Crocodile Dentist is a game made for young children, first published by Milton Bradley in 1990.[1] A smaller travel version of the game was released in 1993 and is currently being produced by Winning Moves.[2] The game was conceived by Robert B. Fuhrer, who later created Gator Golf, and many other toys and games.[3]
The goal of the game is to press down on the plastic teeth from a crocodile toy's mouth. Earlier versions required the player to instead remove the tooth with a pair of pliers; this was changed to avoid having small loose parts to make the game more accessible to younger children. If the "sore tooth" is pressed or removed, the mouth will snap shut and lunge toward whoever pulled the sore tooth, and the person who caused the mouth to shut is the loser. The mechanism of pushing the tooth down was initially only used in the travel version, which lacks the ability to lunge, but was later incorporated into the full-sized version of the game.
Developmentedit
Crocodile Dentist went through several changes during its development phase. Fuhrer and his technicians were told to tweak the length and speed of the crocodile's lunging motion so that the toy would not cause eye injuries. Fuhrer also added a pair of plastic pliers to quell fears that children would hurt their fingers. However, the game testers later thought that the toy lacked excitement, and though the pliers remained in the final product, Fuhrer restored the original lunging motion.[3]
Receptionedit
Crocodile Dentist was one of the best-selling games of the 1991 Christmas season[4][5] and remained a high-seller afterwards.[6][7]
Crocodile Dentist was then released by Toy City in the United Kingdom.
Several commentators listed the product as one of the strangest new toys available.[8][9] "What kind of mind came up with this game?" asked the York Daily Record's Mike Argento, who included it in his 1992 Bizarre Toy Awards.[10] Twelve years later, however, Argento admitted that the game had "passed into classic status".[11]
The success of Crocodile Dentist led Robert Fuhrer to design several other crocodile-themed games. One of those, Crocodile Golf, became the popular Gator Golf.[3]
In popular cultureedit
A 1993 episode of The Price Is Right featured a blooper involving the travel version of Crocodile Dentist. The game was used as one of the small prizes in the pricing game Pathfinder, and host Bob Barker and model Janice Pennington decided to try it out. Barker triggered the sore tooth, which caused the crocodile's jaw to close on his finger and Barker to yelp in pain.[12]
In episode ten of Men Behaving Badly, the main characters are seen playing the game with Dorothy's ten-year-old nephew.
Referencesedit
^Nancy Piccin. "Zoo time at Toy Fair - Turtles have lots of company". The Republican. February 17, 1991. H1.
crocodile, dentist, game, made, young, children, first, published, milton, bradley, 1990, smaller, travel, version, game, released, 1993, currently, being, produced, winning, moves, game, conceived, robert, fuhrer, later, created, gator, golf, many, other, toy. Crocodile Dentist is a game made for young children first published by Milton Bradley in 1990 1 A smaller travel version of the game was released in 1993 and is currently being produced by Winning Moves 2 The game was conceived by Robert B Fuhrer who later created Gator Golf and many other toys and games 3 Crocodile DentistCrocodile Dentist Travel VersionDesignersRobert B FuhrerPublishersWinning Moves Games USA present Publication1990 34 years ago 1990 Players2 Age range4 or older Contents 1 Gameplay 2 Development 3 Reception 4 In popular culture 5 References 6 External linksGameplay editThe goal of the game is to press down on the plastic teeth from a crocodile toy s mouth Earlier versions required the player to instead remove the tooth with a pair of pliers this was changed to avoid having small loose parts to make the game more accessible to younger children If the sore tooth is pressed or removed the mouth will snap shut and lunge toward whoever pulled the sore tooth and the person who caused the mouth to shut is the loser The mechanism of pushing the tooth down was initially only used in the travel version which lacks the ability to lunge but was later incorporated into the full sized version of the game Development editCrocodile Dentist went through several changes during its development phase Fuhrer and his technicians were told to tweak the length and speed of the crocodile s lunging motion so that the toy would not cause eye injuries Fuhrer also added a pair of plastic pliers to quell fears that children would hurt their fingers However the game testers later thought that the toy lacked excitement and though the pliers remained in the final product Fuhrer restored the original lunging motion 3 Reception editCrocodile Dentist was one of the best selling games of the 1991 Christmas season 4 5 and remained a high seller afterwards 6 7 Crocodile Dentist was then released by Toy City in the United Kingdom Several commentators listed the product as one of the strangest new toys available 8 9 What kind of mind came up with this game asked the York Daily Record s Mike Argento who included it in his 1992 Bizarre Toy Awards 10 Twelve years later however Argento admitted that the game had passed into classic status 11 The success of Crocodile Dentist led Robert Fuhrer to design several other crocodile themed games One of those Crocodile Golf became the popular Gator Golf 3 In popular culture editA 1993 episode of The Price Is Right featured a blooper involving the travel version of Crocodile Dentist The game was used as one of the small prizes in the pricing game Pathfinder and host Bob Barker and model Janice Pennington decided to try it out Barker triggered the sore tooth which caused the crocodile s jaw to close on his finger and Barker to yelp in pain 12 In episode ten of Men Behaving Badly the main characters are seen playing the game with Dorothy s ten year old nephew References edit Nancy Piccin Zoo time at Toy Fair Turtles have lots of company The Republican February 17 1991 H1 Tools for back seat playing Philadelphia Daily News July 16 1993 60 a b c Drew Fetherston Playing With Toys Is Serious Work Robert B Fuhrer s life revolves around games Newsday December 5 1994 C03 Pete Bishop Hottest games going from burst to splat Pittsburgh Post Gazette December 1 1991 H4 Bruce D Ebert What s hot in toyland Daily Press December 3 1991 C1 Beth Snyder Familiar favorites are still popular York Daily Record October 19 1992 D6 Emily Heller What s hot for the holidays The Bradenton Herald November 15 1992 E1 Toy makers take a walk on the weird side The Orange County Register November 14 1993 E04 Randy Peterson Want to see something really odd Check The Salt Lake Tribune December 1 1993 C7 Mike Argento First annual bizarre toy awards York Daily Record December 5 1992 6 Mike Argento Toys of our times York Daily Record November 25 2004 Living 1 The Price Is Right episode from November 30 1993 External links editHasbro s product page Crocodile Dentist at BoardGameGeek Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Crocodile Dentist amp oldid 1138009684, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
