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From the crossroads of education, video games, and home video releases comes Stagecast! Name History: Apple Education Services (1985-1991) Stagecast Software (1991-2002) Stagecast (2002-present) Short History: Stagecast was founded in 1985 as a division of the computer company Apple. Led by Larry Tesler, the company specializing in educational home computer games and VHS titles. The company's logo was only seen in VHS titles as its games featured an in-credit notice. In 1991, AES was renamed to Stagecast, as the company was spun off from Apple. By that time, the company expanded to produce and distribute games for PCs as well as video game consoles. Stagecast would form a partnership with Nintendo in 1992 to manage select titles from the company, most notably the StarFox franchise (which was Stagecast's flagship non-educational IP). AOL, Inc. would purchase the company in 1996. That same year, Stagecast launched AOL Interactive. The division was founded to produce more mature/traditional games compared to the kid-friendly lean that Stagecast had. Tesler would resign as CEO of Stagecast in 1999 to join Amazon. Replacing him was former ToyBiz CEO and president Donald Trump. Trump's tenure at the company was marked by several IP acquisitions and some controversial business practices. In 2001, AOL, Inc. would merge with News Corp USA forming AOL News Corp (parent company of Fox Kids). Fox Kids and Stagecast would merge their operations, forming Fox Kids-Stagecast. The next year in 2002, Stagecast would acquire some Rareware IPs (including Dinosaur Planet, Kipper, Pangean Agency, etc.) and renamed AOL Interactive to Stagecast Studios. Stagecast would begin developing online educational material in 2004. AOL News Corp would spin off Stagecast into its own company in 2008, spinning off its non-education assets to Moonbug that same year. Trump would briefly resign as CEO to help manage his elder brother, then-Secretary of Commerce Fred Trump Jr.'s 2008 presidential campaign, before returning in 2009 as Fred lost to presidential race to US Senator Barack Obama. The spot for CEO was given to its CFO Steve Ruffini in 2011, who was previously the CFO of Lyrick Studios. Trump remained as head executive. Donald Trump would be fired from Stagecast in 2016 following a slew of controversial comments and actions (of which some are unexplainable for Scratch's sake). Apollo Global Management would acquire Stagecast in 2019. That same year, the company began actively pushing itself as a kids-oriented media company. The company's mascot since 1991 is Bark the Patterned Dog. Bark is the main character of the "Bark, Let's Learn!" series of edutainment games focused on reading and math skills, and has been used in the company's logos since 1991.
