand and actively managing a portfolio of brands and character-driven products, including our own IP and top-tier partner IP. These toys support fine and gross motor skills, problem-solving, cooperation, and emotional intelligence as kids play out their favorite stories and their favorite characters. Let's start with everyone's favorite blue tank engine, Thomas, our iconic global preschool brand. Thomas is all about friendship. And this year, we're introducing a new segment called Talking Thomas, where all of our engines can literally interact with each other. Check it out.
We will broaden the character engines in our line and work to enhance our core track systems, leveraging learnings from our successful vehicles category. We'll have even more to share later this year. In late fall, we will be relaunching one of our iconic brands, Barney. The franchise relaunch will kick off later this year with a new preschool animated series followed by an exciting toy line in early 2025. We're also excited about Imaginext. We have expanded our collaboration with the Walt Disney Company and will introduce Star Wars into our Imaginext line this fall. With incredible product like our over 2-foot-tall interactive Darth Vader Bot, we think this will have great appeal with our core preschool kid and will also be an exciting new form factor for adult fans and collectors.
Continuing our partnership with Universal and Jurassic World, we're expanding our line with our newest dino, Dilophosaurus. Not only is this great creative product, but it will build excitement for the anticipated summer theatrical release in 2025. Going forward, we expect to drive top-line growth and increased profitability in the preschool segment by leveraging our global scale, deep catalog of iconic preschool brands, as well as relationships with third-party IP owners. Aligned with our strategy for Fisher-Price, we're evolving our structure to manage these two new segments. Fisher-Price Core will continue to be managed from East Aurora, where we have a unique skill set and expertise in early child development. The preschool business will move to El Segundo to leverage the strength of our global brand team's expertise and create closer collaboration with our franchise management and studio partners.
As you can see, we're taking active steps and making strategic changes to Fisher-Price and the iInfant, Toddler, and Preschool category as a whole. We believe we can grow top-line and improve margins to drive sustainable, profitable growth. As Ynon said, we have an opportunity to innovate and compete in our Challenger categories, which includes action figures, games, building sets, and other. These categories in total generated over $1 billion of gross billings in 2023. Action figures is a category driven by theatrical movies. With a lighter theatrical slate this year, we will emphasize our evergreen brands that have built-in fanbases. For example, Masters of the Universe: Revolution on Netflix has premiered to strong audiences, which we will use to ignite our collector fanbase with new product, including the MOTU Masterverse toy line. We're excited about a new collaboration with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles with crossover figures.
This will bring together two passionate fandoms with this product line. Take a look. With Jurassic World, we're launching new product innovation with the All-Out Attack T-Rex featuring a cool attack moment. This is in addition to a brand new Chaos Theory animated series on Netflix that will amplify the entire product line. We look forward to another successful theatrical film release in the Jurassic World franchise coming in summer 2025. Our games category is led by iconic brands that bring people together, including UNO, Pictionary, and Scrabble. Guided by our consumer-centric design approach, we're finding new ways to expand gameplay with UNO. UNO Show 'Em No Mercy adds more cards and special rules that consumers have been asking for. Per Circana, this became the number one new card game in the U.S. with limited distribution.
This year, we're extending UNO into a new line that blends the UNO Play You Love with elements of collectible card games in UNO Elite. This new collection begins with an exciting partnership with the NFL. Scrabble Together will expand its adult games internationally with a double-sided board with a new cooperative mode where you win or lose as a team. Pictionary versus AI was last year's best-in-class example of Mattel's ability to bring relevant products to market quickly, going from idea to shelf in just over eight months. Let's take a look.
Games is an important Challenger category for us given the high margin and the bridge to our franchise management strategy, connecting physical and digital play as the success of Mattel163 mobile games is demonstrating. Lots more to come. In building sets, we look to inspire creativity through authentic building experiences. Per Circana, Mega is a proud number two in the category and gained global market share in 2023. Our business is divided between two segments: Mega Bloks, which offers a larger form factor for infants and toddlers, and Standard Bricks, which focuses on older kids and collectors. Our Mega Bloks line is anchored by our 80-piece Building Bag, which is the best-selling junior building set in the world per Circana. We will introduce the Rise & Snooze Nightlight this fall, which features both bedtime and morning routines that parents can share with their children in a Building Block format.
MEGA Standard Bricks are expanding among both kids and adults and achieved double-digit gross billings growth in 2023. In 2024, our collection with Pokémon will benefit from the introduction of more Pokéballs that encourage collectibility. Our Hot Wheels building sets continue to gain momentum, and you will see more launches in our adult segment with premium brands, including an amazing 1963 Corvette Grand Sport. With Hot Wheels being the number one vehicle brand, expanding into this buildable vehicle segment is a great differentiator for us, and we believe it will be a significant growth opportunity down the road. We will also continue to partner with new licenses and expand our presence in the adult space. Check out this lifelike Microsoft Xbox we created last fall as a Target exclusive that sold out in two hours during the presale. We look forward to its global launch this year.
