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Mascots unveiled for Vancouver Olympic Games
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CTV.ca News Staff
Date: Tue. Nov. 27 2007 9:40 PM ET
Inspired by British Columbia's iconic geography and aboriginal legends, organizers of the 2010 Vancouver Olympic and Paralympic Games have unveiled three mascots and an honorary sidekick.
They were presented during a 35-minute live show at the Bell Centre for Performing Arts in Surrey, B.C. on Tuesday, November 27.
They include:
- 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 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.
Quatchi and Miga will represent the Olympic Games while Sumi will represent the Paralympic Games.
More than 800 excited schoolchildren from eight different elementary schools were on hand for the announcement.
Some of them have already made up their minds when it comes to a favourite.
"Miga," said one little girl without hesitation, "because he's really cute and he's really small and he's one of my favourite animals."
VANOC head John Furlong told CTV News British Columbia that he watched the ceremony with a little girl who was in awe of the production.
"She just all of a sudden had this beaming smile across her face and it just made my day sitting there watching all that happen , watching how connected she felt with these characters," he said.
The new mascots were designed by Meomi Design based in Vancouver. The company -- headed by Vicki Wong in Vancouver and Michael Murphy in Los Angeles -- has created art for Google, Electronic Arts, Time Out Magazine and Girls, Inc.
Meomi was chosen by VANOC after an open call for professional artists and design companies to submit proposals on the 2010 website.
The mascots will appear in advertisements for the Games, official publications and websites, and will provide souvenir-minded Olympic fans with stuffed toys and other trinkets to take home.
They will also serve to "bring humour and light-hearted fun to the Games experience and help provide a warm welcome to athletes and visitors from around the world," the Vancouver Olympic Games website said ahead of the announcement.
The identities of the new mascots were a highly guarded secret ahead of the announcement. Speculation swirled as to what distinctly Canadian symbols would represent the Games -- a moose, maple leaf, hockey puck, beaver, etc.
Mascots can bring in millions of dollars in merchandising, leave a legacy of civic pride and provide a visual identity for the Games. VANOC hopes the mascots will bring in $600 million in sales.
"Traditionally the mascot has been about the country, it's been about the history, the culture, so there's a lot at stake there," Joy Jennison, a spokesperson with public relations firm Hill & Knowlton, told CTV British Columbia.
A bad mascot can leave Olympic fans cold, as did "Neve" the snowball and "Gliz" the ice cube during the 2006 Turin Games.
The first Canadian Olympic mascot, Montreal's beaver "Amik," was unveiled during the 1976 Games in Montreal. Calgary introduced the world to "Hidy" and "Howdy" in 1988, a pair of cowboy hat-wearing polar bears.
The first official Olympic mascot, "Waldi" the dachshund, was unveiled in 1972 at the Summer Games in Munich.
With a report from CTV British Columbia's Mike Killeen
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I fail to see just what a minister could learn by an on site visit that he couldn't get from people who are actual experts in the various fields of work involved. It is doubtful that he is any sort of nuclear engineer or expert in construction. Just another photo op...
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Amy
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Steve
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Manola
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Karen
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Lawrence
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Jay
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Original, unique and certainly recognizable. If the designers went with what some people seem to think would have been more appropriate, we would have been left with Olympic mascots that no one would be able to pick out of a bin full of the moose, beaver, mountie and bear toys found right now in ANY tourist store across Canada!!! Plus, these mascots certainly don't resemble the A&W Root-Bear, Coca-Cola Polar/Spirit Bears, or Fin (the Canucks' orca mascot) - thank goodness.
olympic fan
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Ruth
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Clansman
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Wendy
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Richard Murray
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They are OK if the kids really can feel the Olympic Sprit through these mascots.
Leo
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kat
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Dave m
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Before you chime in to try and sound smart by bashing this, watch this short!
Brilliant! Proud to be Canadian.
http://www.vancouver2010.com/mascot/en/meet.php
Maja
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However, my issue is with the branding of First Nations symbols. I know that mascots are created to sell merchandise, but it's too bad that it exploits First Nations icons, while the actual peoples may not benefit from it at all.
Neil Earl
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JH
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Kelly
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Lisa
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JF, Vancouver
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As cartooney/anime-ish as they look (is it me or is it hello kitty all over again?), if they could get a series of short animated TV spots or youtube shorts out to breathe some life into them then we're talking business.
Obviously, it's not gonna be a Simpsons, or South Park, or whatever. Still, it would be nice to get a backstory and some social dynamic with these characters.
The shorts could air from now (or after the writer's strike) 'til 2010.
