CREATING A MONSTER

KIDS What happens when you combine two Dallas-area mothers, a purple dinosaur, and a video studio? ForSHERYL LEACH, KATHY PARKER.BARNEY, and Developmental Learning Materials, Inc. (DLM), the mixture has been magical. The result is “Barney and the Backyard Gang,” a series of educational videos geared toward preschoolers. The star is Barney, a hug-gable purple and green dinosaur. As Barney and his gang of six youngsters play on the beach and sing songs, they unlock the world of numbers and letters for tots.

“We’ve sold about 320,000 units so far and are expecting $3 million in sales this year,” says Leach. That’s after seven videos; the eighth, a Neiman Marcus exclusive, will premiere this month, as will a Neiman’s “Barney Boutique” featuring T-shirts, lunch boxes. sleepwear, and more for the little tykes. The Barney Fan Club has already grown to 32,000 members, a figure that should skyrocket this month when Barney visits the man with the mustache, schlockmeister Gene Shalit, on NBC’s “Today Show.”

Leach. 38. and Parker. 39, have done more than create a monster; they may have the Sesame Street of the Nineties on their hands. The Public Broadcasting System has contracted with them for 30 episodes that are scheduled to begin airing in April 1992. PBS will run the Barney spots three times daily.

The secret? “It all began when I was on an extended maternity leave from DLM and was looking for quality videos for my two-year-old,” Leach recalls. “I was surprised at how few good ones were on the market.”

In late 1987, although she had no prior knowledge of the video industry. Leach sold the president of DLM on a children’s video project. She called Parker, also on maternity leave, and asked if she’d like to get involved. Together they created Barney.

Getting the videos distributed was another battle. One trick was to send free copies to child care centers near Toys R Us stores, so that when kids went to the stores they would ask for Barney, The videos are now in more than 4,000 outlets.