CARTOON RABBIT FROM SIMI GETS THE JUMP ON DISASTERS.

Byline: Jesse Hiestand Daily News Staff Writer

Grabbit, a heroic cartoon rabbit who toughs out disasters with his skill and courage, is usually pictured fleeing from some calamity, his trusty survival pack in tow.

In real life, stuffed Grabbit dolls roll off the assembly line of a Simi Valley manufacturing company that was set to move into a new, 70,000-square-foot plant on Agate Court on Jan. 17, 1994 - the day the Northridge Earthquake hit.

The quake caused enough damage to delay the move for a year, but the company, It's All Greek to Me, bounced back - just as Grabbit would - and its 100 employees are now manufacturing some 1,000 designs of stuffed animals. Designers also are now putting the finishing touches on a growing number of products bearing the name and logo of the ``spokesanimal'' for emergency preparedness.

``He is a very competent rabbit character who always knows what to do no matter what Mother Nature or humankind throws at him, whether it's an earthquake, volcanic explosion, flood (or) brush fire,'' said Grabbit's creator, Lauren Joy Sand.

Since the earthquake, Sand and her partner, Thomas Nagel, have been building an industry around the resourceful rabbit, who is envisioned as a Smokey Bear for the '90s. Their goal is twofold.

Besides selling backpacks stuffed with actual survival gear, they are also marketing Grabbit dolls, toys and, beginning this spring, adventure books to make disaster preparedness a less traumatic topic for kids to contemplate and parents to teach.

``These days, kids have so many things to be scared of that it's almost overwhelming,'' Sand said. ``We found parents almost couldn't talk (to their children) about earthquakes or terrorist threats.''

Sand, a television producer, said she is also developing a cartoon show called ``Grabbit's Natural Adventures,'' in which the rabbit and his family struggle through various disasters.

Child development expert and toy consultant Stezanne Auerbach, a k a ``Dr. Toy,'' recently added Grabbit to her list of the 100 best educational toys for children.

``What Grabbit does is make parents more aware of the issues they should be dealing with to prepare their children for any eventuality,'' Auerbach said from her San Francisco office. ``Teaching a child how to deal with an accident or a problem that might come up gives them a feeling that they are not helpless.''

And no one would feel helpless with one of the stylish black Grabbit packs. They range from the smallish Grabbit for Kids, which holds a flashlight, whistle, emergency blanket and energy bar, to the adult-size Deluxe Grabbit, which adds a rope, dust mask, pocketknife and radio.

There is even a Grabbit for Pets with purified water, stainless-steel bowls and a plastic jar for Fido's favorite snack.

Sand said she insists on using only high-quality items in the packs, accounting for prices that start at $28 for a fanny-pack Grabbit to $196 for the deluxe version.

``What's the price of safety?'' said Los Angeles police Sgt. Paul Walters, who supervises police command posts during disasters.

``Anything you can do to prepare yourself is going to give you one step up on the next person who hasn't prepared. If that's a marketable item, then I think (Grabbit's creators) are doing a great job because it's getting people ready, and that's one less person for the city to worry about.''

Walters said he checked out the Grabbit packs at the city's annual Emergency Preparedness Fair in April and bought himself a Deluxe Grabbit.

The packs are also popular in the Hollywood movie community, where they are often given as gifts or taken on location, said Shon Halasi of Mixed Bag, a Redondo Beach company that provides equipment for movie productions.

``Movie guys are taking the larger (packs) with them on sets,'' he said, ``and large corporations are using them as earthquake kits.''

In fact, it was production work that gave Sand the inspiration for the product line.

``I travel a lot with my TV production company and always seem to be running into extremes on location - a hurricane on Hawaii, hotel fires in New York and London, a blizzard in Northern Ireland,'' she said.

``In order to keep from being afraid, I personally started packing little emergency packs - a flashlight, crackers, energy bars, bottled water. People used to tease me and say I was paranoid, but when something would happen I was the only one with Band-Aids or a flashlight.''

Sand kept adding items to her kit and built one for her father, a physician. Soon friends began to ask for them as well.

Realizing they had the makings of a successful business, Sand and Nagel, an architect, set up shop in a spare room of the house they share in Brentwood.

Sand said they researched the market, designed the Grabbit character and packs, and since January 1996 have been selling the packs, toys and travel accessories at gift shows, the Santa Monica headquarters of their company and on an Internet site (www.grabbit.com).

But Sand also hopes Grabbit gives children and adults something they can't buy - the cool head in an emergency that Grabbit personifies through a combination of preparedness and education.

``He has all the tools he needs in his backpack and instills confidence in people around him because he's ready,'' she said.

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PHOTO (color) Employees Cindy Hugues, left, and Dee Mazza display Grabbit dolls at It's All Greek to Me in Simi Valley.

Phil McCarten/Daily News