There are many more exciting announcements to come, from Godzilla versus Kong to one of the most iconic moments in music history with Ladies and Gentlemen, The Beatles! commemorating the moment 60 years ago on the Ed Sullivan Show. All true to fandom building experiences. As you can see, it's an extraordinary and fun time to be at Mattel. We have an amazing portfolio of toys and brands that matter. Fueled by our evolved Mattel Playbook, we are leading with the most purposeful, culturally relevant products and experiences in the industry. Our brands allow people of all ages and backgrounds to connect with each other through the shared experience of play while creating meaningful, positive, and societal impact in the world. We couldn't be prouder of our purpose: to empower generations to explore the wonder of childhood and reach their full potential.
With that, I'll leave you with a brief highlight video of our 2024 lineup as I pass the mic to Josh Silverman to talk about franchise management. Thank you.
Thanks, Lisa. It is an incredible privilege to oversee franchise management at Mattel. This encompasses consumer products, content, digital, and live experiences. Prior to joining Mattel, I spent over 20 years at the Walt Disney Company and Marvel Entertainment, leading several areas including global consumer products and franchise management, creative and product development, the Disney Store, commercialization for Disney Interactive and Disney Publishing Worldwide, and more. Now, 18 months into the role, the potential for the Mattel portfolio is even more exciting than I could have envisioned. As Ynon said, Mattel is the owner of one of the most iconic brand portfolios in the world. We believe there is a tremendous untapped opportunity to complement our successful toy business, amplifying the purpose behind our brands and the incredible ways they connect to fans. We expect franchise expansion to fuel Mattel's next chapter of growth.
We've developed a globally integrated ecosystem in toy and entertainment, bringing Mattel's brands, franchises, characters, and stories to life through holistic consumer experiences across multiple entertainment verticals. Franchise management is a core strategic capability at Mattel. We activate all lines of business in concert, ensuring we fully maximize the commercial upside. As we have heard, there is no better demonstration than last summer's Barbie movie when we turned the world pink with more than 165 culturally relevant consumer product partnerships, digital gaming activations, live experiences, publishing, and more. As Ynon shared, we now think of people who buy our products as more than consumers; they are fans. This shift in mindset has opened a new realm in the entertainment landscape. I am pleased to share an overview on these areas of acceleration.
Consumer products is key to our growth and broadening Mattel's best-in-class offerings through exciting brand partnerships across all shopper categories and retail platforms. A $300 billion market globally, consumer products is a growth area that includes numerous categories such as fashion, home, apparel, food, health, and beauty. These businesses are fee- or royalty-based licensing models that represent both top-line and bottom-line opportunities at high margins. Building on our momentum from 2023, this year we have more lifestyle offerings across demographics. For example, we have expanded into the cereal aisle with Hot Wheels and UNO, and Masters of the Universe adult fans are now able to enjoy their breakfast with Skeletor's special blend of Dark Matter Coffee.
A broader product offering at retail can also benefit our toy business by creating franchise statements and even opening new distribution channels for our toys and further accentuating our franchises as specialty apparel accounts like Gap and Zara. In addition to product partnerships, we've been expanding our revenue-driving brand partnerships with companies like Google, Walmart, and most recently, Verizon, which featured Beyoncé as Barbie in its recent Super Bowl commercial. We are also growing our quick-serve restaurant promotions around the world with UNO and Hungry Jack's in Australia, Thomas & Friends with McDonald's in Japan, and a Sonic program that just launched in the United States for Hot Wheels Skate, supporting our toy launch into the fingerboard category. Immersive storytelling is key to capturing the imaginations of our fans and is a critical form of engagement within Mattel's franchise ecosystem.
At Mattel Television Studios, we develop and distribute episodic and long-form content to expand Mattel characters and stories across linear and streaming platforms worldwide. Television content drives connection through high frequency and allows us to introduce characters, storylines, and worlds, building fandom that transcends age and sustains brand engagement. To further extend our episodic content universe, we have brought on new senior-level leadership with world-class capabilities. We will continue raising the bar this year with best-in-class talent in front and behind the camera to take Mattel's IP and franchises to a whole new level. Mattel Television Studios has 13 series and specials currently in production and over 35 series and specials in development with more to come. Our television content reaches audiences in more than 190 countries and more than 30 languages and spans live-action, scripted, unscripted, and animated formats.
