Olympic mascots

Bah, the first part of the post got fucked up. Description of the current ones:

Like the Five Olympic Rings from which they draw their color and inspiration, Fuwa will serve as the Official Mascots of Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, carrying a message of friendship and peace -- and good wishes from China -- to children all over the world.

Designed to express the playful qualities of five little children who form an intimate circle of friends, Fuwa also embody the natural characteristics of four of China's most popular animals -- the Fish, the Panda, the Tibetan Antelope, the Swallow -- and the Olympic Flame.

Each of Fuwa has a rhyming two-syllable name -- a traditional way of expressing affection for children in China. Beibei is the Fish, Jingjing is the Panda, Huanhuan is the Olympic Flame, Yingying is the Tibetan Antelope and Nini is the Swallow.

When you put their names together -- Bei Jing Huan Ying Ni -- they say "Welcome to Beijing," offering a warm invitation that reflects the mission of Fuwa as young ambassadors for the Olympic Games.

Fuwa also embody both the landscape and the dreams and aspirations of people from every part of the vast country of China. In their origins and their headpieces, you can see the five elements of nature -- the sea, forest, fire, earth and sky -- all stylistically rendered in ways that represent the deep traditional influences of Chinese folk art and ornamentation.

And their page.

Meanwhile, the Vancouver mascots page:

http://www.vancouver2010.com/mascot/en/meet.php

I think the Chinese mascots look weird because their eyes are so low, almost lower than their mouths.

Where everything else about them is so normal?

the voices of the Vancouver ones are o_O

I like the baby sasquatch one!

I think the Chinese mascots look weird because their eyes are so low, almost lower than their mouths.

<^_^>

OMG A SASQUATCH

life is so awesome

The sasquatch appears to have a tattoo on his fur.

Why is this site playing Roxy Music????

I kind of dread what the London ones will be like. Do they get unveiled at the closing ceremony of this games?

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3235/2322240932_e466b99a49.jpg

I am very excited about the London one. it must be so great to get to design these.

http://blog.iso50.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/575561156-3d913dbd09-o-thumb.jpg

none of these bitches can touch motherfucking izzy

http://www.awn.com/mag/issue1.4/images/Izzy/izzy1.gif

you cannot fuck with Whatzit?

I kind of dread what the London ones will be like. Do they get unveiled at the closing ceremony of this games?

Based on past practice, yes.

We're just going to have Boris Johnston, aren't we? Hairy, cuddly, pointless.

Ah, there you go, the mascot's name will be Bojo.

Mascot racing should be an olympic sport:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/images/38284000/jpg/_38284233_mascot2.jpg

The first mascot I remember was Lake Placid 1980 -- Roni the raccoon:

http://images.beijing-2008.org/20070529/Img214083147.jpg

But that's a garbage doll, there's much better images where he's looking kinda pissed.

Garbage doll?

My vocabulary failed me. Just looks trashily dull.

http://koti.mbnet.fi/mupelo/springy.gif

the voices of the Vancouver ones are o_O
QUATCHI.

Quatchi is built to be a good goalie, at least.

The music was by Kid Koala! Which makes sense.

He likes all kinds of foods.

It turns out I had Roxy Music on iTunes, and then turned on the speakers, so they were already playing. Mistake solved.

That sea bear is really cuets but it's legend is kind of confusing to me. Because I am kind of dumb.

I like the smiling mushrooms in Stanley Park.

More on Miga:

The sea bear is inspired by the legends of the Pacific Northwest First Nations, tales of orca whales that transform into bears when they arrive on land. The Kermode bear is a rare white or cream-coloured sub-species of the black bear that is unique to the central West Coast of British Columbia. According to First Nations’ legend, Kermode bears — also known as Spirit Bears — were turned white by Raven to remind people of the Ice Age. Orcas are also honoured in the art and stories of West Coast First Nations, as travellers and guardians of the sea.

So there you go.

