Welcome to Mattel's 2021 Virtual Analyst Day presentation, and thank you for your interest in the company. Today, Mattel's management will share its plans to grow the business and will also provide an update on its strategic business plan. The runtime for today's presentation is approximately one hour and 45 minutes.
Now, new this morning, popular toy maker Mattel is finding ways to keep kids engaged and playing during this pandemic. Millions of people across the world are standing up to fight against racism.
I would like to introduce Mattel's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Ynon Kreiz.
Thank you for joining Mattel's 2021 Virtual Analyst presentation. I hope that all of you and your families are staying safe and healthy. It has been a long, tumultuous year since we stood in front of you at the last Toy Fair in New York. A lot has happened during this time that taught us many lessons. Yet, as challenging as this year has been for people everywhere, it also served to remind us how fortunate we are to be part of an industry that consumers can turn to and trust in both good and tough times. All of us at Mattel have been particularly excited to see children and families choosing our products again and again. I'm proud of the many ways in which the entire Mattel global team responded in the face of the pandemic.
We stepped up as responsible corporate citizens, leveraging our resources to support consumers, customers, business partners, and communities where we live, work, and play. 2020 was a testing year for all of us. For Mattel, it was also conclusive proof that our transformation strategy is working, and we exited the year in a strong position to further accelerate our performance. We increased net sales for the second year in a row in constant currency. In the all-important fourth quarter, we achieved growth in all three power brands, in six of the seven categories where we compete, and in all four regions in constant currency. Our growth outperformed the industry in the third quarter, fourth quarter, and the full year. We had the world's number one toy property, number one vehicle brand, number one game, and we are the number one manufacturer in the infant-toddler preschool category per NPD.
Our profitability continued to consistently improve, with adjusted gross margins increasing for 10 consecutive quarters and adjusted EBITDA reaching the highest level in four years. At the same time, we reinvigorated our culture with our highest employee satisfaction in years. The consistent execution of our transformation strategy is paying off. Today, we will review Mattel's progress on our strategic roadmap to date and introduce the evolution of our strategic plan designed to improve profitability and accelerate top-line growth in 2021 and beyond. We will also present our approach to innovation, and while we cannot walk with you in the gallery, I hope you will share our excitement about the incredible product offering that we are bringing to the market this year. From the beginning, our strategy was designed around two phases.
First, in the short to mid-term, restore profitability by reshaping operations and regaining top-line growth by growing our power brands and expanding our brand portfolio. Then, in the mid to long-term, capture the full value of our IP through franchise management, online retail, and e-commerce. Mattel's latest quarterly and full-year earnings demonstrated that our short to mid-term execution has been very successful and is delivering strong, tangible results. This strategy is creating a path to drive significant improvement across the company as we start to unlock the true value of Mattel. The new Mattel is very different from what the company was just a few short years ago as we announced our plans to transform into an IP-driven, high-performing toy company. Let's reflect on some of our accomplishments during our journey to date.
As you can see from this scorecard, in the last three years, we made substantial progress across all key financial metrics. Net sales stabilized and started to show growth momentum. Adjusted gross margin improved over 1,100 basis points. Adjusted operating income increased by more than $650 million, and our adjusted operating margin improved by 1,400 basis points. Mattel's adjusted EBITDA grew nearly sixfold. Adjusted EPS improved significantly and turned positive. Free cash flow improved by almost $500 million, and we also made significant progress in reducing our debt to adjusted EBITDA leverage ratio. This broad-based success was driven by several key strategic initiatives and the commitment of the entire organization. One key driver was the $1 billion in cost savings through 2020, which was achieved through our structural simplification and capital-light programs, as well as additional actions taken in response to COVID-19.
Following that, with greater visibility and insights, we have identified additional areas where we can improve operations and drive greater productivity to accelerate top-line growth and, at the same time, further reduce our cost base. We recently announced Optimizing for Growth, a new multi-year program that integrates our capital-light program, which is expected to bring additional cost efficiencies of $250 million by 2023. Other key drivers have also contributed to our success. The new category structure and continuous innovation is helping to gain market share across the portfolio. The realigned commercial team in all regions is demonstrating market-leading execution capabilities at brick-and-mortar retail and e-commerce, both in absolute and relative terms. The restructured supply chain is now a true business partner and a strategic asset for the company, with more benefits to come.
While growth has largely been driven by strong performance from category flagships Barbie, Hot Wheels, and Uno, we are also seeing strong performance in other brands and new areas, including strategic white space like Plush. Importantly, we are seeing a positive shift in momentum from brands that have been in turnaround, including Fisher-Price Core, Thomas & Friends, American Girl, and MEGA. Our partnerships with global entertainment companies have been building upon strength. We are continuing to nurture, develop, and expand our relationships with Disney, Universal, Nickelodeon, WWE, Microsoft, and Nintendo, as well as other owners of major properties with global appeal. We treat their brands like our own and work closely with each partner to ensure these important franchises have the most innovative toy offerings in the business, backed by comprehensive marketing programs and our premier global supply chain and commercial capabilities.
The Mattel Playbook is working, and our product is resonating with consumers at levels we have not seen in years. On our fourth quarter and full-year earnings call, we guided to mid-single-digit top-line growth and adjusted EBITDA in the range of $775 million-$800 million in 2021. We also stated our goal to continue growing top-line by mid-single digits in constant currency in 2022 and in 2023 and achieve a mid-teen operating income margin by 2023. We believe we are well on our way to deliver on our short to mid-term priorities to restore profitability and regain top-line growth. These are exciting times for Mattel. Given the significant progress and positive outlook, today, we are happy to share the next evolution of our strategic roadmap and expand on its key pillars.
In the short term, we are now looking to improve profitability by optimizing our operations and to accelerate top-line growth by growing our power brands and expanding our brand portfolio. In the mid to long term, we continue to make progress on capturing the full value of our IP through franchise management and online retail and e-commerce. We are confident in the continued momentum of our power brands, the incredible pipeline of catalog IP, and the strength of our entertainment partnerships, all fueled by innovation and cultural relevance. We believe we are in a strong position to accelerate our top-line growth and increase our overall market share. We also believe the company is now on a strong foundation to continue improving profitability in the coming years.
Anthony DiSilvestro, Mattel's Chief Financial Officer, will come up next to elaborate on our plans to improve profitability as well as our outlook for the next three years. Richard Dickson, our President and Chief Operating Officer, will describe how Mattel's proven playbook is helping to accelerate top-line growth by growing our power brands and expanding our brand portfolio. Lisa McKnight, Senior Vice President of Barbie and Global Head of Dolls, will join Richard to share how we plan to continue driving growth in that huge category. I will come back to talk about our mid to long-term strategy. Now, I would like to turn the floor over to Anthony.
Thank you, Ynon, and hello, everyone. We had an outstanding year and made considerable progress on our strategy to become an IP-driven, high-performing toy company. Today, I will elaborate on the key steps we are taking to improve profitability and expand on our guidance for 2021 and goals for 2022 and 2023. As Ynon stated, we are evolving our strategy going forward. Improving profitability is our first strategic objective in the short term. This means expanding our margins, growing our bottom-line results, and converting an increasing percentage of those earnings into free cash flow. The Optimizing for Growth program will be a key driver of improving profitability. It is designed to further improve operations and drive greater productivity to accelerate top-line growth and, at the same time, continue to reduce our cost base. This new program comes off the back of the structural simplification program, which was a resounding success that, together with our capital-light program and other actions we took during the pandemic, delivered $1 billion of cost savings between 2018 and 2020.
