‘Crikey! Let's go help wildlife’
by Susan Anderson
Tuesday, July 8, 2008 3:57 PM MDT
I love the sentence in the headline so much that I should probably stop writing now.
But maybe some readers need an explanation of the new Bindi Irwin doll that says “Crikey! Let’s go help wildlife” and other comments, such as, “You can make the world a better place.”
Bindi is the 10-year-old daughter of the late Steve Irwin, wonderfully enthusiastic host of his “Crocodile Hunter” television show that pictured all sorts of irrepressible experiences with animals.
He did say “Crikey!” many times per show, and featured his little daughter Bindi in khaki jungle outfits just like his from her birth.
I am not buying the criticism that Bindi is suffering from her successful television show and new doll. To anyone who would criticize what her doll says, let me point out some famous comments from dolls through the ages.
‘Math class is tough!’
Teen Talk Barbie was one of the most notorious talking dolls when she came out in 1992. She could say such phrases as “Will we ever have enough clothes?” “I love shopping!” and “Wanna have a pizza party?”
I can’t swear that in Barbie’s 270 possible phrases you would never find “Golly! Brain surgery is fun!”
But I do know that Mattel had to offer to replace the dolls when the American Association of University Women discovered that Barbie said, “Math class is tough!”
Then, in 1993, the so-called Barbie Liberation Organization bought and modified Barbie dolls by replacing their voice boxes with those from G.I. Joe dolls.
They then replaced the dolls in toy stores, so that some children found that their Barbie dolls said, “Eat lead, Cobra!” and “Vengeance is mine.”
I guess vengeance really was theirs.
The new way to play with dolls is to go on to Web sites like stardoll.com. On that one, 18 million members can dress up n virtually - more than 500 different online dolls, ranging from Cameron Diaz, Paris Hilton, Prince William and even Rosa Parks to, strangely enough, Conan O’Brien.
The old way was to experience motherhood with a doll named Betsy Wetsy, produced by the Ideal Toy Company in 1934 and becoming wildly popular in the 1950s. When “mommy” fed Betsy with a bottle, liquid came out the other end, giving “mommy” valuable experience changing diapers after having her doll leak on her.
“Don’t argue with me!”
Have you noticed that all the doll comments are exclamations? That’s certainly appropriate for the Dr. Laura Talking Doll.
This doll looks a little like her model, radio talk show host Dr. Laura Shlessinger. The promotion reads, “Our Dr. Laura Talking Doll stands 11 inches tall and is packaged in a display box that includes her biography and photos from her personal collection.”
For only $22.95, you can hear over and over and over "Don't argue with me! It makes me testy" or “Don’t bring home an elephant and complain that it won’t sit on your lap and purr.”
This would be a great gift for your college student who might need someone to hector him in your absence.
And some people think it’s weird that Bindi says “Crikey.” Clearly, weird is in the ear of the listener.
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