A Familiar Look

Big profits from merchandise sales tied to Walt Disney’s new animated film “Pocahontas” may be just around the river bend, but for Mattel there is an added reason.

The basic Pocahontas doll is a reconfigured version of the El Segundo toy maker’s ever-popular--and highly profitable--Barbie doll.

So notes Smith Barney analyst Jill Krutick. “The head is different, but the body is basically the same,” Krutick says.

Spokeswoman Karen Stewart noted that there are similarities in the making of the dolls, which allows Mattel to make them at a lower cost.

“Certainly, efficiencies can be achieved that allow for us to make profitable merchandise at retail prices that are very reasonable,” Stewart said.

But she downplayed suggestions that it’s basically the same doll, noting, for example, that Mattel’s Pocahontas has a special sheen to its hair.

“You’re not going to say, ‘That’s a Barbie dressed like Pocahontas.’ You’d say, ‘That’s Pocahontas,’ ” she said.

And what about the doll of Capt. John Smith, a hero in the film? Is he a Ken doll?

“He has many of the same features, which gives us economies of scale,” Stewart says. “But if you look at him, you’d say, ‘That’s John Smith.’ ”

Is Financing Available?

In other Barbie news, the current issue of Smart Money magazine compares the typical price of the doll in other countries--no doubt made higher by the weak dollar. That makes the $5-to-$15 U.S. price range look like a bargain.

The top prices are $61.82 in Jerusalem, followed by $23.94 in Tokyo.

Among the more reasonable are the typical prices of $14.84 in Paris, $12.34 in Mexico City and $12.92 in Hong Kong.

Hitting a Sour Note

Seattle songwriter Gene Buck was touched when a company named HillTop Records in Hollywood sent him a letter soliciting lyrics for possible use in a cassette to be called “Together We Stand,” intended as a tribute to the victims of the Oklahoma City bombing.

Buck quickly penned a song called “Remember Oklahoma” and sent it off.

Two weeks later, he received another letter from HillTop saying that the staff there was “truly moved” by Buck’s lyrics. The letter went on to say that the “power of music” in the proposed cassette would “promote national unity, give comfort to the grief-stricken and be a positive, life-affirming answer to those who would tear us down.”

The letter also asked Buck for $333 to pay for a “diligent screening” session to determine if his lyrics were good enough for the cassette. It even proposed a payment plan of $85 to start with, followed by four monthly payments of $62 each and no finance charges.

The letter promised a refund should the lyrics fail the test. Still, Buck would like to know why the company needs to charge him money just to ponder his lyrics.

“They want Buck’s bucks,” he says.

HillTop officials could not be reached to explain the fee. Calls to the company’s offices were answered by a machine that doesn’t accept messages.