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

DATE: WEDNESDAY, July 14, 1993                   TAG: 9307140144
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B-6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: SANDRA BROWN KELLY
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Long

DON'T LOOK NOW, BUT THE DINOSAUR IS KING

"I love the talking Barney," said Tina.

That's not true for Emily Johnson of Rocky Mount. At age 10, she has had all of the purple singing dinosaur she can stand, mainly because of her sister, Caitlin, 3.

Caitlin has all the Barney tapes. She even has a small American flag that she waves just like Barney waves his little flag, said the girls' mother, Kim Johnson.

And now, little Lindsay Taylor Johnson is just learning to say Barney.

Whatever happened to the quiet "My Little Pony?" asked Emily.

Barney, who for more than a year has had a weekday "Barney & Friends" show on public television, is a 6-foot-4 Tyrannosaurus rex brought to life by one actor who wears the costume and another who provides the voice.

The Barney character is so controlled by its creator, The Lyons Group, that lookalikes that carry party grams or promote an event probably don't speak, said Roanoke public television executive Barbara Landon.

"If he spoke, the children would know it's not the real Barney," she said.

Barney has been singing his "I love you" routine for about five years, but he didn't hit the big time until he went on public television, including WBRA-TV in Roanoke, where Landon is vice president of development.

Since April 1992, Barney has been on People magazine's list of 1992's most intriguing people and the cover of TV Guide. His series was nominated for two Daytime Emmy Awards this year. This month he was featured with his creator, Sheryl Leach, on the cover of Advertising Age magazine to illustrate a story on the people behind the nation's hottest brands.

Barney delights retail store people almost as much as he does children. However, Lee McMullen, manager of Hills Department Store on Hershberger Road in Roanoke, says he may have to take a second job to foot his own child's Barney bill. Logan McMullen, 2, has the Barney dishes, puppet, comforter, slumber bag and doll, her dad said.

"And my wife is talking about getting the Barney sheets to make curtains for Logan's room," he said.

His store, like most retail places, is filled with Barney booty: a belt with a little Barney figure attached, $3.97; baseball caps, $6.97; stuffed Barnies for $14.97; the "Barney's Best Manners" Video, $10.44, or "Barney Rhymes With Mother Goose," $13.46.

There are 12 videos in all, three of which were retired at the end of 1992.

Barney has been so successful for Selandia Designs of Santa Clarita, Calif., that the company moved into a new building two months ago, said a spokeswoman.

Selandia has the license to produce the Barney dishes, which Heironimus Co. has displayed at its Great Additions store at Towers Shopping Center.

But what is Barney's staying power? Can he appeal to other age groups? Will he and his companion, Betty Bop, become "evergreen" characters like Peanuts?

Murray Altchuler, executive director of the Licensing Industry and Merchandising Association in Queens, N.Y., said there's no way to predict how the bulky beast will do in licensing sales, but right now Barney and Thomas the Tank - from public television's Shining Hour Station - are the two strongest licensees to have, said Altchuler.

"He doesn't have the impact of a Jurassic Park, but maybe he'll last longer," said Altchuler. He said no one in the industry attempts to rank what's selling best because the companies don't need that information.

The sales of licensed items from the entertainment and character field, which would include Barney things, amount to about $14 billion a year, or about 23 percent of the industry's $62 billion at retail. By comparison, sales of items featuring sports figures and teams accounts for about 20 percent of the total, he said.

And even if figures were available for Barney, they wouldn't tell the whole story, Altchula said, because Barney license rights have not been freely given. He said there has been an effort to control the Barney popularity.

Landon, who refers to Barney as a "purple dinosaur Fred Rogers," said there are a lot of people making fun of Barney, but studies indicate that Mr. Rogers and Barney are successful "because children seem to need the calming effect and soft voices" of those shows.

"Our viewership figures are getting higher than many commercial stations where they've got wild antics on shows," said Landon.

She said Mr. Rogers and Barney emphasize "the quiet approach to dealing with children." Because both want each child to feel special, they avoid the mass audiences. She said Rogers doesn't appear as his television character anywhere any more, and Barney appears only under very controlled conditions.

She said some Barney appearances were held in shopping centers and they had to close the centers' doors because so many kids wanted in. Children couldn't relate individually to Barney in those settings, she said.

To give an idea of the characters' drawing power: His fan club has 600,000 members, with more being added at a rate of 18,000 a week.

Landon said there is a two-year waiting list to get Barney to visit, and WBRA is on it.

In the meantime, if you need an idea for a gift for a kid, you know where it is.