Mattel, Disney to Team Up on More Projects : Entertainment: The toy maker will sponsor theme-park rides. A licensing deal for movie characters was also extended.

Too bad, Ken. Nowadays, Barbie wants to go steady with Mickey Mouse.

Expanding a relationship begun four years ago, Mattel Inc. and Walt Disney Co. announced Monday that the toy maker will sponsor theme-park rides and develop a new collection of toys based on Disney characters.

The deal will allow El Segundo-based Mattel to add Bambi, Dumbo and Pinocchio to the list of Disney characters that it makes for infants and preschoolers. That particular Mattel line is expected to produce $160 million in sales in 1991.

Burbank-based Disney also said it has extended a toy licensing agreement with Mattel for 10 more years and will explore other product ideas. Financial terms of the agreements, which take effect Jan. 1, were not disclosed.

“The combination of the magic of Disney with the product innovation of Mattel has been an outstanding success to date, and this expanded alliance will result in further success,” Mattel Chairman John W. Amerman said.

The toy maker said it has had success with some special Disney movie items this year, including stuffed animals based on “101 Dalmatians” and dolls from “Cinderella” and the new “Beauty and the Beast.”

Mattel struck a separate deal to sponsor the Autopia driving ride at Euro Disneyland, the huge theme park scheduled to open in April near Paris. It will also sponsor the “It’s a Small World” rides at Disneyland in Anaheim and Walt Disney World near Orlando, Fla.

The French Autopia ride will probably be tied to Mattel’s line of Hot Wheels miniature toy cars or its Corgi toy cars made in England, said Donna Gibbs, a Mattel spokeswoman.

The Euro Disneyland sponsorship is important to Mattel because Europe is the toy maker’s largest foreign market. About half of Mattel’s 1990 revenue of $1.5 billion came from foreign sales, she added.

Gary M. Jacobson, an analyst for Kidder, Peabody & Co. in New York, said the deals will benefit both companies.

“For Mattel it helps them benefit from their association with Disney, and for Disney it helps them get more involved in consumer products,” he said.