As part of those programs, we reduced non-manufacturing headcount by 33%, reduced CapEx from $297 million in 2017 to approximately $120 million in 2019 and 2020. We also made transformative improvements in our supply chain and reduced complexity in the system with a 35% lower SKU count as of the end of 2020. While we did all that, we managed to increase revenues in constant currency for two years in a row and grow market share globally. Following these programs, we have gained greater visibility and insight, which has helped us identify several new productivity opportunities that leverage our scale and global platform that will become focus areas of the Optimizing for Growth program. This new program differs from our previous programs in that we will now work on areas that improve productivity and our ability to grow as opposed to more straightforward structural simplification and cost reduction.
It is less about payroll and more about systems and processes. Examples include improving speed to market, enhancing the productivity of our design and development output, standardizing global marketing processes, scaling our logistics capability, and accelerating the retail transformation of American Girl. The capital-light initiatives to rationalize the plant footprint and achieve other productivity gains will be integrated into the program as many of these areas are interrelated. Under this new program, we expect to achieve $250 million of savings by 2023, with the first $75 million benefiting 2021. In terms of the P&L, we anticipate approximately 50% of the expected savings to benefit cost of goods sold, 40% to benefit SG&A, and the remaining 10% to impact advertising and promotion.
We estimate the cash expenditures to implement the program will be in the range of $100 million-$125 million, and to the extent they impact the P&L, will be excluded from our adjusted results. We expect that the majority of the savings will contribute to operating margin expansion. As it relates to our capital structure, with our positive free cash flow, the availability of our $1.6 billion ABL facility, and no debt maturities until 2023, we believe we have ample flexibility and that we are well-positioned to financially support the execution of our strategy. We are assessing opportunities to refinance some of our existing high-coupon debt at a lower interest cost as we continue to evaluate capital market options.
Going forward, we will be focused on converting an increasing percentage of EBITDA into free cash flow, and we intend to utilize excess free cash flow to reduce debt in the near term. We have made good progress in our free cash flow generation. We also improved our EBITDA conversion, finishing 2020 with free cash flow of $167 million, representing 23% of adjusted EBITDA, up from 14% in 2019. We are well-positioned to continue to improve on these metrics in 2021 and beyond. As we achieve the expected growth in adjusted EBITDA, an increasing percentage should convert to free cash flow. This will happen in three ways. First, with the utilization of free cash flow to reduce debt and potential refinancing opportunities, our interest costs are expected to decline. Second, as we improve our profitability and utilize tax loss carryforwards, our cash tax rate will benefit.
Third, as part of our capital-light strategy, we have significantly reduced capital expenditures and will maintain these lower levels going forward. Since 2017, we have made significant progress in reducing our leverage ratio, finishing 2020 with a debt-to-adjusted EBITDA ratio of just four times. Looking ahead, using excess free cash flow to reduce debt combined with expectations for growth in adjusted EBITDA, we anticipate that our leverage will continue to decline as we work our way back towards an investment-grade rating. While the COVID lockdown drove strong consumer demand for the overall toy industry in 2020, we did not just ride the wave. We outpaced the industry and gained share on a global basis. We believe the categories where we are global leaders—dolls, vehicles, infant-toddler -preschool—will continue to perform well and that we are well-positioned to lead and capitalize on that growth.
With a strong second-half finish in 2020 and good momentum entering this year, we provided 2021 guidance on our fourth quarter earnings call, reflecting our expectation for continued growth. As a reminder, for 2021, we expect net sales to grow by a mid-single-digit % in constant currency, driven by growth in the dolls, vehicles, and action figure categories, improving performance in infant-toddler and preschool and building sets, and gains from our licensed partnerships. Adjusted EBITDA is expected to be in the range of $775 million-$800 million, representing an increase of 8%-11% compared to 2020, reflecting higher sales and the early benefits from our Optimizing for Growth program. We are confident in our ability to improve profitability and accelerate top-line growth beyond 2021 and have established goals for each.
As Ynon said, our top-line goal is to grow net sales by mid-single digits in constant currency in 2022 and 2023. We expect continued growth in our power brands led by Barbie and Hot Wheels, while Fisher-Price Core is turning and expected to return to growth as well. We also expect to expand our brand portfolio by leveraging the pipeline of catalog IP, the strength of our entertainment franchises, and delivering innovation capitalizing on our design capabilities and global scale. Our profitability goal is to achieve an adjusted operating income margin in the mid-teens by 2023. We have a strong track record of cost savings and are confident in our ability to deliver $250 million of incremental savings by 2023 from the Optimizing for Growth program, which will be a key driver in reaching this goal. We have a clear strategy to transform Mattel into an IP-driven, high-performing toy company. We have defined plans in place to accelerate our top-line growth and improve profitability in the short term while advancing our strategy to capture the full value of our IP in the mid to long term. We believe Mattel is well-positioned for success and remain focused on creating long-term shareholder value. Thank you. I will now pass you on to Richard.
Thanks, Anthony, and hi, everybody. What a year it's been. It's hard to believe that we're not all together in New York kicking off Toy Fair right now, but it's great to be with all of you today virtually, wherever you are in the world these days. Typically, you'd be seeing product demonstrations, and we'd be walking the gallery together to experience Mattel's new creations and toys of the year, and we look forward to doing all of that again someday soon. Right now, we are excited to share with you on screen our progress and exciting lineup for 2021. Grab the popcorn, and let's get started. While 2020 wasn't much fun, the business of fun had a great year. The global toy industry grew 10%, and the U.S. toy industry had its best year ever per NPD. Ynon took you through Mattel's impressive business performance, where we saw progress not only in the categories where we have leading brands, but throughout our portfolio, including where we are an important challenger. Categories like outdoor games and puzzles and building sets surged early in the lockdown and delivered the majority of growth in the industry. By year's end, remarkably, 10 out of the 11 categories NPD tracks were up, with seven categories up by double digits in the U.S. Major manufacturers drove the big growth.
As parents invested in trusted evergreen brands, we were ready, and the result was a truly extraordinary year for Mattel. Our ongoing transformation prepared us for change. Embracing the disruption to our industry, we seized the moment with hyper-relevant products and messaging to help kids make sense of it all, as well as brands that celebrated frontline workers and made important statements about diversity, inclusion, and sustainability. Purposeful brands that nurture kids' development through play and content to keep kids and families playing when they need it most. On-trend, innovative toys that were a welcome break from school on a screen. We created exciting new e-commerce platforms to make shopping fun, easy, and safe, and inspiring ideas to bring families together and fill a growing amount of playtime. Simply put, Mattel was a winner in 2020, setting the stage for an exciting 2021.
We did it by leaning into our proven brand-building approach, a Mattel Playbook, that focuses and guides our efforts in four key ways. One, brand purpose, the distinctive reason for being that lives in each of our brands to inspire and create a lifetime of value for consumers who are increasingly buying based on purpose. Two, design-led innovation, a creativity that comes from really knowing our consumer and then exceeding their expectations with truly amazing product. Three, cultural relevance, connecting brands and products with popular culture to drive demand, something we do particularly well at Mattel. Four, executional excellence, bringing great ideas to market better and faster. All of this in support of our company's purpose to empower the next generation to explore the wonder of childhood and reach their full potential.
Today, you will see many examples of our Playbook in action, and you'll see how we are applying it to drive our strategic pillars, grow our power brands, and expand our brand portfolio. The most pronounced example is Barbie, the number one toy property in the world, with an incredible 62-year legacy. We sold more than 100 Barbie dolls every minute in 2020, a testament to our Playbook and Barbie's deep connection to her consumer. As I said, Barbie's not the only Mattel brand realizing extraordinary potential from our Playbook. Hot Wheels, Fisher-Price, American Girl, Uno, and many more are benefiting too, as you'll see. Our Playbook allows us to rapidly develop complementary brands within Mattel's category structure, with a lead power brand, owned IP brands from our vast catalog and licensed partner brands.
