Wishful Counterfeiting

Sounds like an evil sorcerer at work.

Walt Disney Co. this week began selling “The Return of Jafar,” its highly publicized video sequel to the hit film “Aladdin.”

No sooner did the hot-selling cassette go on sale than police and investigators for the Motion Picture Assn. of America raided an illegal duplication operation in Los Angeles where they found 73 videocassette recorders busily copying “Jafar.”

Said Steve Feldstein, a spokesman at Disney’s Buena Vista Home Video: “We’ve obviously got a big hit on our hands, and already they’re ripping us off.”