Baby Einstein
Multimedia franchise for infants featuring classical music and puppets.
Baby Einstein is a brand of media products for infants and toddlers that began with a VHS cassette created by Julie Aigner-Clark in 1996.[1][2] The brand was acquired by Disney in 2001 and operated under Disney ownership until 2013.[3]
Quick Facts
- Industry
- Early child entertainment
- Founder
- Julie Aigner-Clark
- Headquarters
- Atlanta, Georgia
- Country
- U.S.
- Parent
- Family Home Entertainment (2000–2001; minority stake)
- Disney (2001–2013)
- Kids II, Inc. (2013–present)
Facts from the source article.
Making and release
Julie Aigner-Clark, a former teacher and stay-at-home mom, founded The Baby Einstein Company in 1996 as I Think I Can Productions in her suburban Alpharetta, Georgia home.[1] She and her husband borrowed video equipment and invested $15,000 of their own savings to produce the first VHS cassette, initially named Baby Einstein and later sold as Language Nursery in 2001.[2] Aigner-Clark renamed the company to Aigner-Clark Productions in 1998 when she moved to Denver, Colorado, then renamed it the Baby Einstein Company in 1999.[4] On February 10, 2000, Artisan Entertainment acquired a minority stake in exchange for a North American home video distribution agreement under the FHE Kids sub-label.[4]
The debut video combined a mix of playthings and images with audio including tunes, tales, numerals, and vocabulary presented in seven languages: English, French, Spanish, Japanese, German, Hebrew, and Russian.[5] In 1997, that video received the Best Video of the Year honor from Parenting Magazine.[5] Following the production of Baby Beethoven in 2002, Aigner-Clark ceased her role as director of Baby Einstein videos.[6] Based on revenue figures, the Baby Einstein franchise's total value was approximated at nearly $400 million.[7]
What the cited sources add
The Guardian also noted that the videos feature toys, faces, and simple patterns with voices singing nursery rhymes or counting in multiple languages.[8] Aigner-Clark told The Guardian that Baby Einstein does not attempt to teach seven languages but simply introduces essential words like "apple"[8] The Guardian's 2015 article described Baby Einstein as designed to "facilitate the development of the brain" of babies from one month old by introducing them to high culture and science, mentioning Mozart, Bach, and Shakespeare's sonnets.[8]
References
- Wikipedia, "Baby Einstein" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Conrad Gothie, "'Great Minds Start Little': Unpacking the Baby Einstein Phenomenon", December 2022, p. 10}}{{dead link (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Baby Einstein" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Dunn, Julie. "Bringing up Baby Einstein." New York Times, 11 Nov. 2001, p. BU. Gale Academic OneFile, (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Baby Einstein" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: VERRIER, "Disney Buys Toy Maker, Publisher Baby Einstein", Los Angeles Times, 2001-11-07 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Baby Einstein" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Eric Hubler, "Baby videos spell big money Mom turns 'Einstein' into million-dollar enterprise", Denver Post, March 12, 1999; Daisy Whitney, "Nurturing a 'Baby' boom Littleton woman's line of videos, CDs a hit with children", Denver Post, May 30, 2001; "Do Try to Keep Up", The Guardian, 19 July 2015; "Artisan Entertainment Acquires Rights to Distribute Branded Developmental Series From The Baby Einstein Company", Business Wire, February 10, 2000 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Baby Einstein" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "80 Percent of Parents Feel Children Under the Age of Five Should Be Exposed to Classical Music." PR Newswire, 10 Aug. 2000, p. 0870. Gale Academic OneFile (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Baby Einstein" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "The Walt Disney Company Acquires the Baby Einstein Company", 6 November 2001 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Baby Einstein" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "President Bush Delivers State of the Union Address", The White House, January 23, 2007; "Press Release - Guest List for the First Lady's Box at the 2007 State of the Union Speech", The American Presidency Project, January 23, 2007 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- "Do Try to Keep Up", The Guardian, 19 July 2015. facts only, no text reused. theguardian.com
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Baby Einstein (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
More in Television Series with Live Action and Animation
Spotted an error? Know more?
Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced