Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, July 21, 1993 TAG: 9307210230
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LESLIE TAYLOR
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
I saw the movie. Don't remember ol' Grant, at least not by name. My son, however, did.
"Don't forget, Mommy," Teddy reminded me that morning.
"Forget what?" I asked.
"Grant," he said, grinning.
So here I stand, ready to exchange a $10 bill for "Grant."
I did the same for the Dilophosaurus with spitting power; the Velociraptor with movable jaws; the young Tyrannosaurus rex with a gaping "Dino-damage" wound; and a 4 1/2-inch character named "Robert Muldoon," complete with "Tranq-Bazooka." All told, a good $50 vanished from my wallet.
"This is it," I mumble. The cashier hears me. She laughs, an I-understand-but-please-loosen-your-grip on-the-money kind of laugh. She returns a dollar-fifty-something in change.
Again, I have been duped, suckered in by my 7-year-old's wants and some merchandising giant who has tapped into parental wimpiness. Somewhere, I suspect, someone is frolicking in a heap of cash.
And this for a movie that the experts had warned parents to keep their under-13-year-olds away from.
I remember one television commercial hitting the air before the movie hit the theaters - the fries, burger and soft drink growing to mammoth size on the screen.
"Oooooh," Teddy said. "Uh-oh," I thought.
Then came the big debate. They say the movie might be too intense for a 7-year-old, I told my husband. Nonsense, he replied. Off to the theater we went.
No nightmares followed - just a parade of packages bearing that eerie "Jurassic Park" logo with the silhouetted head of a T-rex, mouth snarling.
I've seen the shelves of toy stores, department stores, convenience stores and discount stores stocked with "Jurassic Park" merchandise. I've seen bath kits, T-shirts, activity packs, trading cards, coloring books and jigsaw puzzles.
Curious, I called the toll-free line that MCA/Universal Merchandising has established to receive reports on merchandise that may be infringing on the "Jurassic Park" logo.
1-800-DINO-COP.
I was less interested in the company's anti-piracy efforts than I was in how many products carry the "Jurassic Park" logo. So I asked.
"We have approximately 100 licensees worldwide, producing 1,000 different products," a cheery spokeswoman said.
"What's the most outrageous?" I asked. "Well, we've got removable tattoos," she said.
"What else?" I pressed. "We've got video games, sleeping bags, Halloween masks, tennis shoes, jawbreakers, backpacks, pajamas, hats, pencils, paint sets, pinball machines . . . ."
I quit taking notes somewhere around item 15.
Maybe it's OK, I think. It's science, for gosh sakes.
Kids now rattle off such polysyllabic monstrosities as "Struthiomimus" and "Yangchuanosaurus" with ease.
Ask them who discovered dinosaurs, and they'll tell you "Sir Richard Owen."
Quick, name the three periods when dinosaurs flourished, you ask. "Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous," they say.
If "Jurassic Park" sparks a child's interest in science, fine. If it prompts a question about DNA, great. But twisting science into something for profit - to make a buck off a pack of gummi candy - leaves me cold. And - sucker that I am - my pockets empty.
LESLIE TAYLOR is a reporter for this newspaper.
by CNB