As a result, we are positioned to accelerate growth in 2021 because what we're doing to build innovative, culturally relevant brands with clarity of purpose is working to create long-term value for our brands. When the world moves towards a new normal, we're confident that Mattel will be ready, better positioned, and better prepared for several reasons. First, we're not overexposed in categories that boomed last year like outdoor, and we are challengers in other categories that surged like games and puzzles and building sets. We expect to be less impacted as the marketplace settles. Second, our major brands are strategically built around play systems that encourage loyalty, repeat purchase, and collecting, which means we can anticipate continued buying. Third, our strength in purposeful play and creating cultural relevance will only be more meaningful and more valued by families as they navigate a changed world.
Add to that momentum in our trusted, enduring brands and an exceptional product pipeline that stands above recent years. Leading all of this are the best, most talented people in the business, the people of Mattel. That is why we are confident that we can accelerate growth this year. Today, we will be sharing examples of our Playbook in action across our portfolio, hitting the highlights of 2020 and previewing an exciting lineup for 2021. We will look at our power brands, Barbie, Hot Wheels, Fisher-Price, the lead brands in our biggest, most valuable categories, which are gaining momentum. We will look at owned IP brands, including next-wave franchises like American Girl, Thomas, and Uno, as well as other iconic IP from our catalog, newly energized for growth, including Polly Pocket, Matchbox, and Masters of the Universe. We will look at important partnerships from some of the most exciting studios and creators.
Many of you have been on this journey with us for a while, so you'll know how pleased I am to say that this marks a major turning point, the kind of big momentum shift Mattel has been building towards. Let's get into it, beginning with dolls. Dolls is an $8 billion super category per NPD, and Mattel is the lead player globally, driven by growth in Barbie and Polly Pocket. Barbie had a record-breaking year in 2020, with POS up 30% worldwide, which is just phenomenal. Barbie is also the brand where the power and effectiveness of our Mattel Playbook is most pronounced, a great model for brand development that's inspiring our entire Mattel portfolio. Lisa McKnight, our Global Head of Barbie and Dolls and an architect of our category strategy, is up next to tell you all about it, including our plans to accelerate growth this year. Lisa and I have worked together for years. She's an incredible leader who is passionate about kids and dolls and the impact Mattel brands can make in the world. Right after Lisa's update, I'll be back to share how Mattel's other brands are setting the stage for accelerated growth this year. Take it away, Lisa.
Thanks, Richard, and hello, everyone. What a year for Barbie, the number one toy property in the world per NPD, with all product segments showing positive POS and every region up double digits. Barbie's iconic Dreamhouse was the number one toy in the U.S. Barbie Color Reveal is already a top 10 fashion doll in the U.S. and a TOTY winner for Doll of the Year. She's the number one doll brand on YouTube, the number one doll brand on social media with more than 25 million total followers. In fourth quarter, Barbie had the number one downloaded kids app in the U.S. Ad age was onto something when they named Barbie a comeback brand of the decade in 2019. In 2020, her 61st year, Barbie emerged as the biggest winner in the global toy industry. Barbie is thriving, and today I'll give you some insight into how she's done it. I'll preview our plans to accelerate brand growth in 2021 and beyond. I'll also share how we're leveraging the Barbie model to drive growth category-wide with a focus on Polly Pocket, one of our recently relaunched owned brands that's now poised for growth, and our exciting new high-potential entertainment licenses. How did Barbie do it? We started by dialing up our commitment to Barbie's brand purpose to inspire the limitless potential in every girl.
Our calendar of design-led product innovation continued on schedule, even as we added fresh initiatives for 2020's new normal. Our active commitment to cultural relevance, a hallmark of the Barbie brand since the very beginning, helped us identify and, most importantly, act on consumer insights quickly with new marketing and content creation. The entire global team met the moment with executional excellence. There were many Barbie success stories that contributed to the brand's growth last year. Let's take a look at some highlights and then move on to 2021. Barbie's at her best when she connects to culture, and 2020 provided considerable opportunities. When the world went into quarantine, so did Barbie, wearing a mask, cutting her own bangs, and learning to make sourdough bread. The brand also celebrated frontline workers with a fast-tracked Heroes collection to inspire kids and benefit the First Responders Children's Foundation.
2020 was an especially meaningful year to showcase Barbie's enduring commitment to purpose and positive social impact, including diversity, inclusion, and empowerment. Tied to the U.S. election, our featured I Can Be Career of the Year was an all-female campaign team to inspire future leaders to run for office. These dolls join the more than 200 careers Barbie's introduced to generations of girls. Our hyper-current Fashionistas line, the most diverse and inclusive doll line in the industry, introduced 35 new dolls last year. Yet again, the top performers featured body and skin diversity. Barbie Signature, our premium offering for collectors and pop culture fans, just had its best year in a decade, and momentum continues to build. No other doll can connect to culture like Barbie can. From celebrating milestone moments to inspiring icons, this line just continues to get better and better.
For the ultimate play experience, one of 2020's best demonstrations of Mattel innovation was Barbie Color Reveal, which not only had a breakout launch year, it's also broadening our audience to reach older girls, a valuable and largely incremental consumer. A moment ago, I mentioned the Barbie Dreamhouse and its incredible performance last year. It's the anchor of Barbie's system of play and a magnet for other Barbie products, making every Dreamhouse sale highly valuable both now and later. Last year, with family trips and birthday parties canceled and playtime at home expanding, we sold a Dreamhouse every minute. Just incredible. Barbie's impact also extends to content, where the Dreamhouse has become a great setting for relevant and engaging narratives. One example is our immensely popular Barbie vlogger series for YouTube. It covered a range of hyper-relevant topics in 2020, none more powerful than the issue of systemic racism. In this clip, Barbie and her friend Nikki talk candidly about it.
Too often and for such a long time, people have been treated unfairly, and in some cases, even hurt by others because of the color of their skin. This stuff isn't easy to talk about, which is exactly why we have to talk about it. It's a tough conversation, but I'm glad we're having it. People might think that my life looks fine, but the truth is I and so many other Black people have to deal with racism all the time. It's really hurtful, and it can be scary and sad, and I wanted to share some stories about that today.
This episode earned millions of views within 24 hours of posting, was trending on Twitter the same night as the vice presidential debate, and most importantly, became a tool to help parents have this important conversation with their children. That brings me to the Barbie Dream Gap project, where we continue to recruit partners and raise funds to level the playing field for every girl. To date, we've celebrated more than 50 global role models and raised significant funds for charities. The barriers Black girls face are particularly high. Going forward, we're committing even more Dream Gap funds to programs that specifically empower Black girls. Barbie has always been uniquely positioned to positively influence and inspire the next generation. While there's certainly more work to do, we're proud to be a leading voice.
In 2021, Barbie will continue to be at the front of the dolls category and the industry with product, content, and initiatives that further deepen brand engagement and drive positive social change. Here are several to watch for. As a lead-up to Black History Month, we announced Maya Angelou as the newest addition to our Inspiring Women line of role model dolls. Consumer response has been remarkable. The doll sold out online in just two days and is drawing comparisons between Amanda Gorman's recent inauguration debut and Dr. Angelou's in 1993. Going forward, as part of Barbie's ongoing recognition of communities of color, more than 50% of the brand's global role model dolls will honor Black, Indigenous, and women of color. In the world of fashion dolls, Barbie is the boss.
As the inventor of the fashion dolls category, Mattel is committed to lead in this space in every way possible. This year, we will break frame again with innovation in our popular Fashionistas line, including new dolls to reflect even greater diversity and playable packaging that becomes part of the play experience. This year, Ken will get extra attention, celebrating his 60th anniversary next month with a high-fashion collaboration and our first-ever wheelchair Ken doll, following on the incredible success of wheelchair Barbie. Barbie Extra launched in December of last year, and it is one of our newest breakout hits. Our unrelenting attention to detail really shines in every aspect of this line, including bold looks in hair, fashion, pets, and accessories. Like Barbie Color Reveal, it is another line that deepens our engagement with current consumers and broadens Barbie's appeal, attracting an incremental older girl audience. Take a look.