This year, we debuted on Netflix Masters of the Universe: Revolution, the sequel series to Masters of the Universe: Revelation. Revolution boasts an all-star voice cast that includes the talents of William Shatner, Mark Hamill, Lena Headey, and more. Hot Wheels is expanding on the brand fandom with Hot Wheels: Let's Race, an all-new animated series on Netflix. Here's a look at what you could expect from the series' premiere season.
Talk about high energy. There's even more to be excited about in television this year. Fans around the world will also enjoy new animated seasons of Thomas & Friends, Polly Pocket, and a new special, Barbie and Stacie to the Rescue, all releasing on Netflix. We just announced that season two of the animated series Monster High will debut on Nickelodeon. Of course, we can't wait to unveil the highly anticipated Barney's World series, coming to Max and Cartoonito this fall. Barney's World is just one component of the Barney franchise relaunch. Mattel's comprehensive revitalization of Barney will span television, film, music, and YouTube content, and a full range of kids' products including toys, books, consumer products, as well as apparel and accessories featuring classic Barney for our nostalgic adult fans.
Franchise brands like Barney are the bridge between our toy business and entertainment offering and are foundational to our globally integrated ecosystem and strategy to bring Mattel brands to life through holistic consumer experiences. You can expect more franchise brand relaunches from Mattel in the coming years as we continue to mine our significant portfolio of IP and drive growth through the deployment of our strategic multi-platform approach. Print publishing turns our brands into stories in print format to inspire, educate, and entertain readers of all ages. The $100 billion industry of print publishing is one of those areas where we continue to expand globally through new content business models. Last year, we announced the launch of Mattel Press in North America, our new publishing arm supported by a sales and distribution partnership with Simon & Schuster.
We expect to publish over 50 titles per year, including titles tied to our content slate, such as Hot Wheels: Let's Race, Thomas & Friends: All Engines Go, Monster High, and Barney's World, as well as titles supporting brand initiatives and new storytelling. In addition, Mattel Press will launch original stories such as an illustrated Barbie chapter book series and other picture books based on Mattel's IP, and expanded retail distribution for American Girl's long-running book series like The Smart Girl's Guide. We are amping up Mattel's music repertoire, proactively managing our music portfolio and enriching it with marketing and distribution to grow revenue and maximize music IP opportunities. With our global partner, Warner Music Group, last year we saw over 30 music releases spanning six different brands, including Barbie, American Girl, Thomas, and Monster High, with global audio streams up 35% year-over-year.
We're planning 40 new music releases in 2024, including Hot Wheels and Barney. Separate from the Barbie movie, Mattel partnered with Atlantic and Warner Bros. for the Barbie movie album, which debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 chart and was streamed 52 million times on Spotify during the film's opening weekend. The Barbie album also won three Grammy Awards, including for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media. Live experiences or location-based entertainment bring our brands to life through immersive environments where fans can share experiences and create lasting memories. These experiences come to life in various formats: traveling exhibitions, hospitality, live entertainment, permitted attractions, and theme parks, with experiential retail a key part of each experience. Last year, Mattel fans came together in over 200 global cities to create meaningful connections with our brands.
We had an incredible year for Barbie with our traveling exhibitions, Malibu Barbie Café, and World of Barbie. The Malibu Barbie Café will continue to expand currently in Miami and will open this summer in Nashville. We continue to expand World of Barbie, which is now in Saudi Arabia, with more cities launching in the United States and Europe later this year. The new Barbie Dream Lounge restaurants will be opening this summer in Nuevo León, Mexico, offering trendy and Instagrammable food in a beautifully designed, fast-casual setting. We are excited about our partnership with Atlantis Bahamas Resort. The program opens this summer with Barbie-themed suites, kids' club activities, food and beverage offerings, and an immersive experience for vacation-goers to engage in. We are thrilled to debut Barbie: The Movie In Concert, a symphony tour launching this summer.
Music venues in 37 cities in the United States and Canada, including a special performance at the Hollywood Bowl, will be transformed into Barbie Land as guests experience the full-length feature film accompanied live by Sinfonietta, an all-women, majority-woman-of-color orchestra renowned for their musical skill and style. Needless to say, Barbie is more relevant than ever and is thriving across a location-based entertainment and live-experience space. Hot Wheels Monster Trucks Live has surpassed the 2 million total attendee mark. The show continues to smash the tour's records, reaching 60 global cities in 2023 and planning for over 85 cities in 2024. The tour continues to grow in the United States, Europe, Latin America, Middle East, and Australia, and will integrate new brand, characters, and themes to enhance the fan experience. Similarly, Day Out with Thomas has been delighting families and fans for over 29 years and counting.
