Activists for Homeless Decry Disney Doll

The Walt Disney Co. is known for wholesome movies, family theme parks and Mickey Mouse. Now the Burbank-based company may have a less attractive claim to fame.

Its Steve the Tramp action figure--inspired by the Dick Tracy movie--has been ranked the year’s most “warped” toy by an Episcopal priest.

And this weekend, after a protest by activists for the homeless, a national toy store chain pulled the doll from its shelves. It called it “offensive” because of an insensitive description of the homeless character written on the package the toy comes in.

“It is hard to believe this is the Walt Disney Co. that we all know and love,” sighed Christopher Rose, a Hartford, Conn., Episcopal priest who put Steve the Tramp in the No. 1 position on his annual list of “Warped Toys for Christmas.”

Steve the Tramp, a Barbie-sized doll that is one of 14 action figures inspired by the Dick Tracy film, won the dubious distinction largely as the result of the description on its package. It calls the figure an “ignorant bum” and a “reeking piece of filth,” Rose said.

But the description doesn’t stop there.

“Warning. Steve the Tramp will use and abuse any young helpless prey he comes across,” the package reads. “Beware . . . Hardened and bitter after a life on the mean streets, Steve the Tramp is a lout who would just as soon take your life as your wallet. Despite his low I.Q., he is as dangerous as they come because he doesn’t have anything to lose.”

And if that wasn’t enough: “You’ll smell him before you see him,” the package says.

The figure, which is licensed by Burbank-based Disney, is manufactured by Playmates Toys of La Mirada. Neither Disney nor Playmates officials could be reached for comment Sunday. However, Disney defended the toy in a statement, saying that it was “not intended in any way to represent the homeless.”

Kay-Bee Toy & Hobby, a chain of 1,200 stores, pulled the toy from its shelves this weekend after its vice president of advertising, Ken Cunniff, determined that “the copy on the package goes too far.”

“This was the first time I read it,” Cunniff told the Stamford Advocate in Stamford, Conn. “And I was offended. . . . We do have a social conscience here.”

The doll apparently was not a big seller anyway. Several Kay-Bee toy stores in the Los Angeles area said they have never had it in stock.

And Toys R Us in Cerritos said it recently marked down its stock of Dick Tracy action figures, including Steve the Tramp, to $1.98 from the original price of $4.99.

“I don’t have sales figures, but I suppose that tells you something,” a Toys R Us clerk added.

Rose said the doll was this year’s most offensive because of its psychological impact on children.

Several others, including Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ “Flushomatic High-tech Toilet Torture Trap” and the Beetlejuice “Shish Kebab” doll, which is designed to be stabbed and decapitated, also ranked high on the “warped” list.

“These toys desensitize kids to the pain and suffering of other people,” Rose said. “They also have very little play value after you’ve done the violent things with them.”