Barbie Extra. Hey, we do it well, express yourself. We extra, and then we drop 'em with a dud. My friends go back, they go back, they go back, back. Everyone's like, "It's so funny." We open wide 'cause we twang when she walks. Got that sound when she talks. She's so, so, so extra. Baby boom, bang, pow. She's that remaking scene. She's so bling, bling.
We are so energized by this hot new doll line, and we'll continue driving this type of fun demand creation that we know girls love. This year, we'll expand Barbie Color Reveal also with new secrets and surprises and a cool peel and reveal experience. Later today, you'll hear how other Mattel brands are integrating this super fun innovation into their lines as well. I talked about the ongoing success of Barbie's Dreamhouse. This year, the Dreamhouse gets a major renovation. It's our most customizable house yet, with great innovations, including a movable swing, slide, and pool, and a first-ever integrated lights and sounds feature to play out daytime, nighttime, and of course, party mode. Last year, we explained our plan for Barbie's family to expand into a world of new narratives, characters, and form factors, a multiplier for the entire Barbie franchise, and an important and exciting step toward long-term growth for the brand. It is happening. Starting next month, Barbie's youngest sister, Chelsea, goes from a supporting character to a starring role in her very own franchise. We've created a tentpole event designed around the Netflix launch of Chelsea's Last Birthday, featuring everything from new dolls to accessories and playsets. There is a ton of potential here.
Listen to the beat, love your feet. Got the rhythm so unique. Grab your worries and let 'em go. Find a beat, feel it free. Sing your own melody when you find your own tempo. Let's make a new day. What do you say? Make a wish and let it go. Don't let anybody tell you no. Day. Make a new day. No need to be afraid. Get believe in yourself and make a brand new day.
This fall, we're thrilled to announce another all-new musical special on Netflix featuring an important new diverse voice who will star alongside Barbie with a dedicated product line. This special is all about friendship, positivity, and music, which are major affinities for girls. We look forward to sharing much more as the launch approaches. Moving forward, you'll see us continue to innovate and expand Barbie beyond the doll with Barbie Construction, Barbie Games, expanded lifestyle product, museum exhibits, and the highly anticipated theatrical starring Margot Robbie.
As you can see, Barbie is unstoppable, growing in scope and impact from a very strong foundation that we've worked hard to build and future-proof for continued growth. It's been incredibly gratifying to see Barbie leading the cultural conversation, positively inspiring girls as only Barbie can. Defining this moment at a moment like none before, we see a window for rapid brand expansion now opening in the category, the industry, and beyond. We can't imagine a more appropriate and aspirational leader than Barbie. Now, with the power of Barbie leading the category and the industry, Mattel's overall dolls portfolio has a long runway for growth. Polly Pocket is a great example of that runway. The number eight doll property globally per NPD, Polly Pocket is an owned brand with a rich legacy that we're rapidly revitalizing with the Mattel Playbook as a guide.
Polly is the original micro doll in the very competitive small doll category and one of our resurgent brands to watch in Mattel's doll portfolio. Last year, innovation drove growth for Polly Pocket, including the core compacts line and our new piñata surprise playset. Deepening engagement with content, our new Netflix animated series has been greenlit for seasons three and four. Polly is already a top five doll brand channel on YouTube. This year, we're tapping into increased consumer interest in micro -scale, and we're expanding Polly into new themes and new articulated dolls for better posing and enhanced play. Compacts, core to the Polly brand, will also continue to surprise and delight with new wearable features for on-the-go play. Entertainment partnerships are a strong complement to our owned IP and deepen our relationships with families and licensors. Licensor partners know that nobody out creates Mattel.
I am pleased to announce our new entertainment partnership, Spirit. We earned this global scale license from Universal DreamWorks as a result of our success with Jurassic World action figures and our ongoing strength in dolls. As the only fashion doll horse line in the market, it should make for a strong evergreen property well beyond this year's theatrical release. We have more announcements about new partner brands beginning in 2022 that we'll share later this year. I'm beyond pleased to announce the imminent return of one of the biggest toy brands ever, one of the best-selling fashion dolls of all time, a monstrous piece of Mattel IP, Monster High, and it's going to be bigger than before. With its inclusive messaging of belonging, Monster High is more timely and more relevant than ever.
We're targeting a whole new generation of kids, plus building on the existing fan base who grew up with Monster High. We teased a comeback late last year with a high-end, highly curated collection for Mattel Creations that sold out in just two minutes. This year, you'll see even more amazing horror dolls, including high-end replicas of the original Monster High dolls dialed way up for collectors. The brand kicks into high gear with new content, lifestyle product, and fashion dolls for every fan in 2022. As part of the Monster High reboot, we're working with Nickelodeon to produce an animated series and live-action movie. Yes, school is back in session. Innovative products and purposeful play, expanding entertainment licenses and marketing, cultural relevance, and societal impact. With our power brand Barbie and a range of complementary doll brands from Polly to amazing new licenses and a major comeback planned for Monster High, there is good reason why Mattel will continue to lead in dolls. On behalf of the global Barbie and dolls team at Mattel, thank you for your time today. We couldn't be more energized about our next chapter of growth. I'll pass it back to Richard.
Thanks, Lisa. That's a great story that will only continue to get better this year. You can see how purpose, design-led innovation, cultural relevance, and executional excellence have become superpowers for the Barbie brand, generating big wins and continuous momentum that's helping to grow our other doll brands. You can see why Barbie is such an inspiring model of the Mattel approach for all of our brands and key categories, and Hot Wheels is already on board. Vehicles is a $3.7 billion global category per NPD, up 8% in 2020, and another giant category Mattel is leading and growing with three complementary brands. Hot Wheels, our power brand, creates the vehicles of every kid's fantasies. Matchbox is a fast-growing brand of real-world vehicles, and Disney Pixar Cars, a partner brand of lovable vehicle characters inspired by the global franchise. Let's take a look at the remarkable year and how they plan to accelerate growth in 2021 and beyond. Hot Wheels, as you know, has been on quite a ride. At our 2018 event, I called it the sleeping giant in Mattel's portfolio. Today, Hot Wheels is a high-octane phenomenon that just posted three consecutive best years ever.
Available everywhere from Alibaba to your corner grocery store, we now sell close to 16 Hot Wheels vehicles every second. Basic car sales grew despite lower foot traffic at retail. The brand has also become a hit in content with the number one boys' toy channel on YouTube for three years running. The Mattel brand playbook is driving the big wins that just make it possible. Just look at what design-led innovation has meant to the brand. Our Hot Wheels singles assortment was the top-selling global toy of the year per NPD. The breakout Hot Wheels Ultimate Garage more than doubled the sales of the previous model. Because kids want to fill it up with more and more cars, Ultimate Garage keeps driving incremental sales. It is becoming the Barbie Dreamhouse of the vehicle category. The brand's cultural relevance and connection to its consumers also keeps getting stronger.
Hot Wheels' own DTC platform, the Hot Wheels Design Shop, kept brand enthusiasts of all ages engaged with monthly limited edition drops. The brand's digital conversation with consumers is rich. Hot Wheels' YouTube channel finished 2020 with more than a billion views and nearly 1.5 million new subscribers. Hashtag hack the track, a destination for user-generated content, encouraged entire families to share their track creations during lockdown. We continue to grow Hot Wheels' presence in gaming, including our first-ever standalone game on Roblox, a leading kids' gaming platform. There is the cross-generational Hot Wheels Legends Tour. For 2020, we reimagined it as a virtual series with celebrity judges like Snoop Dogg and a live-stream finale from Jay Leno's Garage. The result, POS lift was up more than 60% over the bricks-and-mortar series the year before. Let's take a look.