This touring event operates in eight countries, makes over 400 stops, and attracts over 700,000 attendees annually. We are thrilled for fans to experience Mattel Adventure Park, which is the first time we've celebrated our brands together in a theme park and an example of how we're elevating the Mattel brand throughout our franchise business. Opening in the Q4 within the VAI Resort, a state-of-the-art entertainment destination in Glendale, Arizona, Mattel Adventure Park will incorporate more than 10 marquee Mattel brands, including a Barbie beach house and two thrilling Hot Wheels roller coasters: the Hot Wheels Bone Shaker: The Ultimate Ride, and Hot Wheels Twin Mill Racer. This is just the beginning of our theme park ambitions. We will have more to share in this space soon.
It would be impossible to claim relevance today without acknowledging the dramatic effect that technology is having on the way we play. Digital experiences, Mattel Digital Games, extend physical play to the virtual world by creating immersive entertainment experiences that drive sustained engagement for fans of all ages. It is an important strategic initiative to capture more share of this $180 billion industry. Mattel Digital Games launched five standalone titles and seven integrations in 2023 through licensing partnerships with top-tier gaming platforms and developers. We now have over 48 million monthly active players, a record for Mattel. We launched Barbie and American Girl's first-ever standalone games on Roblox, with Barbie Dreamhouse Tycoon attracting over 150 million visits since launch in October of 2023, becoming Roblox's biggest branded game launch of the year.
Following the smash hit of Hot Wheels: Unleashed, we unveiled Hot Wheels Unleashed 2: Turbocharged in partnership with Milestone. We now have 11 million players in the Hot Wheels: Unleashed franchise. We are excited to announce a new licensing partnership with Take-Two Interactive to publish a new Barbie mobile game planned for release later this year. Mattel will continue to expand our licensed digital games business in 2024 with new partners and new experiences designed for fans of all ages. Mattel 163, our gaming joint venture with NetEase, grew to nearly $200 million in revenue at very high margins. We are excited about the future of Mattel 163, bringing our existing titles to new platforms, adding brands into the fold, and reaching fans across geographies. Looking ahead, we plan to take digital gaming beyond IP licensing to self-publishing of Mattel mobile games.
Complementary to our existing licensing and joint venture model, we will directly engage with our fans and deliver unrivaled gaming experiences. We expect this to significantly increase the revenue and profit potential at low investment for the company and to be a catalyst that drives the business forward. We're extending the emotional connection to our franchise brands through exciting consumer products, content, digital, and live experiences. We have robust plans in place for each line of business with clear roadmaps for how we would rapidly capture the full value of our IP through franchise management at Mattel. The Mattel brand has always had global reverence and now also has global relevance. We will leverage this awareness and momentum to elevate the Mattel brand as part of our 80th anniversary in 2025 to, again, create a cultural moment across new categories, geographies, and audiences. Thank you. And now, over to Robbie.
Thanks, Josh. As an owner, we know the deep emotional connections that people of all generations have with our brands. They are more than consumers. They're fans. Those fans became a record-breaking audience when the Barbie movie made its global premiere on July 21st, 2023. Undeniably, 2023 became the year of Barbie, with Mattel's debut at the box office smashing records, flooding movie theaters globally to pre-pandemic levels and creating a bona fide cultural phenomenon. Barbie has received over 450 combined nominations and awards, highlighted by eight Oscar nominations, including Best Picture. The film became the highest-performing movie ever based on a toy. Barbie showed the world that Mattel brands boast a built-in affinity among audiences who are eager for new content. Barbie showed the Hollywood community that we care about making quality feature films inspired by Mattel IP that can transcend cultures, borders, and demographics.
Our vision at Mattel Films is to collaborate with leading filmmakers to make standout quality movies based on our iconic brands that will resonate in culture and appeal to global audiences. The Barbie movie catapulted Mattel into the zeitgeist and was a showcase for that vision. We now have recognition in the entertainment space, broadening our relationships, attracting the best talent, and demonstrating how we empower and trust filmmakers to bring their vision to life on film. Our partners on the Barbie movie represent some of the greatest talents of this generation. Here is what they had to say about working with Mattel on Barbie.
Our approach to film partnerships allows us to be flexible and select the right partners for the right projects. Across our entire film slate, this has enabled us to collaborate with the very best in development, production, financing, marketing, and distribution. Our Capital Light Model means we can pursue multiple movies at the same time and get them to market faster while also creating opportunity for meaningful economic upside. Outside of Barbie Land, there's a lot happening here at Mattel Films. With strikes behind us and a perfectly pink proof of concept for our film ambition, the next few years are shaping up to be very exciting. We recently announced that American Girl is in development with Paramount Pictures and Temple Hill Entertainment, the creative team behind Twilight.
