Knight Ridder Newspapers

John Waters vs. the Rugrats?

This unlikely tussle between Baltimore’s king of camp and Nickelodeon’s cartoon franchise could be coming to a courthouse near you in the coming months.

“Rugrats Go Wild,” an animated feature that opens Friday, is being shown in “Odorama” with scratch-and-sniff cards. The word “Odorama,” first advertised as part of Waters’ 1981 comedy “Polyester,” is a registered trademark – and Waters is hopping mad that Nickelodeon and Paramount Pictures, partners on the Rugrats movie, didn’t clear it with him first.

And he’s ready to raise a stink about it.

“They’re calling it “Odorama’?” said an incredulous Waters when contacted by the San Jose Mercury News. “I’m stupefied! That’s a direct steal. New Line Cinema and I have a trademark on “Odorama.”‘

Later, after examining Nickelodeon’s Odorama card, Waters was doubly steamed. “Can you believe it?” he said. “They even copied our logo. That’s all I can say for now. It’s with my lawyer. …We’ll see what happens.”

Julia Pistor, the 42-year-old executive producer of the new Rugrats movie, said she and her crew were inspired by Waters’ “Polyester,” which they saw growing up. “We loved all that great stuff William Castle and John Waters pioneered,” she said. “We loved that low-tech interactivity. That’s what inspired our “Odorama.”‘

Nickelodeon contacted its lawyers Monday with Waters’ claim. Said a company spokesperson, “It is our understanding that there is no trademark on record for “Odorama.’ Our movie was intended as a homage to John Waters and his work. We’ve done similar homages in our previous Rugrats movies with no negative response.”

The scratch-and-sniff card for “Rugrats Go Wild” has six smells: strawberry, flower, peanut butter, root beer, stinky fish and stinky foot. Waters’ R-rated version, available in the “Polyester”” DVD, has 10 smells, including new car, pizza, gas, glue, flatulence and dirty tennis shoes.

Waters – best known for “Pink Flamingos” and “Hairspray,” the movie that inspired the Tony-winning musical – recalls that his Odorama card had to be tested for insurance purposes – “in case somebody ate it.” The Rugrats scents are described as non-allergenic but “not intended to be eaten.”

“Smell-O-Vision” – an earlier variation in which smells were piped to individual seats – was used in the 1960 comedy-thriller “Scent of Mystery.” A year earlier, a documentary on the Great Wall of China featured AromaRama, wherein scents were pumped into the theater through the ventilation system.

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(c) 2003, San Jose Mercury News (San Jose, Calif.).

Visit MercuryNews.com, the World Wide Web site of the Mercury News, at http://www.mercurynews.com.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.

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John Waters

AP-NY-06-10-03 1509EDT