Three, two, one. Here we go. Since 2018, the Hot Wheels Legends Tour has been bringing together custom car builders from around the globe, all competing for a chance to have their car immortalized as a Hot Wheels toy car. We've seen 12,000 cars entered, hosted 200,000 attendees, and earned 2.5 billion PR impressions. In 2020, we went virtual with our media partners, special guests, and valued sponsor. The tour culminated at Jay Leno's Garage to crown our third Hot Wheels Legends winner. We reached 12 million people, had 900,000 average views per stop, and drove record product sales. Coming soon in 2021, more countries, more stops, more cars. Who will be the next Hot Wheels Legends?
We brought our belief in the power of brand purpose to vehicles. Last year, as families began to stay at home, Hot Wheels took Speedometry, our math and science curriculum created for schools, and repurposed the activities for family time, launching a new instruction video and a booklet with lessons adjusted for home versus classroom learning. A phenomenal year of wins for Hot Wheels, and for 2021, we're dialing it way up. New decals, colors, and designs will refresh 100% of our singles assortment as we do each year. Exciting new playsets in both our top-selling Hot Wheels Monster Truck and Toy award-winning Mario Kart lines will further extend the multiplier effect. We'll continue to grow our consumer base, adding more retail doors, and we'll expand Hot Wheels collector lines and further develop innovative DTC platforms.
The Hot Wheels Legends Tour will be even bigger and better, adding four new countries worldwide with a hybrid virtual and live format that's right for the moment. We're leveraging the brand for portfolio growth outside its core category with the all-new Hot Wheels by MEGA product line and accompanying series on YouTube. Later this year, look for the global launch of, wait for it, Hot Wheels Color Reveal, inspired by the same innovation behind our wildly successful Barbie Color Reveal. We're now bringing this Mattel-inspired secrets and surprise trend to another major category. Hot Wheels is returning to console gaming with an awesome next-generation title that we'll reveal tomorrow. Created for Hot Wheels fans of all ages, this is competitive racing like you've never seen it before. It's just one of many Hot Wheels gaming announcements to come.
That's only a glimpse of what you'll see from Hot Wheels this year as we lean into our proven approach to accelerate brand growth and distribution in lasting ways. Matchbox is where our catalog IP and category growth strategies converge. It's the new sleeping giant in our vehicles category, legendary IP that's poised for new relevance and growth. Matchbox was up 21% globally in the fourth quarter of last year with its innovative new real-world-inspired vehicles like first responder cars and trucks designed to complement but not compete with Hot Wheels. This year, we're taking Matchbox to the next level, building on momentum to accelerate growth with new packaging and innovative new products that connect kids to the very first vehicles they know and love. It's all introduced by an awesome global launch campaign.
As we continue to grow Hot Wheels, Matchbox is adding another layer of high-performance Mattel IP to the category. Keep your eyes on this brand. Our complementary vehicles portfolio does not end there. Our long-standing relationship with Disney, Pixar, and Cars enables us to further extend our vehicle expertise into another big segment of the category. Once an event-driven entertainment property, we are proud to have evolved the Cars line into an evergreen brand that maintains strong performance even in years without a new feature film. Like Matchbox, Cars had a great fourth quarter in POS last year and we are just getting started. This year, we will build on fourth quarter momentum. We will celebrate Cars Week, a YouTube-based tentpole event, and later this year, our Fuel the Fun campaign celebrates the 15-year anniversary of the franchise.
Vehicles is another great example of our playbook in action that leverages the winning model of our power brand Hot Wheels to build out complementary category players, including revived catalog IP in Matchbox and partner IP in Disney Pixar Cars. The Mattel playbook has also been at the heart of important progress in the infant, toddler, and preschool category, notably Fisher-Price Core and Thomas. Today, we're pleased to say we've stabilized the largest player in the category, and we're realizing significant strength and momentum in key segments of the business that we're going to build upon this year to take Fisher-Price even farther. Infant, toddler, preschool is a large and competitive category, $7.8 billion in total, and Fisher-Price, which celebrated 90 years in 2020, is the leading manufacturer with a 14% share per NPD. Fisher-Price has four major components.
Fisher-Price Core is the largest and includes beloved iconic toys as well as popular lines like Little People and Imaginext, and it was up 11% in the fourth quarter. Fisher-Price Friends includes the brand's licensed entertainment partnerships. In the past, this brand has been challenged with underperforming licenses, but we've exited those and are better positioned now. Thomas, our content-driven preschool legend, is celebrating its own 75th year, and Power Wheels is an icon in electric vehicles for kids. 2020 saw real playbook-driven progress in areas we're focused on, including design-led product development in the important Fisher-Price Core segment, which grew with on-trend hits like Garden to Table Kitchen and Rollin' Rovee.
Our purposeful commitment to helping parents solve the challenges of parenting has never been more important, and consumer-driven innovation in baby gear, newborn, and infant, toddler products helped Mattel gain market share in baby gear in the U.S. in 2020 per NPD. The Thomas brand showed meaningful progress in the second half of the year and is positioned for further improvement. Thomas had a very strong holiday season, including a big win with the breakthrough Talking Thomas and Percy playset, where characters recognize and talk to each other. Thomas content, so popular with families, broke 1 billion views on YouTube, and Prince Harry even joined in with a special 75th anniversary tribute. Let's take a look.
Thomas & Friends is celebrating 75 years of friendship and teamwork. The story starts late one afternoon on the island of Sodor.
Power Wheels was a stay-at-home hit where demand far exceeded supply, and we created real-time cultural relevance across the category with programs like Thank You Heroes, as well as the work-from-home role-play set we rapidly brought to market in the second half. Parents loved how it helped them explain their new lifestyle and brought them closer to their kids. This category is yet another example of how Mattel's ongoing transformation work made Fisher-Price better prepared and more responsive to the disruptions of last year. Now, with positive momentum restored to both Fisher-Price and Thomas, we expect 2021 to be a stronger year for both brands. Here are some of the innovations you'll see. In baby gear, we're introducing a new Jumperoo and the first hands-free electronic baby gate. Our Little People line encourages kids from an early age to create their own stories.
This year, our Friends Together Playhouse features ethnically diverse characters and smart stages to inspire even more stories. We have reimagined our best-selling Frozen Palace as Elsa's Enchanted Lights Palace with three floors of magical play. Imaginext is launching out-of-this-world feature-rich transforming toys that bring Batman play to a whole new level. Our giant Minion bot is at an all-new scale, in time for this summer's launch of Minions: The Rise of Gru, two powerhouse properties that can play as only Imaginext can. Thomas is building on momentum this year with a fresh look and innovative items that leverage growing interest in train play as well as new products designed for the littlest of hands. The new series, Thomas & Friends: All Engines Go, introduces an exciting new look, spirit, and energy to the brand that we believe will reignite the franchise, attracting and engaging tons more new fans.
The show will be available on Cartoon Network and Netflix in the U.S., and international distribution partners will be announced soon. This is such an important category for us with so much growth potential. Parents believe in Fisher-Price, and so do we. The progress we're making with the entire brand is significant and evidence that Fisher-Price and Thomas can be growth engines for Mattel. Now, let's look at American Girl, a distinctive, character-driven lifestyle brand built on purpose that is important to Mattel, to our industry, and to so many moms and girls. The special bond between American Girl and its fans is like no other, inspiring loyalty and engagement as few brands do. At last year's event, brand leader Jamie Siegelman shared how we were bringing renewed relevance to American Girl, unlocking its full potential.
Despite the disruption of 2020, I'm pleased to say we are achieving our goals. Our brand turnaround strategy, which includes putting premium back in the box, engaging new narrative and content, and enhancing the immersive experiences American Girl is known for, has started to deliver the turn that we've been working toward. Gross billings for the brand were up 9% last quarter, its first year-over-year quarterly growth in four years, which is just amazing. That's despite the drop in tourist traffic and closure of four retail stores. Demonstrating the scope of our progress, all three segments of the iconic 18-inch American Girl line grew in 2020 on the strength of innovative on-trend product. The award-winning Girl of the Year, Joss Kendrick, our first character with a hearing aid, had full year sales up 20% over last year's doll.