We also announced Bob the Builder, Mattel's first animated feature, co-produced with Oscar-winning animation house ShadowMachine, Jennifer Lopez's Nuyorican Productions, and actor and recording artist Anthony Ramos, who will produce and voice Bob. Here to tell you about his vision for Bob the Builder is Anthony himself.
Hey, everyone. Anthony Ramos here. As you may have heard, word on the street, I am partnering with Mattel Films, ShadowMachine, Jennifer Lopez's Nuyorican Productions, and our incredible writer, Felipe Vargas, to bring another beloved childhood icon to the big screen. Bob the Builder, I am so honored and proud that I'm producing Mattel's first animated theatrical film alongside Jennifer and Mattel and our studio partner. Bob the Builder is not just a construction whiz. He's a symbol of teamwork, positivity, and problem-solving for generations. Yours truly will be voicing Roberto, Bob, in this all-new story. In our film, we're taking Bob on a brand new adventure as he heads to the enchanting island of Puerto Rico, well, inspired by Puerto Rico. In our movie, it's called Brillante, for a major construction job. But it's not just about building structures.
It's about embracing community and building a bridge from our past and our present and honoring one's heritage and a reminder that love can conquer any obstacle in our way. Can we fix it? Yes, we can. Si se puede, con ganas. I mean, I can't explain how excited I am to be able to reinvent these characters, right? Give us a new reimagining of who these people are: Bob, Wendy, Scoop. Bring all these characters that we're so familiar with and that so many of us grew up with to life in a new way. In this way, the creative minds behind this project are truly something special. I can't wait for you all to experience the magic we're bringing to Bob the Builder. Let's build something amazing together.
Thanks, Anthony. We can't wait to bring Bob the Builder to the big screen. We continue to advance our previously announced films in development. Hot Wheels is in development with J.J. Abrams' Bad Robot producing. Tom Hanks is attached to star in Major Matt Mason with Akiva Goldsman writing the script. We are working on a Matchbox film with our partners at Skydance, the team behind Top Gun and Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning. MGM will distribute Polly Pocket, written and to be directed by Lena Dunham and co-produced by and starring Lily Collins. We have partnered with Universal Studios and Vin Diesel's production company, One Race Films, on Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots. Marc Forster, whose credits include Quantum of Solace and Finding Neverland, is attached to direct and produce a film based on the beloved Thomas & Friends franchise. Universal will distribute Wishbone with Peter Farrelly producing.
Mattel Films is also making meaningful progress on other projects in development based on Magic 8 Ball, UNO, View-Master, as well as Christmas Balloon: a holiday family drama based on all-new IP. In all, we have announced 15 films in development with much more to come. Each of these projects represents an incredible opportunity to create unforgettable films from our iconic franchises and unlock revenue potential across toys and consumer products, digital and live experiences, and, of course, the box office. We look forward to sharing more and our progress across Mattel Films in the year to come. Over to you, Steve.
Thanks, Robbie. As we heard, 2023 was the year of Barbie. The Barbie movie was an amazing opportunity to showcase our demand creation capabilities and turn a movie into a global phenomenon. I'd like to give you some insight into how we did it. We deployed our proprietary mix of content, media, and influencers, combined with merchandising and promotional collaborations with our retail partners to stimulate demand among generations of fans. Our advertising, creative, and media complemented our in-store and online execution, giving us incredible reach with our consumers and shoppers where it mattered most: on the ground, where and when they are shopping, with well-designed, well-timed, and well-stocked displays. We created consumer-centric shopper journeys that began on mobile and led to omnichannel retail experiences, collaborations with our commercial partners in all regions to maximize excitement at key moments.
Outside of our 500,000 doors and many, many windows, just incredible work from our franchise and consumer product team. More points of distribution and more opportunities to create demand. The global consistency of our commercial excellence is intentional. At Walmart, it was Welcome to Barbie Land: Franchise Activation. In the U.S. and Mexico, display after display of toys and consumer products in prominent locations across the store and online with a homepage takeover on Walmart.com. Walmart's marketing collaboration was unique for the scale of the execution and also for the innovation. Walmart featured Barbie as a celebrity in its big summer marketing campaign alongside Patrick Mahomes and Becky G. Mattel was proudly called on to develop the creative. Walmart branded and sponsored HGTV's Barbie Dreamhouse Challenge television show hosted by supermodel Ashley Graham.
An excellent display of our values in action with our largest retail partner: collaboration, innovation, and execution. With Amazon, we created Barbie's Best Week Ever, an award-winning franchise shopping experience. Amazon turned pink to drive awareness for the movie and offered surprise daily deals over the seven-day period across beauty, accessories, home, and toys to engage shoppers. From our traditional customers like our partners in Seattle and Bentonville to new retailers from Barcelona to Beijing, Mattel had more than 165 licensed partners in all regions, as Josh discussed. At Zara globally, an exclusive collection of apparel, accessories, shoes, and home décor supported by in-store and online activation, social media, brand ambassadors, and events which created a fan frenzy. Here is one take of one store in Spain. At Selfridges in the U.K., a two-week takeover of the iconic Oxford Street windows.