For sure you'd get the advertising revenue and merchandising rolling, as well as a lasting legacy.
Eddie Van Walker
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Alison
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Chris
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I like that we are showing something new and different. People will learn something more about Canada when they see these mascots and I think that is important. And as for their look, well they are a lot better than some other mascots from other Olympics.
JNS
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Courtney C.
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D.Hutch
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Kev
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A Ng
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Very hip and modern, like something out of a indie vinyl toy shop or flash animation studio.
I'm SO glad there are no beavers, loons or moose. I know we use those a lot, but that's not my Canada. My Canada knows to look forward and be creative without using the same cliches.
By the way - Japanese? Chinese? Are you people curmudgeons? Cuteness isn't reserved for Asia anymore.
FionaF
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Bill A.
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Wanda
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Matt
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If they went with a sterotypical beaver, how would that break any sterotypes of Canada, which apparently the mascots were singlehandly supposed to do (according to the people posting here)
and finally, SETTLE DOWN THEY ARE JUST MASCOTS
Holly
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Bob Stittleson
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Namely the culture which exists in BC which leads many to psychedelic visions!
hiyoooo!
Steve
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D.H.
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*sighs* This is just sad… I think they need to reconsider these mascots ASAP!
MM
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Daniel
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scott
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Evan G
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Roch
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Tristan
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Ruth
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John K
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I thought. 'Yeah, there are going to be a lot of comments, regardless of what is chosen for a mascot.'
You can't get the whole country to agree on this any more than I can expect the nation to agree on what colour I should paint the walls of my house.
Let's face it though, mascots are, for the most part, meant to amuse children, and if the kids like these mascots, then they should suit just fine. Adults who think this is just so important that they need to loudly voice their complaints have got their priorities messed up.
M Beaubien
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Holy Pokemon, Batman! These are hideous anime montrosities. I thought the stone Inuckshuk dude was bad enough. Ugly, tacky, and embarrassing. It's bad enough that the world thinks we're a bunch of igloo-dwelling yokels who say "eh?" all time. A bear, orca or even a moose is better than this!
dalebot
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C Cutt
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MC
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xyz
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Davin
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Hannah
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Steven Rose
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Love the Aboriginal concepts behind these cute mascots though!
Mike
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Debra
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Frank
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Great Mascots
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Craig
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I think these were really well done, especially Quatchi. They are well drawn, friendly looking and well representative of Vancouver/Whistler. You people have to remember, these are Vancouver's games and the Olympic symbols are meant to represent the Host City, not the entire country.
Dave R
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Nicole
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Chris Migs
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Sure, I understand there's a large Asian community in Vancouver, but this is CANADA and having Olympic mascots that look like recycled Japanese cartoon characters is just plain pathetic.
Who approves this garbage?
Mark
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birms
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Amy
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lee
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Greg from Kitchener
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The world is laughing.
Leslie Ritchie
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M. Cameron
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Fiona
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MF
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Bill from Nova Scotia
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GP
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Jen
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Lisa
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Bryce
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Pete
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RP
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James
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Well, its good to know the strong Canadian atheletes will help us forget them when they light up the world with their performances. Go Canada Go!
Edb
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No wonder the civilized world thinks we're a bunch of backwoods rubes!
David
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RoseMac
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Tanya
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James W
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How about something that actually represents our country or province for that matter, instead we have a creature who has been argued even exists. I dont understand why we couldn't pick something more appealing to our country or the region.
To me, these give off the impression that our "mascots" were rushed and instead represent everything we are not
Mike Scanlan
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News Junkie
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Luca
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TR
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They may be nice graphics, but at first glance I would say they are more appropriate as characters in a Japanese comic-book than a symbolic figure for our proud nation's games.
Oh well, all we get to do is pay the bills not call the shots.
Denise
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Gita
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Farley
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MJ
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Clara C Robin Sheffe
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Krista
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richard Millie
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Alexis
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Maria Wall
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Jay
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S Hsu
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Worse yet, the Sasquatch reminds me of the Kokanee commercial and its appearance is nothing close to an agile, fit, competitive athlete.
Would it not have been more appropriate to choose an animal symbol from BC's many regions - especially those that are deemed in danger due to global warming or habitat destruction - if people embrace these animals in symbol, they may also embrace and protect them in real life.
I may be the only one oppose to the chosen mascots - I wish the final decision was not based on how many of these will be sold.
By the way, are these to be made in China?
Has an Canadian manufacturer been chosen?
What safety guidelines are now in place to protect the consumers if these are to be made overseas?
Jim S
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Bob Martin
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job
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CNN
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