While in costume, Espin had to use the restroom. "It's like Elvis! You have to have a bodyguard!" "Can you imagine if it was the real one?" Fay said. Her husband wound up playing bodyguard, pushing people back to make room for Espin to maneuver in the bulky outfit. "God knows how many people we had," Fay said. Soon she was surrounded by a crowd of Barney fans. Moments after she stepped out of the car, though, children from other parts of the park were drawn to her like metal to a magnet. Fay's daughter, Jacqueline Espin, donned the costume for what was supposed to be a party for 10 children. The ersatz Barney made one rather memorable appearance a month ago at Philippe Park in Safety Harbor. The children get three songs, 12 balloons and a free snapshot taken with the birthday boy or girl, plus a group shot. rex as "the Purple Dinosaur," charging $75 for half an hour. Calls have come from as far away as Lakeland.įay's shop rents out the faux T. Since then, Fako's fake Barney has been invited to half a dozen children's parties. She scoured area fabric stores to find the right shade of purple for the skin. She built the head by inflating an officially licensed Barney balloon and surrounding it with about eight pounds of papier-mache. So a couple of months ago, Fako made her own Barney costume. "There's a big need for kids to see him," Fako said. "If anybody can love a purple dinosaur," she explained, "then there is no racial barrier."įay and Fako know a lot of children would be thrilled to meet Barney, if only he could step out of the TV screen. She believes his show teaches racial tolerance, among other things. "He's a very good, nurturing person for children," Fay said. She likes Barney's show, and so does shop owner Gloria Fay. The difference is, she can't say his name.įako is a Palm Harbor resident who works in Fay's costume shop. Like an Elvis fan who dons a spangled jumpsuit, she has come up with a pretty good imitation of Barney. That's where Catherine Fako's fakery comes in. And when he does pop up somewhere, security tends to be extremely tight to keep the star from being mobbed. He's too busy filming shows for next season. Other characters at Universal, such as Bullwinkle and Fred Flintstone, will pose for free pictures with their fans, but Barney and Baby Bop kept their distance.īarney does very, very few personal appearances. They rode in two parades a day, waving at the hordes of adoring children.īarney's fans had to be content with just a glimpse of their hero. In April, Barney and his sidekick, a green dinosaur named Baby Bop, appeared at Universal Studios in Orlando. When people talk about him, they often compare him to Elvis Presley _ a reclusive star so enormously popular that, when there wasn't enough of him to satisfy his fans, a legion of imitators tried to conjure his magic themselves. There are Barney videos, Barney books, Barney dolls, Barney T-shirts, Barney piggy banks and a ton of other official Barney products for sale to Barneyphiles. This year, he made the cover of People magazine, along with Ross Perot and Bill Clinton, as one of the most interesting people in the world _ even though he is not a person at all, just an imaginary (and extinct) reptile. Although he has been on the air for just a year, Barney is already more popular than old PBS favorites like Big Bird.
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