A full cross-category selection across toys and consumer products, apparel, haircare, and sporting goods. A two-week pop-up corner shop and a Selfridges cinema takeover. At Primark, one of the biggest fashion retailers in EMEA, an exclusive apparel, home, and accessories collection for men and women supported by a launch event. At Myer, a leading department store in Australia, there was girls' and women's apparel and sleepwear, outerwear, and beauty brands supported by an online digital takeover and landing page, and flagship store windows and a pop-up shop. In the U.S., at Bloomingdale's, an exclusive collaboration featuring contemporary fashions and accessories also supported by an online takeover, digital lookbook, social and email marketing, and a memorable in-store event. Our industry-leading brand marketing, combined with Warner Bros.' film promotional expertise, made it impossible to live on planet Earth and not know about the Barbie movie.
We used Barbie's Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok to amplify drops of the trailers, cast photos, and who could forget that selfie generator. We activated nearly 5,000 influencers with a cumulative social following of more than 200 million that included popular names such as Kim and Khloé Kardashian. Our goal was to break convention and be original, just like the movie did. It was an amazing display, the evolved demand creation expertise that absolutely distinguishes Mattel. We took a capability that we've had for decades, evolved it, and leveraged it to create entertainment history. As Ynon shared, we have elevated demand creation to a strategic priority, a clear competitive advantage in the toy category, and a representative of our progress to advance and promote our entertainment strategy outside of the toy aisle. Marketing innovation is part of Mattel's DNA, our legacy and origin story.
In addition to being brilliant product visionaries, our founders, Ruth and Elliot Handler, were, in fact, great marketing pioneers and collaborators with Walt Disney himself. In 1955, Mattel sponsored a 52-week segment on the Mickey Mouse Club at a time when toy companies only advertised during the holidays and TV advertising for toys was completely unproven. Those who came before us made certain that this company caught the first waves of mass media with TV advertising, and we have continued to evolve and stay ahead of the change curve ever since. We do not intend to follow the coming tide of marketing innovation. We intend to lead it. The only constant is change. Consumers and media continue to evolve. Kids are increasingly difficult to reach.
In recent years, kids' TV media has become supply-constrained and more expensive as viewers shifted online into streaming platforms and fragmented across thousands and thousands of YouTube channels. TV viewership migrated to multiple devices and services, making it extremely challenging to aggregate audience and reach. Now, more than 60% of kids' video viewing is taking place on internet-connected devices compared to only 31% in December of 2019. Kids led the migration from TV to YouTube and other streaming platforms, and we surprise and delight them with high-quality content for our franchise brands where they now spend their time. We lead on the top ad-supported kids' engagement platform, YouTube, where we are number one for dolls and number one for toy vehicles.
We also serve parents who for decades used to co-view with their kids but now can be found on social media where we create high-quality content for our channels on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. On social media, we stayed in the conversation and ahead of the competition with timely cultural relevance, connecting pop culture and societal trends to amplify fan engagement and broaden appeal. It takes expertise to manage the complexity of demand creation, and we have it. We recently created an integrated marketing communications team which brings together our expertise at a global scale. This is where we research societal trends and consumer insights, create best-in-class media assets, and manage digital content and media to maximize our social channels. Another in-house strength at Mattel, influencer marketing, also enables our brands to connect with pop culture, amplify fan engagement, and broaden appeal.
UNO was named one of Ad Age's top five branded TikTok channels with followers surpassing 1 million and 100 million video views. In 2023, we engaged with celebrity fans like Questlove and Giannis, content creators, and leveraged in-house production to create video assets with cultural relevance. We've had thousands of creators and partners to tell great stories about our brands, products, entertainment, and live experiences. Mattel recruited a range of family and tween influencers to amplify the launch of new Monster High dolls in 2023. They shared a total of nearly 1,000 social posts that together earned 72 million views and over 224 million impressions across TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube. Beyond our advertising and social media, our retail customers collaborate with us to engage their guests and promote our brands.
Our omnichannel retail marketing team manages promotional collaborations with our customers to drive returns on those investments by maximizing promotional features, customer media, and events. 77% of U.S. households shop at our top three retailers at least once a week, and 96% of households shop our top three retailers at least once a month. If you factor retail impressions into reach, our best-in-class retail distribution is another sustainable marketing advantage. With our customers, we create innovative, consumer-centric guest experiences, merchandising, and retailtainment events to capture the hearts and minds of fans globally and to maximize engagement and share. Few can do this, fewer can do it well, and no one can do it like Mattel. Another showcase for how we engage audiences and fandoms and execute our playbook is Mattel Creations.
