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London 2012 Olympic Mascots

Comments 14 by Rebecca Bollwitt
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The mascots for the London 2012 Olympic Summer Games have been revealed and coming fresh off a Quatchi-high in Vancouver, I can’t help but compare.


© Locog – posted by Mandeville

The Vancouver 2010 mascots were revealed in 2007 as Sumi, Quatchi, Miga and their unofficial sidekick Mukmuk appeared in a West coast inspired cartoon introduction. The London 2012 mascots have been presented with a similar way, with a full background story about the chosen pair, Wenlock and Mandeville. They came from the molten steel in Bolton that was used to build the Olympic stadium and were lovingly hand-crafted for two lucky children. They then sprung to life thanks to a magical rainbow and are now blogging up a storm.

From Roger Mosey’s BBC blog:

Now the mascots feel the need to be in London for 2012 – and the creative teams are working on the journey they’ll make to be there in time for the Games. As I’ve said before, the mascots are entirely owned by the London Organizing Committee (Locog). But we’ve been aware for some time of what was being planned and – if creatures made from steel can be said to evolve – we’ve followed their evolution. So do I have a view on them? Well, in this case it’s irrelevant what I think. The judges are the people of Britain and beyond.


Matt Dunham/AP Photo

Miga, Quatchi, and Sumi made it across the province, were the highlight of the Olympics for some, and wound up in some pretty interesting places around town. In fact 42% of my readers said the mascots were their favourite symbols of the Vancouver 2010 Games.

I’m curious to see how the one-eyed Wenlock and Mandeville will be accepted but for now, I can follow both on their official Twitter accounts (@iammandeville @iamwenlock) to see what they get into leading up to 2012.

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14 Comments  —  Comments Are Closed

  1. MarkWednesday, May 19th, 2010 — 1:10pm PDT

    …And I though the Vancouver Olympic Mascots sucked! my ohh my…

  2. JeanWednesday, May 19th, 2010 — 1:21pm PDT

    hmmmm…. Mike Wazowski?!? Maybe it’s just me… but anyone else see a similarity?
    http://l.yimg.com/eb/ymv/us/img/hv/photo/movie_pix/walt_disney/monsters__inc_/mike2.jpg

  3. Alan CWednesday, May 19th, 2010 — 1:34pm PDT

    No no… more like Kang and Kodos from the Simpsons!

    http://languageandlit.com/images/wowkangkodos.gif

  4. AlisaWednesday, May 19th, 2010 — 5:45pm PDT

    It’s pretty tough to top Quatchi.

  5. K8ieWednesday, May 19th, 2010 — 6:26pm PDT

    Holy! Those things are gross.. but maybe I’m biased because I am in love with Quatchi.

  6. LyndseyWednesday, May 19th, 2010 — 6:45pm PDT

    Holy cyclopses..erm.. cyclopsi?? uh…whatever, completely bizarre. Too cartoony.When think of molten steel, i think strength…i almost picture a silhouette like liquid mercury…kinda like an Oscar, but more Terminatorish..haha

  7. DaleThursday, May 20th, 2010 — 9:07am PDT

    They look like they’ve been inspired from the Reboot (cartoon series) binome sprites: http://reboot.wikia.com/wiki/Binome

  8. Peter MorganThursday, May 20th, 2010 — 3:52pm PDT

    Don’t like them? It doesn’t matter, because they’re not aimed at adults. Let me quote VANOC’s vice-president of Communications, Renee Smith-Valade, when asked about the development of VANOC’s mascots: “Those little characters became near and dear to a lot of people’s hearts, but it was no surprise to us, because we had tirelessly focus-tested them. They had been in development for about a year, and had gone through many iterations. We had tested them in Seattle, Vancouver, Montreal and Calgary. We knew they were going to be a hit, because kids loved them in focus-testing. And when kids love them, generally the parents do too. We did hear from some of the adults after the launch who said, ‘I’m not sure if I like them.’ It actually didn’t matter.”

  9. Mom604Friday, May 21st, 2010 — 10:50am PDT

    I have never heard of anything more rediculous! Kids may like them, but as Olymic mascots? Should they not at least represent the host country in some way? Better to have fish and chips as a mascot. Kids like them, too. I don’t know any adult that I have talked to yet who says they will buy anything with these hideous creatures on them just because their kids may like them.

  10. Mort-yFriday, May 21st, 2010 — 11:03am PDT

    Why is is so important for kis to like these? Aren’t the audults the ones paying for the Olymics?

  11. LiliaSaturday, May 22nd, 2010 — 9:19am PDT

    I think they not bad at all!

  12. AndrewMonday, May 24th, 2010 — 7:42pm PDT

    Kang and Kodos – from the Simpsons was the very first thing that I thought of. If these mascots invite you to dinner, RUN!

  13. awuWednesday, June 2nd, 2010 — 11:47pm PDT

    These are by FAR the most ugliest mascots I’ve ever seen, I even made a video on how bad they are… seriously…

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HxHN8d5RR4

    For real though, OUR vancouver mascots were so cute, these are just scary

  14. awuWednesday, June 2nd, 2010 — 11:52pm PDT

    crap, sorry. didn’t mean to triple post. =(

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