Joss is both the Good Housekeeping 2020 Best Toys Award winner and a Toy award finalist for Specialty Toy of the Year. Historical doll, Courtney Moore, reflected the popular '80s trend with high appeal to both girls and their moms. It's crazy to think of Pac-Man and Courtney's scrunchie as history, but plenty of our younger consumers do, and they think she's totally awesome. Another big 2020 hit was Truly Me fashion color wig dolls, a great example of Mattel insights driving innovation into fashion and hair play for the brand. In addition to improving doll sales, we're pleased to see American Girl showing higher units per transaction, with consumers purchasing across the collections. Investing in content is another way American Girl is increasing relevance and connection with girls. Not simply a revenue stream, it's powerful marketing that drives loyalty and repeat purchase. You could see that it's working.
Social engagement is way up versus last year, and YouTube is the primary way girls hear about the brand. The brand's push towards digital has also been successful, including the creation of a robust e-commerce business that drove double-digit sales increases in the fourth quarter. Growth that more than compensated for reductions in our retail business. New customer activations, order value, and conversion rates all grew, important indicators of our progress and future potential in e-commerce. We're applying this learning all across Mattel. Where stores were open, we innovated to keep our customers both engaged and safe, including curbside pickup and virtual appointment shopping. Remarkably, conversion and average transaction value was actually up by the fourth quarter, with several stores comping 2019 numbers. Most importantly, the growth of American Girl in fourth quarter is a strong foundation for continuing the turnaround. For 2021, we're dialing up the strategies that have been working so well. We're making important new connections to issues our consumers care deeply about, like conservation and climate, with our first big hit of the year, 2021 Girl of the Year, Kira Bailey. Let's take a look.
Hi, I'm Kira Bailey. All I've ever wanted is to take care of animals. And at my aunt's wilderness park in Australia. Somebody! Catch that kangaroo! They need all the help they can get. Hi, I'm Alexis. And I do jobs to help your aunties take care of the animals at the sanctuary. So cool that you get to live here and take care of the animals. That's the life. Aw. Who's excited to meet Baby Bean today? They actually just got a new baby koala. Oh, he's so cute. I named him Bean, and Aunt Mamie says I get to help take care of him. Keira can go first. She's our guest after all. I'm not a guest. I'm family. Great job, little Bean. Did you know that I was supposed to raise the next baby koala? It's not fair that you're the only one taking care of Bean. They have to be strong. Remember that this is the best for Bean. There are so many animals that live in the Australian bush, and they need our protection. We have to rush back to the camp and warn everyone about the fire. It's a do-something situation.
We'll be contemporizing American Girl even further with Street Chic, a relevance booster launching next month. It's an edgier segment of the Truly Me line, featuring the latest cultural trends and fashions. We're also adding brand enhancements to younger girls with refreshed Bitty Baby and Wellie Wishers lines designed to build engagement and loyalty as they age toward the core brand. Applying the Mattel playbook to American Girl is bringing more and more new customers into the brand every day. We're proud of our progress and all that's still to come this year as we restore American Girl to its prominent place in the industry. The highest growth category of last year in percentage, no surprise, was games and puzzles, a go-to for parents looking for ways to entertain the family at home. This $6.9 billion category grew a remarkable 24% globally per NPD. Mattel is a significant challenger in the space with lots of games, including three major evergreen brands: Uno, Pictionary, and Scrabble, and each of these was up by high double digits.
Uno is a 50-year-old phenomenon, the number one game in the world now three years running, and it just posted its best year ever. A cultural sensation bordering on obsession, Uno is a hit with everybody from kids to pro athletes and celebrities. Like our power brands, Uno has embraced purpose, design-led innovation, cultural relevance, and executional excellence to grow the brand. In 2020, these all converged in what was a huge year for Uno. Top sellers, including standard Uno cards, as well as new design-led innovations like Uno Flip, Uno Attack Extreme, which lights up and shoots cards even farther, Uno Minimalista in partnership with a world-class artist, broadened our audience even more with a high-end modern take on the brand. We launched left-handed Uno in keeping with our purpose to ensure everyone is able to play.
Our first fully recyclable, no cellophane deck called Uno, Nothing But Paper, kicked off Uno's commitment to eliminate cellophane on all standard decks by the end of this year. In digital gaming, our Uno app continues to grow with the trend online, now with more than 150 million downloads. We have recently announced must-see Uno projects in both television and film, which Ynon will speak to in further detail. We stayed close to culture and extended the Uno series that celebrates incredible artists like Keith Haring and now Nina Chanel Abney. This important collaboration with Nina Chanel is a commitment to social justice in partnership with Pharrell's Black Ambition organization.
Beyond that, we deepened Uno's pop culture credibility with items like the incredibly popular Uno by BTS and Uno by The Hundreds, which sold out in less than 24 hours, as well as a special deck that we created for Kylie Jenner's birthday, which went viral. We could activate these partnerships quickly with increased speed to market, roughly 90 days from idea to outlet, and a global manufacturing strategy that allows us to produce Uno across multiple countries. This year, Uno will mark its 50th anniversary, a major milestone for any brand and a point of pride for Mattel. To celebrate, we're introducing exclusive products and a great line extension. It all leads up to the event of the year, the first-ever World Championship of Uno, a tournament to crown the best Uno player. Keep your eyes on this brand. We have an amazing games portfolio to complement Uno.
Let me quickly update you on two of these: Pictionary and Scrabble. Pictionary is an iconic game we extended with popular variations. Last year, sales of the board game were up double digits, and sales of Pictionary Air, Toy winner for best game of the year, were up triple digits. This included a timely new quick-to-market extension for 2020 called Pictionary Air, Kids vs. Grown-ups. This year, building on the incredible success of Pictionary Air, we'll launch a special Harry Potter edition where players draw using Harry's wand. Scrabble, where we own the rights internationally, also spelled win in 2020, with board games including Scrabble Original, Junior Scrabble, and Scrabble Harry Potter also up double digits last year. In digital, we launched Scrabble Go, a new mobile way to play in partnership with leading games company Scopely.
Speaking of partnerships, new this year, we're launching Scrabble Star Wars, a licensed version of the board game with a new play mode in addition to regular Scrabble. It's our first board game with Lucas and part of a broader range of Star Wars games, including Uno, Kerplunk, and Magic 8 Ball. We'll accelerate our kids' portfolio with Cross Signals, an innovative new electronic quick reflex game that's got great appeal and award-winning potential. Lots of big news for popular games as families play together in all new ways. Building sets, what we call Construction, is a $6.3 billion category per NPD. MEGA is the only significant global challenger to LEGO, a proud number two with improving performance and a lot of room to grow.
Overall, this category did really well last year as parents looked for solutions to extend playtime, and they found this in everyday building sets and higher-priced collectible sets that kept kids engaged. MEGA rode that wave with popular core items and hit licensed properties. As a result, construction was up for us by double digits in the fourth quarter, and MEGA had the number one item in U.S. junior building sets per NPD. We are entering 2021 with good momentum from improved global distribution. This year, MEGA becomes an exclusive multiplier for other Mattel IP in the construction category, a strategy that is introducing brands like Barbie, Hot Wheels, and Masters of the Universe to young builders, as well as helping to give these brands a new foothold in a growing category.
In licensed partnerships, we'll have collectible offerings to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Pokémon, the fall launch of Halo AAA, and some exciting news next month. Parents love this category, and as a challenger brand, there's a lot of innovation MEGA can provide. We are big believers in this brand and see it as an important growth driver for Mattel. Two years ago, Mattel targeted the $2.5 billion plush category as a strategic growth opportunity. In 2020, we entered the category in a big way with The Child from the immensely popular Star Wars, The Mandalorian series for Disney+. A remarkable story of creativity, innovation, and executional excellence, Mattel's The Child, who we now know as Grogu, went from concept to delivery in just 12 weeks.
