I just saw this online last week and was stunned! I remembered owning this as a kid and loving it so much. In 1975, Kenner released Tree Tots, a Fisher Price's Little People competitor. Basically this was a tree that with the push of a button (on top of the tree) revealed a three-room house, complete with an elevator, staircase, swing, and garage. The playset included six figures: Treemont, the dad; Willow, the mom; Chip, the son; Honey, the daughter; Chestnut, the cat; and Barky, the family dog.
In 1984, Kenner reused the mold of the Family Tree House for the Ewok Family Hut. According to Recycling the Force, however, Lucasfilm would not allow Kenner to simply change the color and name on the playset:
“Although, in terms of design, the Ewok toy borrowed extensively from Kenner’s very successful Treetot house, it was entirely retooled. According to Kenner sources, Lucasfilm would not allow the toy company to tie a purely recycled version of the Treetot product to their license. So Kenner totally resculpted the toy. In the end, the Ewok Family Hut borrowed the basic design and interior workings of the older toy and simply cloaked them in an updated outer casing.”
This is now on the top of our TO FIND list!
