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Dolls That Feature Quotes From Political Leaders, Commentators
Aired December 29, 2003 - 15:09 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: When I was in England I experimented with marijuana a time or two, and I didn't like it and didn't inhale and never tried it again.
DONALD RUMSFELD, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: The message is that there are no knowns. There are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns. That is to say, there are things that we now know we don't know.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MILES O'BRIEN, ANCHOR: All right, you can say that again, Don, and Bill, and you, the vast American public, can relive those magic moments any time you like.
We're not talking about TiVo or VHS, but something far more personal, something portable, posable, dare we say huggable?
It's the brainchild of John Warnock of TalkingPresidents.com. He joins us from our -- where else but L.A.? Where else would this come from?
And we've got several of the dolls here and there.
John, first of all, good to have you with us.
JOHN WARNOCK, TALKINGPRESIDENTS.COM: Thank you. Good to be with you.
O'BRIEN: Let's -- we showed George H.W. Bush right before the break. Let's get the younger Bush and listen to him.
ROBOTIC VOICE: I come from Texas.
O'BRIEN: I come from Texas.
ROBOTIC VOICE: I was not elected to serve one party, but to serve one nation. Together, we will renew America's purpose.
O'BRIEN: OK, so you get the idea. These are actual comments, speeches that are digitized and put inside the dolls.
How did you get the inspiration, John?
WARNOCK: Well, I'm really into politics, and I like talking dolls and action figures. And it just seemed like a natural to kind of put those two together.
And you know, it's kind of cool to have a piece of memorabilia or collectible and be able to just hear some of the fun sound bytes that some of these different political characters have done.
O'BRIEN: Yes. Sound bytes like this one?
ROBOTIC VOICE: Our priorities are faith. Our priorities are family. Our priorities are our country we love dearly called America.
O'BRIEN: How did you choose them?
WARNOCK: I just went kind of through and listened to a bunch of the different, you know, sound clips. And you know, we were looking for patriotic, inspirational things, and funny quotes, a couple of, you know, slip-ups that some of the different people have done, you know, just to have a nice kind of balanced approach and kind of share what these people are, you know, all about, you know, and make a fun doll at the same time.
O'BRIEN: All right, and it's not just presidents. Here we have the Donald Rumsfeld doll. Let's listen to what we have to say.
ROBOTIC VOICE: It's inaccurate. I'm not working my way over to figuring out how I won't answer that.
O'BRIEN: "I'm working my way to figure out how I won't answer that." That's a pretty good one.
Who were particularly good subject matter, in other words, who gave you a bountiful raft of quotable sound bytes?
WARNOCK: Well, Rumsfeld did, for sure, just him, you know, bantering back and forth with the press, and evading questions. It was -- It's just great, because the press kept trying to get him to slip up and he just evaded so masterfully that it just ended up being kind of a cool, funny deal.
O'BRIEN: Let's listen to one more from him. Hang on.
RUMSFELD: That's not even a remote possibility. The answer is yes and no. How did you get a camera into my private office? Who in the world let you in there?
O'BRIEN: Well, you've got to admit, listening to him. He is good with the press, isn't he?
WARNOCK: He is. He's great. He's one of my personal favorites.
O'BRIEN: OK, and who else? Who else is on the list among the favorites?
WARNOCK: Well, the Dennis Miller doll is kind of funny, too, because we actually got with Dennis. And, you know, it's a doll that we kind of made sound bytes that are specific, so when you're actually holding the doll, it kind of hazes you a little bit. O'BRIEN: So this wasn't like necessarily fair use, stuff that you just got off the airwaves. You actually got him to record stuff like...?
ROBOTIC VOICE: You know the French writers will gas up the dingy and go fishing with Frido (ph) because they are dead to me.
O'BRIEN: OK.
ROBOTIC VOICE: The only way we were going to get the French to go into Iraq is to tell them we thought there were truffles in there.