We outperformed competitor offerings to become the number one item in the plush category in the U.S. and the number 10 overall toy of 2020 in the industry per NPD. We could not be more pleased. The Child has been recognized for its end-to-end success, winning us new fans at Disney and beyond, and for creating new opportunities for our fast-growing plush capability. This year, we are adding partners Minecraft and Marvel, specifically Spider-Man and Shang-Chi, along with other properties for Disney+ that we will announce soon. We are an increasingly more important challenger in action figures, a $3.5 billion category per NPD. This is a category led by entertainment, and Mattel has both great partner IP and owned IP, including major evergreen entertainment licenses from WWE to Jurassic World and Disney's Pixar portfolio, plus Mattel's own Masters of the Universe.
We've made this category a strategic growth target with a strong focus on two key drivers from our playbook: design-led innovation and executional excellence. That is both increasing our success and attracting new partnerships. 2020 was not expected to be a strong year for action figures, with entertainment releases skewing older and few new Toyetic films. The pandemic hit, and the impact on theatricals became a new challenge. Staying home drove families to streaming services, which meant that big evergreen franchises found new audiences, and Mattel's category portfolio had the right product at the right time. 2020 tie-ins with evergreen properties like Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous on Netflix, the new Minecraft Dungeons game, and WWE Slam Titles were particularly relevant during lockdown and drove year-over-year gains for our products. Our WWE Elite Figure collection had a big comeback year.
It was the number one selling item in action figures, excluding the battling segment per NPD. This year, we expect accelerated growth in the category to outpace the industry. Evergreen IP licenses, including Minions, Rise of Gru, rescheduled for release in July, are a big part of our plans. The blockbuster news of 2021 will be the return of Masters of the Universe. Last year, we set the stage with the launch of special action figures and a truly awesome Castle Grayskull, targeting fans and collectors. Adding cultural relevance, we collaborated with legendary artist and pop culture icon MADSAKI for a limited edition collection through Mattel Creations that sold out in minutes. This year, we go all the way. 2021 will be the first time the franchise has been supported with episodic content in nearly 20 years. Now it is getting two separate series on Netflix. The first, legendary filmmaker Kevin Smith's contemporary reimagining is called Masters of the Universe: Revelation, and it already has incredible buzz. Here's a peek at what's coming.
Hey, kids, it's me, Kevin Smith, and I got an announcement for you. You know I've been working for Mattel and Netflix making this Masters of the Universe: Revelation series that's going to debut on the streamer. I am happy, pleased, proud, ecstatic, really, to announce our composer. We scored a composer, and he's scoring for us, ladies and gentlemen. And that composer is none other than Metal Maestro himself, the great Bear McCreary, ladies and gentlemen. That's right, the man who gave us the score to The Walking Dead, Battlestar Galactica, remember those drums? Agents of Shield, Outlander. He's doing the score for Masters of the Universe: Revelation.
He's working on it right now, and he just sent me the first cue, his first pass, the very first cue of our show, which is the transformation sequence when Prince Adam holds the power sword aloft and says the magic words, and fabulous powers are revealed to him, and he becomes He-Man. I am going to listen to it. Let's listen to it together, man, at the same time. What you're going to hear right at the top of it before Bear's music kicks in is perhaps one of the most famous phrases in pop culture history spoken by our Prince Adam slash He-Man himself, the great Christopher Wood. Here we go, ladies and gentlemen. Bear goes into the woods. Let's see what he comes out with. Let's check this out, man. By the power of Grayskull. Oh, come on. I have the power of the grass.
Oh, Bear. Oh, Bear. Bear, man. Look at it. You can't see it, but listen to it. It is perfect. Perfect. This is the transformation sequence right here. This is where the sword is turned on Cringer, and here he comes, Battle Cat. Oh. Ladies and gentlemen, that's a first pass by a genius. I can't wait. By the power of Grayskull, man. That is fantastic. Bear McCreary is our composer, ladies and gentlemen. The show is called Masters of the Universe: Revelation, and it will be out in 2021 on Netflix.
We will follow this with a new animated series, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, a fun reboot for kids bringing in a whole new generation of enthusiasts. Masters of the Universe has been a top priority since we began leveraging our catalog IP, and we've done it right. We've built tremendous anticipation and buzz among the many loyal fans of the franchise. We have world-class talent co-creating with us, and we have a pipeline of sensational content and product ready to be unleashed. It bodes well, not only for our future in the category, but for franchise development across our portfolio. It's hard to recall a time when Mattel was more energized and more focused on creating the future of play. I feel it throughout the company, in every corner of our global operations, and it's truly inspiring. Great toys and great toy talent, the best in the industry, are transforming Mattel into the IP-driven, high-performing toy company we aspire to be. As far as we've come and as much as we've achieved these past few years, this feels like a whole new optimistic chapter for Mattel.
Purpose-driven brands, design-led innovation everywhere you look, motivating cultural relevance the way only we know how to do it, and the executional excellence to make it all a reality and bring Mattel products into people's homes in record numbers. We've been updating you about our transformation into a high-performing toy company for some time now, but in 2020, what we achieved speaks for itself. While Mattel has been very agile lately, this is still a business that plans and creates well into the future, and as we look ahead, that future is bright. Every one of our important brands continuing to make big strides, complemented by breakthrough creativity and an exciting pipeline of encores from the richest catalog of IP in the business. As proud as we are of all that we're accomplishing, I'm even prouder of what we mean to families today.
Mattel has always been valued, trusted, and loved by kids and parents around the world, and that comes down to our unwavering commitment to purposeful play. By bringing them fun in the moment, even when times are tough, as well as developmental value that lasts a lifetime, Mattel is fulfilling our mission to create innovative products and experiences that inspire, entertain, and develop children through play, and that's only getting more important. At the heart of our strategic evolution is unlocking the full potential of Mattel IP by creating global franchises that extend relevance beyond the toy aisle. Building on the momentum of our core toy business, we're scoring big wins in film, TV, digital gaming, and consumer products. To tell you more about this and other important developments, I'll turn it back to Ynon. Ynon.
Thank you, Anthony. Thank you, Richard, and thank you, Lisa, for sharing this exciting work with so much innovation and expanding our plans to improve profitability and accelerate top-line growth. Now, let's turn to franchise management and online retail and e-commerce, which are our mid to long-term strategic pillars. We are the owner of one of the strongest catalogs of children and family entertainment franchises in the world. In addition to the significant value we are creating on the core toy side of the company, our strategy is designed to commercialize our brands in highly accretive business verticals that are directly adjacent to the toy industry and capture the full value of our IP. Let's look at the key areas. Mattel Films has a clear mandate to leverage our IP and make great quality movies that people want to watch.
Since its formation, Mattel Films has become a magnet for some of the most prolific talent in the entertainment industry who are excited to collaborate with us. Many of them have been fans of our products since their own childhood. Like us, they see the opportunity to reimagine some of the most iconic franchises in the world on the big screen. They are putting their talents to work in partnership with Mattel Films to create exciting new motion pictures that will inspire and capture the hearts of children and families, much like our toys have done so for so many years. With our strategy, we have the flexibility to work with the right studio and distribution partner on the right project on the right terms. This allows us to develop and produce multiple projects concurrently at scale.
We believe we have in place the right economic model, which is not dependent on capital investment for Mattel, while we still retain economic upside. While COVID-19 slowed live action production for the industry, it did not impact the creative work for Mattel Films on the projects that were already in the works, including Barney, Major Matt Mason, Magic 8 Ball, View-master, American Girl, Hot Wheels, Masters of the Universe, and of course, Barbie, or progressing with new projects that we recently announced, including Wishbone, Thomas & Friends, and Uno. Mattel Television has a very similar mandate to engage consumers through compelling episodic content based on our own iconic franchises. We have been making significant progress on this front as well. Last year, we premiered a musical movie special called Barbie: Princess Adventure, which ranked in the top 10 movies on Netflix in more than 15 countries the week of its premiere.