And meet the artists!

http://www.vancouver2010.com/mascot/en/meetvideo.php?vid=artists

i like these vancouver ones. that whole style of illustration doesn't seem very british/londony sadly. i thought they might get jamie hewlett to create something but his style isn't 'cute' enough really (nor simplistic enough). or maybe Aardman could've come up with something.

what is the London animal? the urban fox? the city dragon? the tower raven (people seem to avoid using birds)? the boring old lion?

the tower raven (people seem to avoid using birds)?

Maybe you people in EUROPE do.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/images/39279000/jpg/_39279045_la_mascot.jpg

Sarajevo had a good one that my friend Stripey reminded me about yesterday -- Vuchko the wolf:

http://www.sonika.ru/blog/wp-content/uploads/2006/03/1984W_mascot_b.jpg

london 2012 mascot should be an anthropomorphic used condom wielding a machete

But what would be the name?

milliband

Resolved: adopt DG's suggestion above, or no?

Take the quiz: Which mascot are you?

It's getting more baroque this year. The mascots have a mascot:
http://www.2010vancouver.ca/mukmuk.jpg

His name is Mukmuk. These little videos they made are awesome.

hopefully these cute little guys won't be popping up out of their holes along the ski slopes. i forsee some accidents.

london 2012 mascot should be an anthropomorphic used condom wielding a machete

― DG, Wednesday, August 20, 2008 2:14 PM (1 year ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink
Delete Undelete Edit Ban/Thread Unban/Thread Ban User Info Yellow Card

But what would be the name?

― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, August 20, 2008 2:16 PM (1 year ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink
Delete Undelete Edit Ban/Thread Unban/Thread Ban User Info Yellow Card

milliband

― DG, Wednesday, August 20, 2008 2:16 PM (1 year ago)

So tempted to adopt milliband as a user name.

Meet the fifth mascot - Pedobear.

Not to be pedantic but MukMuk is really not properly to scale in that picture either.

"QUAAATCHI," again.

goddamn 4chan

why are theses Van Couver mascots manga style ?

oh btw I met in Izzy in 1996. Very frightening

met Izzy*

Since then a tasteless internet trend – or meme – has emerged in which users insert the bear into other photos in a contest to create the most inappropriate composite image.

This is a nicely written sentence. "The most inappropriate composite image" is a clear, short phrase for a dense idea.

btw my cheap parents bought us a lot of Izzy cereal for $1 a box from Big Lots back in the day.

I've been trying to get pictures of some of the unofficial local renderings of the mascots.

http://img690.imageshack.us/img690/9801/qsolympicpictures002.jpg

http://img186.imageshack.us/img186/2003/qsolympicpictures003.jpg

http://img251.imageshack.us/img251/2742/qsolympicpictures001.jpg

http://assets.nydailynews.com/img/2010/02/11/alg_olympics_lynx.jpg

^ Sumi's mother?

http://img269.imageshack.us/img269/5342/qsolympicpictures005.jpg

http://img46.imageshack.us/img46/8710/qsolympicpictures004.jpg

Hahah these are all great. More please!

One more for now. I'll put up more later.
http://img697.imageshack.us/img697/5757/qsolympicpictures022.jpg

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_8AQUw1IaBPI/R1BSuV3_91I/AAAAAAAACBI/-juRasHMwuU/s1600-R/mascot1.jpg

Did we already discuss the anti-mascots? Creepy the Cockroach and Itchy the Bedbug. they were brought out in Whistler for a protest - unfortunately, the tourists had no idea what was going on and ended up with souvenir photos next to a 6-foot bedbug.

Wenlock and Mandeville, ladies and gentlemen:

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs324.ash1/28361_431845163824_587678824_5345574_5623419_n.jpg

what the...?

Not quite sure what to say about one eyed nu-rave lobster people.

have a non-olympic mascot instead

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_wb8bAl1P-N0/S-1SloxHqFI/AAAAAAAAOjg/hAlZDS0QfVM/s1600/girbecco.jpg

It's Teletubbies for Martians...

