ElfBot
08-16-2007, 05:14 PM
Y'know, we've been worrying ourselves silly here at ClausNET.com, as well as Santas Across the Globe and the Mystic Order of Traditional Santas, about the recent toy recall controversies, and in particular what both Mattel (http://www.mattel.com) and Hasbro (http://www.hasbro.com) are doing about it.
Well, now, it's time for Santa Richard to put his two cents in on this.
When you have over 9 million toys being pulled from store shelves, "just to be safe," according to Nancy Nord, Acting Chairperson of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, you gotta wonder: Whatever happened to the real integrity of "Made in the U.S.A."?
When we first meet up with John Lithgow's B.Z. in Santa Claus: The Movie, we learn that his company has fallen on hard times: Several shoddy methods in making toys, according to the way that they're crafted by those who work for B.Z., are presented in horrifying details --- first, when a doll is deliberately set on fire; then, when a toy panda is revealed to have hidden in it, among other things, sharp nails and shards of broken glass!
While the scene is meant to be largely a satire, here, too, are we reminded of what we as Santa performers and as parents should do about protecting our toys. While there is no question that a lot of us don't like so-called 'slave labor' --- and I'm gonna go on record here and say that I certainly don't like slave labor --- what we need to realize here is that we need to be more vigilant about the ways whereby toys are manufactured and distributed. Because, gang, as we've seen, a situation of this magnitude is not to be taken lightly. Not by the parents, and certainly not by us who portray Santa Claus.
One of the songs from Rankin/Bass' Santa Claus is Comin' to Town is called "The First Toymakers to the King." A line from that song suggests that even Santa's Elves "must strive for just the perfect quality." Let's just hope that we still can!
Santa Richard
P.S.: Head for Mattel.com/Safety/US/ (http://www.mattel.com/safety/us/) for a message from Chairman and CEO Bob Eckert!
More from Clausnet.com... (http://www.clausnet.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=842)
Well, now, it's time for Santa Richard to put his two cents in on this.
When you have over 9 million toys being pulled from store shelves, "just to be safe," according to Nancy Nord, Acting Chairperson of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, you gotta wonder: Whatever happened to the real integrity of "Made in the U.S.A."?
When we first meet up with John Lithgow's B.Z. in Santa Claus: The Movie, we learn that his company has fallen on hard times: Several shoddy methods in making toys, according to the way that they're crafted by those who work for B.Z., are presented in horrifying details --- first, when a doll is deliberately set on fire; then, when a toy panda is revealed to have hidden in it, among other things, sharp nails and shards of broken glass!
While the scene is meant to be largely a satire, here, too, are we reminded of what we as Santa performers and as parents should do about protecting our toys. While there is no question that a lot of us don't like so-called 'slave labor' --- and I'm gonna go on record here and say that I certainly don't like slave labor --- what we need to realize here is that we need to be more vigilant about the ways whereby toys are manufactured and distributed. Because, gang, as we've seen, a situation of this magnitude is not to be taken lightly. Not by the parents, and certainly not by us who portray Santa Claus.
One of the songs from Rankin/Bass' Santa Claus is Comin' to Town is called "The First Toymakers to the King." A line from that song suggests that even Santa's Elves "must strive for just the perfect quality." Let's just hope that we still can!
Santa Richard
P.S.: Head for Mattel.com/Safety/US/ (http://www.mattel.com/safety/us/) for a message from Chairman and CEO Bob Eckert!
More from Clausnet.com... (http://www.clausnet.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=842)