We also premiered new seasons of Polly Pocket, Fireman Sam, and Thomas & Friends, and two enchanting specials. This year, we're launching several exciting projects: two more Barbie movie specials on Netflix, new seasons of Fireman Sam and Polly Pocket on linear television and streaming platforms around the world, a new Thomas & Friends series airing on Netflix and Cartoon Network in the U.S., with more international partners to be announced in the coming months, and two Masters of the Universe series premiering globally on Netflix. We also recently announced Uno and Whac-A-Mole game shows, which are part of a strong slate of more than 25 projects in development. Importantly, as Lisa shared, we're also producing a Monster High animated series and live action television movie with Nickelodeon. Here's a look at some of the exciting projects in production and development at Mattel Television.
This is the moment. I'm singing about the noise. This is the moment. I finally found my voice. This is the moment for me. Let's get this party open. Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey. What do you say? It's a brand new day. This miniseries has been treated like a love letter to the fans. Masters of the Universe is back, but man, oh man, is it fun? And man, oh man, is it epic? You are going to have the power when you watch this. By the power of Grayskull, we have the power. Who's Stephen? You too. Mr. He-Man and Mr. Freddy in the cage. Don't stop now 'cause we just can't stop it. Hey, hey, hey, hey. Can't slow down 'cause we just can't stop it.
With the proliferation of streaming platforms, the industry is moving to a world of unlimited shelf space and ubiquitous distribution. Everyone is looking for quality content and strong known IP to rise above the noise level. For iconic global brands with a built-in fan base like Mattel's, this means more opportunity for our content strategy and exciting growth potential for Mattel Television and Mattel Films. Like film and television, Mattel's evergreen portfolio of IP uniquely positions the company to bring immersive digital games to players globally and capitalize on the fast-growing digital gaming industry. Our licensing business continues to grow with key games, including Barbie Dreamhouse, a top 10 grossing kids' game on the U.S. App Store, the Uno partnership with Ubisoft, and the Scrabble Go mobile app developed by Scopely. These games enable millions of players to interact with our brands daily. We're also growing our own mobile game studio in a joint venture with NetEase called Mattel163, which is already profitable.
Mattel 163 specializes in the development and publishing of mobile games and brings together Mattel's iconic IP and industry-leading capabilities of NetEase, one of the largest mobile gaming companies in the world. Mattel 163 already launched Uno and Phase 10, which have reached more than 180 million downloads, with over 10 billion games of Uno played to date and climbing. We believe there is a significant opportunity to grow our digital gaming business and increase brand engagement on kid-targeted gaming platforms as consumers continue to spend more time online. Consumer products is an important part of our strategy to extend our catalog of iconic IP through third-party relationships that create products and experiences which complement our toy offering and leverage the high awareness of our brands. Through these licensing arrangements, we can benefit from our partners' specialized capabilities and resources in other large product categories.
With new world-class leadership, we are actively broadening the consumer product offering of existing brands such as Barbie, Hot Wheels, and Thomas, and introducing new brands to the market like Magic 8 Ball and Masters of the Universe. Each of these franchise management verticals is expected to be accretive and continue to grow. In success, this can be transformative for Mattel. Our brands and product offering also stand out in a crowded marketplace when it comes to leveraging their built-in fan base to attract interest and drive demand in online retail and e-commerce. The growth in e-commerce is an opportunity to further expand our distribution model, which today counts more than 470,000 stores where our product is sold, and capitalize on the global growth of online retail, which has been accelerating even more as a result of the pandemic.
This was clearly the case in 2020, where our e-commerce business grew by approximately 50% in the year and represented more than 35% of our global retail sales in the all-important fourth quarter. Mattel was the number one manufacturer in e-commerce in the U.S. in the fourth quarter and also grew e-commerce share in the U.S. in the fourth quarter and the full year. We believe we are well positioned to continue our growth and expand market share in this important channel. As part of our e-commerce strategy, we're also building out our own direct-to-consumer business. At the forefront of the strategy is American Girl, a leading D2C brand in the industry with almost $200 million in direct online sales and growing. American Girl D2C increased by more than 55% in 2020 and represented over two-thirds of retail sales for the year. We expect this momentum to continue.
We're also developing Mattel Creations, a highly curated D2C platform targeting fans of all ages with limited-edition collectible products. Mattel Creations, which was launched in celebration of our 75th anniversary last year, offers a canvas for the most innovative creators of today and tomorrow to reimagine and recreate iconic Mattel brands and is complementary to our retail strategy. We are leveraging the learnings and capabilities to further strengthen and accelerate our direct-to-consumer business as another engine of growth for Mattel. As a purpose-driven company, we have raised the bar on our commitment to corporate citizenship. Environmental sustainability is something we care deeply about, and operating sustainably is a key priority for us. We continue to make progress towards our goal to achieve 100% recycled, recyclable, or bio-based plastic materials in our products and packaging by 2030.
With new leadership at the helm of our sustainability program, we also plan to enhance communication of our various initiatives and progress. Diversity and inclusion is another key priority, building on our long heritage in this important area. For the second consecutive year, Mattel has received a perfect score on the Human Rights Campaign Foundation's Corporate Equality Index, a leading benchmarking survey measuring corporate policies and practices related to LGBTQ+ workplace equality. Last year, we announced global diversity and inclusion goals to achieve 100% pay equity for all employees performing similar work globally and increasing female and minority representation at all levels of the organization. We have already achieved 100% pay equity for all employees in the U.S. Among other initiatives, we introduced the Play Fair program in spring 2020 to stand up against racism, injustice, and violence faced by Black Americans.
As part of this program, our commitments include the development and recruitment of Black talent, expanded conscious inclusion training across the company, and donating to organizations that support the Black community. We are also at the forefront of representing diversity and inclusivity in our products and will continue to lead the way. In addition, Mattel remains committed to giving back through the Mattel Children's Foundation, supporting organizations globally through employee volunteerism, gifts and grants, disaster relief efforts, and, of course, product donations, which totaled over 1 million toys in 2020. Before we end our presentation today, I would like to give you some insights into our company culture. We know our people are the heartbeat of our company. As part of our transformation strategy, we have been creating a working environment that is fueled by innovation, collaboration, and execution.
Late last year, we conducted a company-wide employee engagement survey to gather feedback from our team regarding culture and well-being, especially in light of the unprecedented times brought on by COVID-19. We had an incredible participation rate of over 90%, and the results were remarkable, especially considering the survey was taken in the face of the pandemic and in the midst of the turnaround. We saw positive trends over the last three years in all key metrics, including engagement, excitement for Mattel's future, understanding the company's strategy, corporate citizenship, ethics, confidence in leadership, removing barriers to execution, and inclusion. All scores were above industry benchmarks and demonstrate the progress made in strengthening our culture and morale and the pride our people have in working for Mattel. Mattel today is a much stronger company creatively, operationally, competitively, and culturally than we have been in many years.
We are gaining momentum and are well positioned to improve profitability and accelerate top-line growth in 2021 and beyond. Our mission is to create innovative products and experiences that inspire, entertain, and develop children through play. Our purpose is to empower the next generation to explore the wonder of childhood and reach their full potential. Our commitment to our mission and purpose has guided our success and is now inspiring a new chapter as we continue to transform Mattel into an IP-driven, high-performing toy company and create long-term shareholder value. We have never been more confident about the future of our company. It is my sincere wish that we will all gather together in person at next year's New York Toy Fair. Until then, stay tuned, stay well, and thank you again for your interest in Mattel.