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Sue me! the official mascot of the 2010 Olympic Games
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by ianivs | November 27, 2007 at 12:03 pm
3090 views | 7 Recommendations | 7 comments
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The mascots for the 2010 Vancouver Olympic and Paralympic Games were unveiled today in a 35-minute live show at the Bell Centre for Performing Arts in Surrey, B.C.
There are three mascots and one sidekick:
- Miga -- a snowboarding sea-bear inspired by the First Nations'
legends of the Pacific Northwest. Miga, described as mischievous and
outgoing, is part sea-bear and part orca whale. - Quatchi -- a shy and gentle Sasquatch with a long brown beard and
blue earmuffs meant to conjure the mystery and wonder associated with
the Canada's wilderness. - Sumi -- an animal guardian spirit, who flies with the wings of the
thunderbird, is described as "a natural born leader with a passion for
protecting the environment." - Mukmuk -- a Vancouver Island marmot sidekick considered an honorary member of the mascot team.
A video introduction to these characters is available in the official 2010 Olympics website.
I've been talking to a few friends and their reactions have been mixed. Some of the comments I've heard are:
- Sumi sounds like "Sue Me!"
- They look like Japanase cartoon characters
- Quatchi reminds me of the Kokanee Sasquatch
- A fat sasquatch, a one-eyed teddy and a green alien looking thing!
- looks like they were designed by a big committee and crammed all the ideas in, and rejected none
What do you think?
Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (7)
at 12:18 on November 27th, 2007
ianivs, thanks for posting this. I have to agree with the "all the ideas" assertion--that's what it looks like to me, too. They're kinda cute, but also completely ridiculous. I wonder how many people were making full-time salaries thinking this stuff up?
at 12:45 on November 27th, 2007
Has there ever been an Olympic mascot that would make you proud of your country?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympic_symbols#List_of_mascots
Even the classy 1976 Montreal mascot of Amik, the beaver got flack for "resembling a derogatory hand gesture".
http://ambassadors.net/archives/issue18/opinions2.htm
I also just noticed: the 2008 Chinese mascots have had a name change from the Friendlies to the Fuwa (Good-luck-dolls).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuwa
Goodness gracious; they've even got their own 100-episode Olympic-themed cartoon series!
at 13:05 on November 27th, 2007
Thanks for posting, ianivs. We must have been working on similar posts simultaneously...I wonder what people will think about these olympic critters?
at 15:49 on November 27th, 2007
I like Quatchi the best. He definitely conjures the wonder and mystery associated with Canadian wilderness.
at 16:49 on November 27th, 2007
What cracks me up is how many of them there are. The fact that there are three, and that they are all hybrids of at least two things, means that there is are a minimum 6 characters/references stuffed into them. Plus the sidekick. Although perhaps this manifold approach makes it easier to enliven a 100 episode cartoon series.
at 04:08 on November 28th, 2007
To be honest, I'm quite happy with the result here. We have some visually appealing, memorable characters that all have good ties to British Columbia. When people criticize these mascots, I often wonder what they would choose, if given the chance. Given some of the mascots in the past (Izzy, the...spring and the Mascots from Torino, a snowball and an icecube) I think we came out far ahead.
at 05:03 on November 28th, 2007
Yeah, I'm thinkin' Kokanee sasquatch. Kokanee is a British Columba-based macrobrewery, sorta like a Canadian Budweiser. I sort of like Sumi, only because I don't know what he/she/it is supposed to be.