Wednesday, November 28, 2002

The “Poopmoose” saves the day in a scene from “BachelorMan”

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The Poop Moose prepares for big-screen debut


Fenton Woods owner Darryl Fenton shows off the pocket-sized Poop Moose he is making for a comedy film called "Bachelorman," which will be shot in Los Angeles next month. At left is shop foreman Stephan Wilson, who supervises a half-dozen people when orders for the wooden novelty candy dispensers peak. The pair expect a spike in Poop Moose sales when the film is released next year. Photo by SCOTT CHRISTIANSEN/Frontiersman.

By SCOTT CHRISTIANSEN-Frontiersman reporter

"There's not a whole lot of room for candy in there. So it's cute but it's not very practical…”
-- Darryl Fenton maker of the “Mini-Pooper”

The “Poop Moose” is a wooden candy dispenser shaped like a moose. Candy is dispensed out its backside when the moose's head is lifted.

The moose is being made as a prop for the film version of “Bachelorman,” which makes it’s premiere in Los Angeles in January.

Darryl Fenton knows demand for the miniature will likely take off, even if they're not practical for dispensing candy.

"They'll want them anyway," Fenton says. Terry Martin, who markets the moose for Fenton expects wild reaction with "Bachelorman,” and also thinks sales will skyrocket.

"Bachelorman" producer Rodney Lee Conover said he's working on distribution for the big screen and prospects look good for a release next summer. Conover is a Los Angeles-based comedy writer who fell under the Poop Moose's candy-dispensing spell when Martin placed ads in Conover's Internet newsletter, "Comedy On Tap."

"Bachelorman," written along with Jeffrey Hause & Daivd Hines (‘Once Bitten’; Father Figure’) tells the story of a bachelor everyone loves, and who is known for his bachelor savvy. "One of the ways that he introduces himself to women is that he offers them a poop," Conover said, "He pulls the Poop Moose out of his pocket, and he's very charming and he gets a laugh."

And he gets the girl. Until, of course, "Bachelorman" meets his match, and the plot develops around the one girl he wants but can't have.

Conover's bachelor originally relied on a more famous candy dispenser to break the ice with women, but using it for the film proved impossible.

"It's a brand name and we can't use a brand name because it's an independent film," Conover said.

So the Frontiersman is left with that?

After some urging, Conover spilled.

"For the same reason I can't use Beatles music in my film, I can't use Pez -- just put that," he said.

According to Conover, the actresses in "Bachelorman" react to Poop Moose as if it were something they've known all their lives. They have lines like "Oh, I loved the Poop Moose when I was a kid." The girls happily accept the candy and the charming bachelor is on his way. This is more than just a one-shot product placement, Conover said -- the gag runs throughout the script. Conover needed a pocket-sized pooper for the gag, so Fenton made him a miniature “hero” moose for filming.

The Pocket Pooper -- as Conover called it -- takes a long time to make. Fenton said he isn't sure if it will ever go into full production, even though Poop Moose seems to be saving the day for a big-screen production, and helping the hero get the girl, to boot.

For his part, Conover assured the Frontiersman that his film is funny, and that Poop Moose's cult popularity will skyrocket when people see the Pocket Pooper in theaters.

"Fenton won't be carving them out by hand anymore, let me put it that way," Conover said.

“Bachelorman” screens at The Arclight Theater in Hollywood, January 9, 2003


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