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Mr Potatohead
I remember Mr Potatohead from my early childhood. He was one of many toys I treated with contempt, never bothering to place his bits in the right holes because they always fell out whatever I did. I wasn't that fussed, either. He wasn't exactly hero material (way too ugly), and he didn't stand a chance when, one birthday, I was presented with the Millennium Falcon.
Nevertheless, Mr Potatohead has made a comeback. The Toy Story films have seen to that, and I'll admit to experiencing an unexpected burst of affection for the little critter when I saw him resurrected on the big screen. He now has a must-have line of merchandise and hosts his very own website.
The site's layout is simple and aimed at the pre-school surfer. In bold primary colours the tuberman himself appears on the first page, shaking his eyebrows and fiddling with his loose nose. It raised a nostalgic smile but these basic movements aren't impressive enough to hold a child's attention for very long.
The opening gambit is a ‘Potato-ism’ – a rather feeble joke referring to Mr Picassohead being very abstract (ha, ha . . .) and a bit puzzling for infants, perhaps? Or maybe it’s a mature joke for parents? Did nothing for me, either way. Or am I too old to get it? The rest of the content is limited to a timeline of Mr Potatohead’s life, and a fictional version of his amazing exploits accompanied by bright cartoon pictures of him in fancy dress.
The one attention-grabbing page is ‘Fun Corner’. Here you’re given two choices: quizzes for toddlers, including basic activities like colouring in, and quizzes for juniors with more ‘hilarious’ potato-isms and a potato trivia challenge. Did you know, for instance, that Mr Potatohead’s head got bigger in 1974? No, me neither. I think there’s a reason for that.
Okay, so it’s not that big on imagination, but the puzzles are cute enough to keep the youngsters distracted – for a while. Parents be warned: have another flavour of website to hand because Mr Potatohead is a bit half-baked and even the most undemanding child is likely to have her attention-span tested.
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Created: 03/02/2004 Updated: 03/02/2004
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