O'BRIEN: So who wrote that stuff? Was that his stuff or did you provide the material?
WARNOCK: That's his stuff, but there's also, you know, some of the things where he says, "It's about time you found the button, Zipperhead."
You know, it's kind of funny, because whenever you're playing with one of those dolls you always end up, you know, looking around for the button and trying to find it. And it's -- I don't know. It's kind of funny.
O'BRIEN: Yes. I've sort of had the same experience.
OK. Now, you are a conservative Republican, correct?
WARNOCK: I am.
O'BRIEN: And you have taken some quotes from Republicans here that are kind of funny, out of context, perhaps mocking fun, tongue in cheek kind of stuff.
Have you gotten any flack from your fellow GOP party stalwarts?
WARNOCK: Some. But I don't know. I think most politicians, they get flack all the time, and they're used to it. And I think everybody's pretty good-natured about it.
You know, it's not completely making fun of them. It's more just having fun with them type of thing. I mean, George Bush has his Bushisms, and he makes fun of himself all the time. And you know, I think they're all pretty good-natured about it.
O'BRIEN: And of course, we do have the Bill Clinton action figure here, with things like this.
ROBOTIC VOICE: I don't think there is a fancy way to say that I have sinned. Benjamin Franklin told our constitutional convention the first man put at the helm would be a good one, but no one knows what sort will come afterward.
O'BRIEN: That wasn't a very good one I don't think. You had some better Clinton ones. ROBOTIC VOICE: The real mistake was the "read my lips" policy in the first place. You just can't promise something like that just to get elected, if you know there's a good chance that circumstances may overtake.
O'BRIEN: So was Clinton good material as well?
WARNOCK: Yes. I think so. He's selling pretty well. I think people like him. You know, we tried to mix a lot of good things in with a few of the things that we felt we couldn't leave out with Clinton.
You know, there's the Lewinsky deal and a few of the other things that he has in there, so -- but I didn't want it to just be about that.
And so -- I think he's actually one of our best looking dolls. The head sculpt really came out good on it.
O'BRIEN: All right. And here's the question, in a battle of these two presidents, Clinton versus George W. Bush, who wins the sales contest?
WARNOCK: Well, George Bush wins the sales contest so far, but you know, I think to really be fair, we need to give it a little more time to, you know, be certain on that, because the Bush doll's been out for, oh, about eight months longer than the Clinton doll. But it is selling better.
O'BRIEN: And just quickly when you say, what are your numbers roughly right now? How many have you sold?
WARNOCK: We sold about 60,000 of the...
O'BRIEN: Wow.
WARNOCK: ... George W. Bush dolls, you know, the talking version. And we've probably sold about, I don't know, 15,000 of the Top Gun, you know, on the...
O'BRIEN: Yes. Top Gun, we've got to leave it at that point. The Top Gun of course, when Bush wore the flight suit on the Lincoln. I imagine there's some who wish you hadn't made that doll.
WARNOCK: Yes, well you know, there's a lot of people that really love the dolls, and, you know, there's some of the hard core Democrats that really don't like the dolls at all. And, you know, want me to make a Michael Moore doll and you know. I don't know.
O'BRIEN: All right, well you'll have to get a little extra plastic for that one. John Warnock, thank you very much. We wish you well in your endeavors. It's been quite a success. And look for them -- Are they available in stores everywhere?
WARNOCK: Tower Records sells them. You can always go to the website, TalkingPresidents.com and get them. D.C.-area America's stores.
You know, if you just type in TalkingPresidents.com on the web site, you'll find our site and be able to listen to some sound clips and look at them a little more closely. Ordering online is probably the easiest.
O'BRIEN: All right. John Warnock, thank you very much. We'll leave you with the words of Dennis Miller. I have no idea what he's going to say. Let's listen.