Mattel Creations is our D2C business serving adult collectors, bringing together consumers, commerce, community, content, and culture with unique value propositions that are complementary to our core toy business where our demand creation expertise is driving excitement and consumer demand. Mattel Creations connects our brands to pop culture, artists, and influencers, and blurs the lines between toys as art and art inspired by toys. Mattel Creations offers high-quality, curated, limited-edition products in special display packaging that are uniquely different from what we offer through our mass retail partners. With its own branded graphics and high-touch service, we offer a user experience that stands out in a crowded market. Our most loyal fans join our Mattel Creations membership program to gain exclusive access to limited-run items, content, and community features. Many of our collector drops sell out in minutes, and these members get priority. Here are a few examples.
Monster High's collectors bid on this cool collab, which sold out at $150. For Hot Wheels Redline Club members, a collaboration with renowned contemporary artist Daniel Arsham, a 1/64th diecast Porsche Speedster sold out at $70. For 9,000 fans who backed a crowdfunding campaign, a $550 Ultimate Masters of the Universe collectible playset. For the movie, we offered exclusive screen-to-shelf toys, artist collaborations, and celebrity content for our audience of Barbie fans, and highlighted the breadth of our franchise with our consumer product offering. Fans could not get enough of our Kenough hoodie at $60, our top-selling item ever, and we responded quickly to the viral demand. On March 21st and 22nd, we are looking forward to Mattel Creations Revealed, a two-day virtual event for our biggest fans featuring exclusive content, behind-the-scenes access, and covet-worthy collectibles across our portfolio.
Mattel Creations truly offers a world of possibilities to engage fans and expand audiences in new and exciting ways. Our demand creation is a strategic priority for Mattel, and we believe it will only increase in importance as we grow our IP-driven toy business profitably and capture full value of our IP. There's so much more ahead. Now Anthony will provide some perspective on our financial outlook and capital allocation strategy.
Thanks, Steve, and hello, everyone. Mattel has made significant progress over the last six years since the start of our transformation into an IP-driven, high-performing toy company, and today is much stronger financially and well-positioned for success. Our strategy is to grow profitably, capture the full value of our IP, and continue with our disciplined cost management. Our much-improved financial performance and strong balance sheet, highlighted by our return to investment grade last year, reflects our ability to generate significant cash flow. Our favorable debt profile, with no debt maturities until 2026, enables us to invest in growing the business even more and to continue share repurchases. These actions are consistent with our capital allocation priorities designed to provide financial flexibility to manage our capital structure, invest in growth opportunities, and create long-term value for our shareholders.
As Ynon said, we expect Mattel to outpace the industry in 2024 and gain global market share. Recapping our 2024 guidance on key metrics, we expect net sales and constant currency to be comparable to the prior year, with growth in vehicles offset by a decline in dolls as we wrap the benefits of the Barbie movie, and for Infant, Toddler, and Preschool , as well as our challenger categories collectively, to be comparable to the prior year. With respect to the power brands, we expect Hot Wheels to grow, Fisher-Price to be comparable, and for Barbie to decline. Further improving profitability, adjusted gross margin is forecasted to increase from 47.5% in 2023 to a range of 48.5% to 49%.
The anticipated improvement is primarily driven by savings from our recently announced Optimizing for Profitable Growth program and favorable fixed-cost absorption from increased production levels, partly offset by wrapping the Barbie movie benefit. Further down the P&L, we are planning for advertising and adjusted SG&A to remain relatively stable as a % of net sales. Adjusted EBITDA is forecasted to be in the range of $975 million to $1.25 billion, an increase compared to $948 million in the prior year. Adjusted EPS is expected to grow double digits to a range of $1.35 to $1.45 compared to $1.23 in 2023 as we improve profitability and benefit from share repurchases. Free cash flow is projected to be approximately $500 million. We are operating in a macroeconomic environment that may impact consumer demand.
The guidance considers what the company is aware of today but remains subject to market volatility, unexpected disruptions, and other risks and uncertainties. Beyond 2024, we expect Mattel to grow sales and earnings in 2025 with the anticipated benefit of improving industry trends, innovation in toys, expansion of our entertainment offering and licensing partnerships, as well as savings from our Optimizing for Profitable Growth program and the benefit of our share repurchase program. We have a strong track record of achieving cost savings. As you know, between 2018 and 2020, we achieved over $1 billion of cost savings through the Structural Simplification program. In 2023, we completed our very successful three-year Optimizing for Growth program that ultimately yielded annualized savings of $343 million compared to the initial target of $250 million and the revised goal of $300 million.
