London mascots make Izzy look good
Whatever else the London Olympics accomplish, Atlantans should be grateful for one thing: moving our 1996 mascot Izzy down on the list of most bizarre Olympic mascots.
The Atlanta mascot Izzy was considered strange at the time.
Some have described Wenlock and Mandeville as Orwellian.
But now come the London mascots — there are two of them — Wenlock and Mandeville, whose strange appearance makes Izzy look rather conventional.
Londoners and visitors are apparently not enamored of the pair, the AP reports.
Since they were selected as the official mascots back in 2009, detractors have had a field day with the pair, questioning how faceless monsters fashioned out of “drops of steel” — the duo’s creation story — won out over 100 other designs by artists and agencies.
“It’s not so friendly,” said Jenny Zhang, looking at a Wenlock while in London from China for business. “We don’t see a smiling face, it’s not a friendly eye. It’s just watching you.”
Their watchful eyes — described in many forums as toy versions of London’s omnipresent CCTV lenses — seem to have caused the most discomfort, drawing Orwellian comparisons and references to surveillance states. Wenlock figurines in police gear have come under fire from dozens of online commenters decrying the “fascist playthings” and “totalitarian toys.”
Actor Ewan McGregor tweeted his disappointment after seeing plastic mascot statutes in London’s Regents Park: “With this country’s artistic heritage this one eyed joke made me sad.”
But at least the mascots’ names, unlike Izzy, bear some relevance to the Olympics.
Wenlock was named after the Shropshire town of Much Wenlock, which helped inspire Pierre de Coubertin to found the modern Olympics; Mandeville is named for Stoke Mandeville, the town where the Paralympics began.
The pair are likely to be featured in some form Friday during the Opening Ceremony, with an estimated television audience of 4 billion watching. And if the critics are right, this time the mascots may be watching back.
What are your memories of Izzy and the Atlanta Olympics — good, bad, or in the words of Juan Antonio Samaranch, “exceptional?”
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71 comments Add your comment
Joe Mama
July 25th, 2012
12:11 pm
El Whoppo — “0311, I’ve been telling these dunces about the UN treaty being discussed for a week and they refuse to admit its happening.”
I believe the worst one was a two-legged lump of Shepherds’ Pie, wearing a crown and waving a Union Jack.
Fred
July 25th, 2012
12:50 pm
People said a lot of things about Atlanta some of which were valid but most were not. The Atlanta Olympics had the most countries and most athletes of any at the time. The Atlanta Olympics pioneered the concept of the “Olympic Ring” where most venues were clustered together. Until that time, the venues were spread all over creating issues for people to get from one to another. Say what you will about the “Bubba Games” but the sponsorships and advertising kept the Games in the black without massive infusions of public money. I know public money was spent for some infrastructure upgrades but they mostly needed doing anyway. The Atlanta Games left a legacy of amateur sports in Atlanta/GA that exists to this day – check out the Ga Games. We are still hosting amateur athletic competitions in Olympic sports. That is something *no* other games has accomplished. Most of the venues from the Atlanta Games are still in use unless they were specifically designed to be temporary. Check out the stories on the Beijing Games and how so many of the venues are vacant or torn down.
JT
July 25th, 2012
12:56 pm
Whatever happened to Colin Campbell?
mic-man
July 25th, 2012
1:17 pm
Correct me if I’m wrong, but as I recall, Izzy all but disappeared once the 1996 games started. I remember Izzy being marketed before the games, even a cartoon show, but once the games started, he was gone. I don’t remember him on any of the TV coverage or very much at all around town including Centinneal Park.
JSM
July 25th, 2012
1:39 pm
Toinuhfish: You buy, i’ll fly! But ya, its about the mascot and how hung up some people are over something that no one outside Atlanta remembers. But i do love the stories of the people that were here and enjoyed it
GaPeach
July 25th, 2012
1:49 pm
@darren, it wasn’t our Olympic torch that looked like McDonald’s french fry box. It was our “Caldron.” But, I agree with you. That was and still is the uggliest caldron every built. It made Izzy look beautiful! We still have to see that ugly thing everytime we go to a Braves game.
N.Y.M.
July 25th, 2012
2:30 pm
I just remember the joke about the blue line painted down the streets where the marathoners ran. A few months after the games someone asked what that was.
“Where Izzy dragged his a$$ out of town!”
Kar
July 25th, 2012
2:34 pm
I preferred to think of the blue line as where Izzy marked his territory.
