ActiMates are a short-lived and discontinued series of interactive toys released by Microsoft Kids in September 1997.
The toys are in the form of licensed dolls which can interact with episodes of their respective television series from 1997 to 2000 or on special ActiMates-compatible VHS tapes and computer games.
The toys were marketed as educational tools and gave positive affirmations for correct answers from the user.
Barney was the first to be released, was first displayed at the New York Toy Fair that year and became a success during the holiday season.
However, despite the dolls and technology being discontinued in 2000, Teletubbies episodes were ActiMates-compatible up until 2001, the toys still interacted with reruns of their respective shows (from ActiMates-compatible years) during that time for a few more years, and Arthur and D.W. could still interact with Arthur VHS releases from 2000 to 2005 (releases that feature episodes from seasons 1-4).