With the recent release of G-Force in theaters, a movie putting guinea pigs front-and-center as spies and mercenaries fighting against a ruthless mastermind, families are becoming more aware of our little fuzzy friends. The popularity certainly comes with its merits, but the bad will come with the good as we’ve posted about before.
The impulse buying of animals featured in blockbusters movies is known as "’101 Dalmatians’ syndrome." When the feature film about the spotted pups opened in theaters, thousands flocked to pet stores to get one of the dogs.
Then "Legally Blonde" and "Beverly Hills Chihuahua" escalated the popularity of Chihuahuas, while guinea pigs garnered attention last year with "Bedtime Stories."
"It picked up after Christmas with the release of ‘Bedtime Stories,’" Bumgardner said. "Everyone wanted a guinea pig and he just had a small part. I can’t see how it wouldn’t pick up again."
Six years after the release of "Finding Nemo," children still clamor for their own "Nemo" or "Dory," Knoetgen said.
"That is still the most popular thing," she said. "Kids will come in and see a clown fish. They know the difference because for the one that looks like Nemo they’ll say, ‘That’s a Nemo.’ We had a blue tang for a long time, and kids would go ‘Dory, Dory!’ It’s amazing how movies affect them."
The increasing popularity of the film may have children tapping at the glass and begging mom and dad for their own two-pound rodent.
Link, via chron.com