ROBOTIC VOICE: Hey, Chocho-san, enough with the deep shiazu. Hit the button and back away.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Commentators>
Aired December 29, 2003 - 15:09 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: When I was in England I experimented with marijuana a time or two, and I didn't like it and didn't inhale and never tried it again.
DONALD RUMSFELD, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: The message is that there are no knowns. There are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns. That is to say, there are things that we now know we don't know.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MILES O'BRIEN, ANCHOR: All right, you can say that again, Don, and Bill, and you, the vast American public, can relive those magic moments any time you like.
We're not talking about TiVo or VHS, but something far more personal, something portable, posable, dare we say huggable?
It's the brainchild of John Warnock of TalkingPresidents.com. He joins us from our -- where else but L.A.? Where else would this come from?
And we've got several of the dolls here and there.
John, first of all, good to have you with us.
JOHN WARNOCK, TALKINGPRESIDENTS.COM: Thank you. Good to be with you.
O'BRIEN: Let's -- we showed George H.W. Bush right before the break. Let's get the younger Bush and listen to him.
ROBOTIC VOICE: I come from Texas.
O'BRIEN: I come from Texas.
ROBOTIC VOICE: I was not elected to serve one party, but to serve one nation. Together, we will renew America's purpose.
O'BRIEN: OK, so you get the idea. These are actual comments, speeches that are digitized and put inside the dolls.
How did you get the inspiration, John?
WARNOCK: Well, I'm really into politics, and I like talking dolls and action figures. And it just seemed like a natural to kind of put those two together.
And you know, it's kind of cool to have a piece of memorabilia or collectible and be able to just hear some of the fun sound bytes that some of these different political characters have done.
O'BRIEN: Yes. Sound bytes like this one?
ROBOTIC VOICE: Our priorities are faith. Our priorities are family. Our priorities are our country we love dearly called America.
O'BRIEN: How did you choose them?
WARNOCK: I just went kind of through and listened to a bunch of the different, you know, sound clips. And you know, we were looking for patriotic, inspirational things, and funny quotes, a couple of, you know, slip-ups that some of the different people have done, you know, just to have a nice kind of balanced approach and kind of share what these people are, you know, all about, you know, and make a fun doll at the same time.
O'BRIEN: All right, and it's not just presidents. Here we have the Donald Rumsfeld doll. Let's listen to what we have to say.
ROBOTIC VOICE: It's inaccurate. I'm not working my way over to figuring out how I won't answer that.
O'BRIEN: "I'm working my way to figure out how I won't answer that." That's a pretty good one.
Who were particularly good subject matter, in other words, who gave you a bountiful raft of quotable sound bytes?
WARNOCK: Well, Rumsfeld did, for sure, just him, you know, bantering back and forth with the press, and evading questions. It was -- It's just great, because the press kept trying to get him to slip up and he just evaded so masterfully that it just ended up being kind of a cool, funny deal.
O'BRIEN: Let's listen to one more from him. Hang on.
RUMSFELD: That's not even a remote possibility. The answer is yes and no. How did you get a camera into my private office? Who in the world let you in there?
O'BRIEN: Well, you've got to admit, listening to him. He is good with the press, isn't he?
WARNOCK: He is. He's great. He's one of my personal favorites.
O'BRIEN: OK, and who else? Who else is on the list among the favorites?
WARNOCK: Well, the Dennis Miller doll is kind of funny, too, because we actually got with Dennis. And, you know, it's a doll that we kind of made sound bytes that are specific, so when you're actually holding the doll, it kind of hazes you a little bit. O'BRIEN: So this wasn't like necessarily fair use, stuff that you just got off the airwaves. You actually got him to record stuff like...?
ROBOTIC VOICE: You know the French writers will gas up the dingy and go fishing with Frido (ph) because they are dead to me.
O'BRIEN: OK.
ROBOTIC VOICE: The only way we were going to get the French to go into Iraq is to tell them we thought there were truffles in there.