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/47882000/jpg/_47882274_high-five!.jpg

"A great rainbow arcs over Bolton and over a steel works..."

disbelief unsuspended

http://www.london2012.com/mascots

Clearly they ran out of money and could only afford to do the animations on an old Video Toaster...
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/47882000/jpg/_47882274_high-five!.jpg

lol snap!

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/05/19/article-1279736-09A7F9E8000005DC-924_634x366.jpg

Are the camera eyes supposed to represent London's love of CCTV cameras?

I know Olympic mascots are terrifying in general, but what the hell

http://www.insidesocal.com/tv/cylone-figure_12.jpg

There should be more mascots like these:

http://yfrog.com/jpimg1741ij

Try again.
http://img709.imageshack.us/img709/3108/img1741i.jpg

Here's what happens when mascots turn nasty (the Inukshuk was the 2010 "logo" rather than the mascot - it's so complicated these days).

http://img261.imageshack.us/img261/9537/img1720t.jpg

Reminds me of the penis monsters from Spore.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPKvwd9vJZY

At one point here in Vancouver there was a protest in the name of conferring "full mascot status" on lil' Mukmuk, who's job description was just "sidekick".

http://img696.imageshack.us/img696/6985/26875326739192340612277.jpg

This one's for the ilx literary types, librarians etc:

http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/3963/img2406p.jpg

UR GONNA GET PULPED

I've got a ton of these:

http://img130.imageshack.us/img130/3254/23781392400736966658191.jpg

http://imgur.com/uOw2Z.jpg

They look better in black and white.

Why does Mandeville have such a big blue wet patch in his/her crotch area?

This wall of dissent was at the University Alma Mater Society office:
http://img42.imageshack.us/img42/6825/img1651pj.jpg

http://img697.imageshack.us/img697/476/27248333107757298501807.jpg

http://img594.imageshack.us/img594/4753/23917350012375548562060.jpg

Painted on the back of a van:
http://img19.imageshack.us/img19/6707/img1703z.jpg

More dissent, this time featuring a laboured pun and a clumsily deconstructed Inukshuk:
http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/2879/img1821b.jpg

No comment. Posted on Facebook:
http://img130.imageshack.us/img130/3787/23581101501579233551676.jpg

Hold on, the one who looks like he soiled himself is the Special Olympics one? Awesome.

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs324.ash1/28361_431845163824_587678824_5345574_5623419_n.jpg

london 2012 mascot should be an anthropomorphic used condom wielding a machete

― DG, Wednesday, 20 August 2008 15:14 (1 year ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

But what would be the name?

― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 20 August 2008 15:16 (1 year ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

milliband

― DG, Wednesday, 20 August 2008 15:16 (1 year ago) Bookmark

SOOO CLOSE.

when racist giant anthropomorphic bottle openers attack

http://philspector.files.wordpress.com/2007/09/residents.jpg

So anyway what's this Much Wenlock place I keep hearing about?

i achieve much wenlock

And who says the English can't be passionate.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Much_Wenlock

The town grew around an abbey or monastery founded around 680 by Merewalh, a son of King Penda of Mercia. King Penda installed his daughter Milburga as Abbess in 687. Milburga of Wenlock was credited with many miraculous works. The abbey flourished until around 874 when a Danish Viking attack occurred. In the 11th Century another religious house was built on the same site by Leofric, Earl of Mercia and Countess Godiva his wife. In the twelfth century this was replaced by a Cluniac priory, established by Roger de Montgomerie after the Norman Conquest, the ruins of which can still be seen and which is now in the hands of English Heritage. It prospered until the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1539.

Other architectural attractions include the sixteenth century Guildhall, many other historic buildings in the Early English style and an annual well dressing at St Milburga's Well on Barrow Street.The town was incorporated under the name of "Bailiff, Burgesses and Commonalty" by Edward IV in 1468 at the request of Sir John Wenlock, and "in consideration of the laudable services which the men of the town performed in assisting the king to gain possession of the crown," and the charter was confirmed in 1547 by Henry VIII and in 1631 by Charles I.

