Los Angeles ? Following the recall of millions of toys by Mattel Inc., The Walt Disney Co. said Monday it will independently test toys featuring its characters.

The media and entertainment conglomerate will hire companies to randomly buy Disney-branded toys from store shelves and test for lead paint and other safety issues such as small parts that could come lose, Disney consumer products spokesman Gary Foster said.

He said the ultimate responsibility for safety still lies with companies that license Disney characters for toys.

“But Disney wants to give an added level of scrutiny and assurance to parents that a product with a Disney character has gone through this process,” Foster said.