Jose Benzaca
July 25th, 2012
2:39 pm
I always thought the name of the mascot was “What it iz”
oneSTARman
July 25th, 2012
3:18 pm
Truly Hideous and Psychotic Looking
Let's Be Real
July 25th, 2012
3:34 pm
Wenlock and Mandeville are no uglier than the average British person.
At least the artists had the foresight not to include mouths with crooked teeth.
R U Kidding
July 25th, 2012
9:20 pm
Is it Wenlock or Mandeville that has the pee stain?
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Reverie
July 26th, 2012
1:35 pm
I was at the ‘88 Seoul Olympics and the ‘96 Atlanta Olympics. While Izzy was less appealing than Hodori, the experience in Atlanta was way, way, way better. Like a few people have said, who remembers the mascots?
Personally, I think that the press had it in their mind that there was simply nothing that could top the LA Olympics in the US and all they could do was compare the two. While Atlanta busted our collective humps to make it a success, the LA Olympics had greater corporate and government involvement, more existing infrastructure, and a town that could absorb more visitors without stretching their resources. Only Beijing has been able to match or exceed the government involvement. London is in a nation that lives and breathes by their sensationalist newspapers so they are about to experience what we in Atlanta called “the full Juan Antonio” when they will find the complaints numerous, exaggerated, misplaced, anonymous, and the praise half-hearted and insincere. I am sure that Londoners are going out of their way to support this, sacraficing for the greater good, yet the press will concentrate on the problems, not the successes and show only the disgruntled. As far as I’m concerned their mascots are fine. If they bother you, don’t buy anything with their image. They are cartoon characters and plush toys, not representative of the people or the location. Caring about them is as useful as caring that poor old Wiley Coyote never gets to eat the Road Runner. Beep Beep.
Reverie
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July 26th, 2012
6:01 pm
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A.T.
July 27th, 2012
1:01 am
Coming from Virginia to visit Atlanta for the ‘96 Olympics was unforgettable. On this night 16 years ago, my folks and I went to see basketball between China and the home team USA. We went through Centennial Olympic Park and ended up getting split into 2 groups, but we still ended up safely back at the hotel. From where we left would become not so safe.
I was the last to wake up the next morning and noticed everyone else was watching the morning news. It felt uneasy to be split the night before, but I learned that others were truly unfortunate. I had been to places affected by terrorist acts, but those would come years after my visits.
On this day after the awful late-night attack, I saw flags lowered to half-mast. We went to see track, but rain fell hard before Gayle Devers’ ceremony could take place and we got out of there in a hurry. Couldn’t get a chance to hear the national anthem during this weekend stay at the Games.
Much is being said about the security for this year’s Olympics. The day right after London learned back in 2005 it would be the host, the city’s famed Underground was hit in a way the I.R.A. wished it would’ve been credited for.
I also want to say that it feels odd to hear that the Summer Games are in the very well-known city of London. I kind of felt that way when the ‘96 Games took place in Atlanta, a city only about 6 hours away that I had already visited many times.
To me, London is already the first international city that comes to my mind and in many people’s minds. It feels like we’re hearing about the past (hosted twice before). I’ve had the privilege of being an intern there, but I’m so used to the idea of the Olympics being in a new city about every time that still many people, especially us Americans, haven’t heard about.
I’ll try to enjoy these Games taking place in a city that “rings a bell.” (no pun intended, seriously)
I’m already counting down to Rio.
Spud
July 27th, 2012
1:10 am
I thought our mascot was originally called “Whatthehellizit!”
Bryn
July 27th, 2012
8:34 am
Everyone else might not, but I love Mandeville and Wenlock! You guys are all looking at the down side of this! Think Possitive about them for once. They are:
-Creative
-Unique
-cool
-robotic
So come on guys! Look on the bright side! And no offense to the Atlantians, but I don’t think Izzy is better than Wenlock and Mandeville.
ltown
July 28th, 2012
4:51 am
atlanta olympics–one of the worst organized in history, filled with gaffes, screwups, the bombing, … embarrassing
David
July 29th, 2012
12:43 pm
So excited for the olympic games. No better event in sports.
Mickey
July 29th, 2012
2:53 pm
Opening ceremonies were pretty cool. Tough to top Beijing, but the Chinese had a huge advantage in being able to contract inexpensive workers. London would have had to spend a fortune to put on the same show. Surprised they left out Elton John in their tribute to British musicians. Seemed to be intentional to me to leave him out. Wonder why…