The town is known for Wenlock Olympian Games set up by Dr. William Penny Brookes in 1850. In 1861 he was also instrumental in setting up the Shropshire Games and later in 1866, the National Olympian Games. Dr. Brookes is credited as a founding father of the Modern Olympic Games, and meetings between William Penny Brookes and Baron Pierre de Coubertin took place at The Raven Hotel (as did the feast which concluded each year’s Olympian Games), and today in The Raven Hotel there are displayed many artefacts from those early years, including original letters from Baron Pierre de Coubertin to William Penny Brookes. The town's secondary school is named after William Penny Brookes. The Wenlock Olympian Games, a four-day event during the second weekend in July, are still contested in the town annually.

Dr. William Penny Brookes, BTW:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/15/W_P_Brookes.jpg

http://www.muchwenlockguide.info/

A medieval "black and white" English town that is a bit off the beaten track, but seriously worth a visit!

Surely it's named after the Wenlock Basin on the Regent's Canal?

mandeville as is stoke mandeville?

That's what this claims.

yeah, there's a "photo" on the official page that explains it - first para-olympic games in '48 at stoke mandeville. i liked the names, i like them more now it's obvious that there's been more thought put into them than into everything else combined. (although SM will always be associated with jimmy saville, which is bad)

like most olympics mascots these suck - too pixar-y and pretty charmless.

The mascots are two drips that are hard to tell apart for a country governed by two drips that are hard to tell apart?

Nice post by Diamond Geezer:

Hello, I'm Wembley, the official mascot for the London 2012 Olympic Games! My name is inspired by a north London suburb where the Games were held in 1948. Now it's got a really awful pitch, and is surrounded by a trading estate where you can buy carpets. The shape of the front of my head is based on the shape of a TV screen. My eye is a camera lens, capturing everything I see as I go. There's almost nothing I like more than making new friends, and then recording everything they do to use in evidence against them. I can't wait to meet as many people as possible in 2012, and then to check them all off against a visual database of known terrorists. I hope I'll not be ticking you off, and that you'll be my friend too?

Hi, I'm Westfield, the official mascot for the London 2012 Paralympic Games! My name is inspired by a west London shopping mall close to where the Games were held in 1908. Today the One Show is filmed on the actual site, but I'm named after the shops because the BBC couldn't offer as much money in sponsorship. My eye is a camera lens, capturing everything I see as I go. In my hands there are four carrier bags - recyclable of course. I'm on a mission to be the best I can possibly be. In fact I'm completely obsessed by trying to beat my personal best, and I get really depressed if I don't come top in everything. Because there's a moral to be learnt from the Olympics, which is that only three people get prizes and the other seven billion of us are all failures.

http://www.4thletter.net/seaguy/mickey.jpg

http://margetwain.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/kodos-kang-congress-steps-e0064_sml.jpg

If children ask where the small mascot dolls in the toy shop come from, will parents explain that they are babies, born out of Wenlock?

http://thebooksmugglers.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/human-beings1.jpg

http://img.global.ciscoeos.com/en/pro_thumbnails/locog/default-group/mascots-site-ugc-folder/2011/02/01/85e175b7-6227-4c97-9ea0-3021419a6c57_8.jpg

happy birthday (yesterday), wenlock and mandeville

http://res.heraldm.com/content/image/2018/02/05/20180205000896_0.jpg
Good job South Korea

https://ichef-1.bbci.co.uk/news/660/cpsprodpb/14CC6/production/_100209158_mascots.jpg
Japan you fucked up

I don’t think I saw the bear once on tv.

me neither

The bear is the Paralympics mascot.

That explains it.

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/71IDH4s1R8L._SY355_.jpg

We got Paris:

https://olympics.nbcsports.com/2022/11/14/paris-2024-olympic-paralympic-mascots/?utm_tags=oly4000

https://olympics.nbcsports.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/11/KIT-COM-1-MASCOTTE-DEF-EN-1920x1080-1.jpg?resize=1024,576