You're probably looking for "prototypes" (not the Perl sense, but the rest of the world's sense) or "slot-based" objects. Perhaps Class::Prototyped would work for you? I have a brief introduction to them at one of my columns, and they're the basis for my CGI::Prototype, helping me to solve some of the odder problems with relative ease.

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update: To get you started, here's an example of your problem using Class::Prototyped:

use Class::Prototyped;
my $parent = Class::Prototyped->new(
  DATA => 'Daddy Data',
  info => sub {
    my $self = shift;
    print "Generic data: ", $self->reflect->class->DATA, "\n";
    print "My data: ", $self->DATA, "\n";
  }
);
my @kids = map $parent->new(DATA => $_), qw(aa bb cc);
for (@kids) {
  $_->info;
}
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