Combining both programs, we have now achieved a total of $1.3 billion in cost savings since 2018. Embedded in our DNA is now a mindset to drive ever-greater efficiencies and productivity improvements across the business. To that end, we recently announced a new program aimed at further performance and efficiency improvements. The Optimizing for Profitable Growth program is a continuation of the company's cost reduction and performance enhancements. This has had a meaningful impact on the business, helping to restore and improve profitability, and we expect to further improve relative to where we are today. The program's aim is to achieve efficiencies leveraging our scale and cost savings opportunities within our global supply chain, including our manufacturing footprint that we believe can further improve productivity, profitability, and our competitive position.
We are targeting $200 million of annualized savings by 2026 under this new program, which includes the previously disclosed initiative to close a plant in China. In terms of the P&L, we anticipate approximately 70% of the expected savings to benefit cost of goods sold and the remaining 30% to benefit SG&A. Costs and investments to implement the program are currently estimated to be between $130 million-$170 million. Given our strong track record, we are confident in our ability to execute this program. Cash generation is a major focus for us. In 2023, we generated $709 million in free cash flow and over the last five years have now generated cumulative free cash flow totaling nearly $1.5 billion. During this time, we repaid a portion of our debt and resumed share repurchases.
With our improved financial position and expectations to continue generating meaningful free cash flow, we anticipate having the financial flexibility to support and accelerate our capital deployment plans and enhance long-term shareholder value. We have substantially improved our financial position since 2017 through a combination of debt repayments, refinancings, and growth in EBITDA. With our improved financial position and performance, we have now achieved a debt-to-adjusted EBITDA ratio of approximately 2.5 times for the last three years. We achieved an investment-grade credit rating in 2023 following upgrades from Moody's and S&P Global and now Fitch. With this rating, we now have greater financial flexibility, access to additional liquidity, and are able to optimize our cost of capital. The debt repayments and refinancings over the last few years have put us in a great position to manage our debt portfolio and invest in the business.
Today, our bond portfolio is well-positioned with no maturities until 2026 and an average coupon rate of approximately 4.7%. Our near-term capital allocation priorities are aligned with our expectation to generate meaningful free cash flow going forward. Our first priority is to make investments to drive organic growth. This includes investing in innovation and strengthening core capabilities such as direct-to-consumer and digital marketing. We will make capital investments to increase our manufacturing capacity where we have a significant competitive cost advantage. And as Ynon said, we will now consider targeted investments supporting our entertainment strategy to advance our execution and capture a greater share of the potential economic upside. Our second capital allocation priority is to maintain a leverage ratio in the range of 2 to 2.5x debt-to-adjusted EBITDA and our investment-grade rating.
Our third priority, with the benefit of a stronger balance sheet, is to pursue M&A and other corporate development opportunities, which we believe can advance our strategy, improve our growth profile, and create economic value for shareholders. Fourth, we will repurchase shares as an effective and flexible tool to manage our capital structure. Notably, we resumed share repurchases in 2023, fully utilizing our remaining authority of approximately $200 million. With our strong balance sheet and consistent with our stated capital allocation priorities, we recently announced a new multi-year share repurchase program with an authorization of $1 billion. This action reflects confidence in our strategy to grow sales, earnings, and cash flow and create long-term shareholder value. We have begun to execute the program in 2024 and plan to fund repurchases with free cash flow. As you have seen through our presentations, Mattel is successfully executing its strategy.
We meaningfully strengthened our financial position and look to drive further performance and efficiency improvements across the business that will benefit the bottom line and position Mattel for long-term growth. We are well-positioned for success and remain focused on creating long-term shareholder value. Thank you. I will now pass you back to Ynon for closing remarks.
Thank you, Anthony, Steve, Robbie, Josh, and Lisa, for your presentations and leadership. Mattel is a leading global toy and family entertainment company and owner of one of the most iconic brand portfolios in the world. We are a purpose-driven company. We are here to empower generations to explore the wonder of childhood and reach the full potential. We do that by creating innovative products and experiences that inspire fans, entertain audiences, and develop children through play.
Our purpose and mission, combined with our commitment to contribute to a more diverse, equitable, inclusive, and sustainable future, is our North Star. We prioritize workplace culture under our leadership values of collaboration, innovation, and execution. We are proud of the numerous recognitions we have received for our achievements in this important area from the world's leading authorities on workplace excellence. I would like to thank the entire Mattel team for their commitment to our purpose and mission and the significant progress we have made over the past few years. We believe we are well-positioned to continue the successful execution of our strategy to profitably grow our IP-driven toy business and expand our entertainment offering and to create long-term shareholder value. Thank you again for joining us and for your interest in Mattel.