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The two corporate titans of lunch box licensing are Aladdin Industries of Nashville, Tenn., and the Thermos Co. of Schaumburg, Ill. And every year they engage in bidding wars for licensing rights to the latest hit characters. These fictional icons for kids are usually cranked out of animation or special-effects movie machines, specifically by Michael "Disney" Eisner or Steven "E.T." Spielberg.

This fall, moms who let kids choose their favorite lunchboxes may witness dinosaur dithering: Will it be Barney, the personable, pudgy dinosaur with his own TV talk show? Or will it be the thriller-chiller "Jurassic Park" on the packed lunch? Thermos wins either way because the company nabbed licensing rights for both.

In the Disney corner, there's Aladdin Industries, which now has the unusual opportunity of selling same-name "Aladdin" lunchboxes, thanks to the animation smash-hit featuring a funky genie with Robin Williams' many voices.

Aladdin (the company, not the movie) will also be featuring Disney's summertime re-release, "Snow White," but maybe sales will be dwarfed by "Super Mario Bros." lunchboxes, yet another movie in the Aladdin camp.

Such super-pop characters as Snow White or Barney are featured on pressure-sensitive stickers applied to the traditional square plastic lunchboxes - like so much miniluggage decorated in neon cartoons.

This is the same type of lunchbox that used to be metal, probably painted with a portrait of Roy Rogers or Rin Tin Tin in the '50s for Johnny and Susie.

Now the boxes for Brian and Jennifer are often pink- or teal-colored plastic, and the decal decor has changed from cowboys to computer games, wonder-dogs to dinosaurs.

But tots today still unbuckle their boxes and open them like clam shells to get at lunch, very probably a peanut butter sandwich.

A newer type of lunch container for kids - and adults - is the woven-nylon, insulated "sack," a soft-sided replacement for the brown bag. These are produced in any bright color, never brown. Characters can still put in an appearance through screen printing. Another contender at lunchtime is Tupperware, a company that concentrates on the "green" aspects of packing lunches.

Environmentally conscious kids toting a Tupperware Lunch'N Bag Set can tell Mom to quit buying those disposable sandwich bags, plastic wrap and foil. Each nylon-woven, soft-sided bag features a square, snap-lid sandwich-keeper and a microwave reheatable bowl for soup, salad or dessert.

Here's the latest lunchbox lowdown from each company:

Thermos Co.: The molded-plastic, square lunchbox is still the volume-seller, but two new styles are a Reusable Lunchbox System with compartments and containers inside to satisfy the environmentally conscious. There's also a smaller size Thermos Snak Kit. Purple is expected to be a big color this fall due to the popularity of Barney, but other hot sellers are red, blue, teal and pink.

Four license standards for Thermos are Barbie, Batman, the Turtles and Mermaid. Garfield is another go-getter at lunchtime, and Peanuts has been popular for the lunch bunch for 25 years. Thermos production manager Karen Swinforde said, "We don't turn our back on Snoopy."

The new blockbuster is, of course, "Jurassic Park," and Swinforde said it's doing very well.

Aladdin Industries: The new "Aladdin" lunchboxes of flying carpet-and-genie fame have glitter embedded in the plastic for that perfect fantasy touch.

Besides featuring the new movies "Snow White" and "Super Mario Bros.," best-sellers continue to be "Beauty and the Beast" and "101 Dalmatians."

Lunchbox lines are targeted for 3- to 8-year-olds, and the younger set still likes Sesame Street themes, and Mickey & Minnie.

Thermal bottles inside lunchboxes are also printed on the surface with licensed characters, unique to the Aladdin company. Soft-sided carry-alls also contain decorated thermal bottles. Aladdin marketing director Mike Schmmel says if kids eventually find it easier to buy cartons of milk or juice at school, the thermal bottles usually become toys. Colors? "Always red," he said, "and blue for boys, pink for girls."

Tupperware: The soft-sided Lunch'N Bag Set with two snap-lid containers (round and square) is 12 inches high with a fold-over Velcro closure. There's a $3 saving on the $12.95 purchase price until Sept. 4. Besides the bowl and square sandwich-keeper, Tupperware's Laurie P. Hall said there's also room for an apple.

"Kids like bright colors," she said, "so we have a bright royal purple."

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