
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, July 23, 1990                   TAG: 9007210185
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: 3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Los Angeles Daily News
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

ANIMAL-RIGHTS GROUP UPSET OVER MOVIE POSTER

American Humane Association officials are complaining about the posters for Universal Pictures' soon-to-be released "The Problem Child," which show a youngster grinning malevolently while a cat tumbles in a clothes dryer.

The poster was particularly upsetting, said Barbara Sands, coordinator of the association's Animals in Entertainment operation, because it depicts a scene that does not appear in the movie, which the organization has approved.

"The Problem Child," starring John Ritter and described by Sands as "a comedic `Bad Seed,' " tells the story of a couple who adopt a boy with absolutely no redeeming social value. The film opens Friday.

"Our problem is not with the movie," Sands said. "We were on the set all the time when the cat was used, and the animals were actually treated very well. Our concern is with the publicity, the way the film is being promoted."

Sands said that while Animals in Entertainment tries "not to get involved in censorship," it does go over film scripts, and "had there been a scene with a cat in a dryer, we certainly would have discussed it with them [the filmmakers]. Cats have lost their lives that way, and puppies."

Sands spoke briefly with Universal officials Monday about the possibility of some sort of disclaimer or statement about the posters. On July 18, she said her calls to the studio had not been returned in two days.

"There are so many other funny things in the film that they could have used, I don't know why they had to create something that didn't exist," Sands said.

A Universal official, who asked not to be identified by name, defended the poster, noting it was a drawing as opposed to a photograph.

"The ad was done in the spirit of the movie," the executive said. "We would never endanger any cats, and we by no means endorse anyone doing that."

He said it is common practice to promote movies with posters that are not drawn from the films they advertise.

"Look at `Arachnophobia.' The poster shows a spider descending from a line in the light of the moon. There's no scene like that in the movie. It gives a feeling of what the film is about; it's not taken directly from the film.

"One little piece of irony," the executive added: "The two guys in the ad department who created the poster have eight cats between them. They're cat lovers."

by CNB