Crocodile Dentist
A children's game featuring a snapping crocodile mouth.
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Crocodile Dentist is a game for young children, introduced by Milton Bradley in 1990. A smaller travel version of the game was released in 1993 and is currently being produced by Winning Moves. The game was the idea of Robert B. Fuhrer, who went on to invent Gator Golf and numerous other toys and games. Players press down on plastic teeth in a crocodile toy’s mouth.
Gameplay
Earlier editions had players remove teeth with plastic pliers, but this was changed to pressing to avoid small loose parts and make the game safer for younger kids. If the “sore tooth” is activated, the mouth snaps shut and lunges toward the player who triggered it; that person loses. The push-down mechanism first appeared in the travel version, which does not lunge, and was later added to the full-sized game. During development, Fuhrer and his team adjusted the length and speed of the crocodile’s lunge to prevent eye injuries.
Development
He also included plastic pliers to ease concerns about children hurting their fingers. Testers felt the toy lacked excitement, so while the pliers stayed, Fuhrer restored the original lunging motion. Crocodile Dentist was a top seller during the 1991 Christmas season and continued to sell well afterward. Several commentators named it one of the strangest new toys.
Reception
Mike Argento of the York Daily Record gave it a spot in his 1992 Bizarre Toy Awards, asking, “What kind of mind came up with this game?” Twelve years later, he admitted it had “passed into classic status.” The game’s success led Fuhrer to design other crocodile-themed games, including Crocodile Golf, which became the popular Gator Golf. In a December 18, 1992 episode of The Price Is Right, a blooper occurred with the travel version.
In popular culture
Host Bob Barker and model Janice Pennington tried it as a small prize in the game Pathfinder; Barker hit the sore tooth, the jaw closed on his finger, and he yelped in pain. In episode ten of Men Behaving Badly, the main characters play the game with Dorothy’s ten-year-old nephew.
Origins & Development
Crocodile Dentist was conceived by Robert B. Fuhrer, a prolific designer who would go on to create Gator Golf and numerous other toys and games. The product was first published by Milton Bradley in 1990, targeting a young audience. The development process was anything but straightforward. Fuhrer and his team of technicians received specific instructions to adjust both the length and the speed of the crocodile's lunging motion, ensuring the toy could not cause eye injuries to small children.
In a separate safety measure, Fuhrer introduced a pair of plastic pliers into the design, aiming to allay parental concerns about kids potentially injuring their fingers. However, internal game testers felt the revised version lacked the excitement needed to captivate young players. Fuhrer responded by restoring the original, more dramatic lunging motion while keeping the pliers as part of the final product. This iterative process of balancing safety, excitement, and accessibility shaped the game that would become a holiday staple.
Gameplay & Design Evolution
At its core, Crocodile Dentist asks players to press down on individual plastic teeth protruding from a crocodile toy's open mouth. The catch is that one of those teeth is the hidden sore tooth, and triggering it causes the crocodile's jaw to snap shut and lunge toward the offending player, who is declared the loser. The game's mechanics evolved over time to better serve its young audience. In earlier iterations, players were required to extract a tooth using a pair of pliers, a method that risked leaving small loose parts scattered around.
The design was ultimately changed to the simpler press-down approach, making the game more accessible and safer for the youngest children. Interestingly, this pushing mechanism was initially exclusive to the travel version released in 1993, which omitted the lunge feature entirely. The full-sized game later adopted the press-down method as well. The travel edition continues to be produced today by Winning Moves, keeping the game in circulation for new generations of players.
Commercial Success & Critical Reception
The 1991 Christmas season proved to be a breakout moment for Crocodile Dentist, as the title emerged as one of the top-selling games of the holiday period and maintained strong sales figures in the years that followed. Yet the critical response was not uniformly celebratory. Several commentators singled out the product as one of the most bizarre new toys on the market. Mike Argento of the York Daily Record captured that sentiment perfectly when he quipped, "What kind of mind came up with this game?" while including it in his 1992 Bizarre Toy Awards.
The game's odd charm, however, aged remarkably well. A full twelve years after his initial quip, Argento publicly acknowledged that Crocodile Dentist had "passed into classic status," a testament to how a novelty toy could transcend its quirky origins and become a beloved staple of children's play. The juxtaposition of its early reception as a curiosity and its later recognition as a classic underscores the game's enduring appeal across generations.
Legacy & Pop Culture Appearances
The commercial triumph of Crocodile Dentist set in motion a broader creative wave for its designer. Robert Fuhrer went on to develop several additional crocodile-themed games, one of which—Crocodile Golf—evolved into the widely recognized Gator Golf, extending the crocodile motif into an entirely different genre of play. The game also left a memorable mark on television. In a 1993 episode of The Price Is Right, the travel version appeared as a small prize in the Pathfinder pricing game.
Host Bob Barker and model Janice Pennington decided to give it a try, and Barker unfortunately triggered the sore tooth. The crocodile's jaw clamped shut on his finger, prompting a very audible yelp of pain that became a memorable blooper. The game also crossed over into scripted comedy, appearing in episode ten of Men Behaving Badly, where the main characters are seen playing alongside Dorothy's ten-year-old nephew. These appearances cemented Crocodile Dentist not just as a children's toy but as a recognizable cultural touchstone.
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Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Crocodile Dentist (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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