O'BRIEN: So who wrote that stuff? Was that his stuff or did you provide the material?
WARNOCK: That's his stuff, but there's also, you know, some of the things where he says, "It's about time you found the button, Zipperhead."
You know, it's kind of funny, because whenever you're playing with one of those dolls you always end up, you know, looking around for the button and trying to find it. And it's -- I don't know. It's kind of funny.
O'BRIEN: Yes. I've sort of had the same experience.
OK. Now, you are a conservative Republican, correct?
WARNOCK: I am.
O'BRIEN: And you have taken some quotes from Republicans here that are kind of funny, out of context, perhaps mocking fun, tongue in cheek kind of stuff.
Have you gotten any flack from your fellow GOP party stalwarts?
WARNOCK: Some. But I don't know. I think most politicians, they get flack all the time, and they're used to it. And I think everybody's pretty good-natured about it.
You know, it's not completely making fun of them. It's more just having fun with them type of thing. I mean, George Bush has his Bushisms, and he makes fun of himself all the time. And you know, I think they're all pretty good-natured about it.
O'BRIEN: And of course, we do have the Bill Clinton action figure here, with things like this.
ROBOTIC VOICE: I don't think there is a fancy way to say that I have sinned. Benjamin Franklin told our constitutional convention the first man put at the helm would be a good one, but no one knows what sort will come afterward.
O'BRIEN: That wasn't a very good one I don't think. You had some better Clinton ones. ROBOTIC VOICE: The real mistake was the "read my lips" policy in the first place. You just can't promise something like that just to get elected, if you know there's a good chance that circumstances may overtake.
O'BRIEN: So was Clinton good material as well?
WARNOCK: Yes. I think so. He's selling pretty well. I think people like him. You know, we tried to mix a lot of good things in with a few of the things that we felt we couldn't leave out with Clinton.
You know, there's the Lewinsky deal and a few of the other things that he has in there, so -- but I didn't want it to just be about that.
And so -- I think he's actually one of our best looking dolls. The head sculpt really came out good on it.
O'BRIEN: All right. And here's the question, in a battle of these two presidents, Clinton versus George W. Bush, who wins the sales contest?
WARNOCK: Well, George Bush wins the sales contest so far, but you know, I think to really be fair, we need to give it a little more time to, you know, be certain on that, because the Bush doll's been out for, oh, about eight months longer than the Clinton doll. But it is selling better.
O'BRIEN: And just quickly when you say, what are your numbers roughly right now? How many have you sold?
WARNOCK: We sold about 60,000 of the...
O'BRIEN: Wow.
WARNOCK: ... George W. Bush dolls, you know, the talking version. And we've probably sold about, I don't know, 15,000 of the Top Gun, you know, on the...
O'BRIEN: Yes. Top Gun, we've got to leave it at that point. The Top Gun of course, when Bush wore the flight suit on the Lincoln. I imagine there's some who wish you hadn't made that doll.
WARNOCK: Yes, well you know, there's a lot of people that really love the dolls, and, you know, there's some of the hard core Democrats that really don't like the dolls at all. And, you know, want me to make a Michael Moore doll and you know. I don't know.
O'BRIEN: All right, well you'll have to get a little extra plastic for that one. John Warnock, thank you very much. We wish you well in your endeavors. It's been quite a success. And look for them -- Are they available in stores everywhere?
WARNOCK: Tower Records sells them. You can always go to the website, TalkingPresidents.com and get them. D.C.-area America's stores.
You know, if you just type in TalkingPresidents.com on the web site, you'll find our site and be able to listen to some sound clips and look at them a little more closely. Ordering online is probably the easiest.
O'BRIEN: All right. John Warnock, thank you very much. We'll leave you with the words of Dennis Miller. I have no idea what he's going to say. Let's listen.
ROBOTIC VOICE: Hey, Chocho-san, enough with the deep shiazu. Hit the button and back away.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Commentators>
