Fuzzy Memories

A friend shared this:

I have a collection of ancient VHS videos, given me by our dentist, of the very, very early episodes of the Barney show. The kids on the show are unattractive and just unbelievably untalented, to such a degree that -- with just a tiny serving of alcohol to get you in the mood -- it almost seems possible to die laughing while watching these. I wish you were all here so we could do just this.

Also, the first Barney costume was this weirdly intense pink color and the dinosaur itself was demonic looking. I'm not exaggerating. I've just Googled to try to find an image of it, but they must have scoured the web and removed all traces of him. My kids used to burst into tears if they saw Early Barney. I think he lasted only a year before they redesigned him.

To which I replied:

One of the strangest professional tasks I ever had was overseeing Snap, Crackle, and Pop at an East Bay shopping mall during a PR event introducing the thankfully short-lived Razzle Dazzle Rice Krispies.

People hired to wear mascot costumes tend not to be A-list actors, and as soon as I arrived I was warned: "Pop and Snap won't give you any trouble, but Crackle's a little sketchy. Keep a close eye on him."

Everything went OK with the older kids -- save the occasional violent delinquent -- but infants and toddlers were invariably terrified of these big, fuzzy cartoon characters with their huge heads and blank eyes. Lots of screaming and tears.

Which prompted this from another friend:

Once I wore a Winnie-the-Pooh suit at Saks Fifth Avenue. This was after I was chosen for their "Teen Board" which they pretended was for us to model their clothes (we had like 2 runway shows, with NO training, and the only people who showed up were our bored parents). But the Pooh suit - they called me in for a job and glossed over the details. It was hot and I couldn't see anything, so I lurched around, tilting my head back to try to get glimpses of daylight through the mouth-hole, which made me a lurching, gazing-at-the-ceiling, fake-model inside a Pooh suit. Children were not impressed. Hey, but it was showbiz.