Wenlock is the official mascot for the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, th ...

, and Mandeville is the official mascot for the

2012 Summer Paralympics The 2012 Summer Paralympics, branded as the London 2012 Paralympic Games, were an international multi-sport parasports event held from 29 August to 9 September 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. They were the 14th Summer Paralympic Ga ...

, both held in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

. Named after

Much Wenlock Much Wenlock is a market town and parish in Shropshire, England, situated on the A458 road between Shrewsbury and Bridgnorth. Nearby, to the northeast, is the Ironbridge Gorge, and the new town of Telford. The civil parish includes the villa ...

and

Stoke Mandeville Stoke Mandeville is a village and civil parish in the Vale of Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire, England. It is located three miles (4.9 km) from Aylesbury and 3.4 miles (5.5 km) from the market town of Wendover. Although a separate civil ...

, they were created by Iris, a London-based creative agency. The mascots were unveiled on 19 May 2010, marking the second time (after

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. ...

Miga, Quatchi, Sumi and Mukmuk Miga and Quatchi are the official mascots of the 2010 Winter Olympics, Sumi is the official mascot of the 2010 Winter Paralympics, and Mukmuk is their designated "sidekick" for both games, held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The four ...

) that both Olympic and Paralympic mascots were unveiled at the same time.

Characteristics

According to the associated (fictional) storyline by

Michael Morpurgo Sir Michael Andrew Bridge Morpurgo (''né'' Bridge; 5 October 1943) is an English book author, poet, playwright, and librettist who is known best for children's novels such as '' War Horse'' (1982). His work is noted for its "magical storytelli ...

, they were formed from the last

girder A girder () is a support beam used in construction. It is the main horizontal support of a structure which supports smaller beams. Girders often have an I-beam cross section composed of two load-bearing ''flanges'' separated by a stabilizin ...

of the Olympic Stadium. Their skins are made of highly polished steel allowing them to reflect the personalities and appearances of the people they meet. Their one eye is a camera and on their heads are yellow lights symbolizing those of a

London Taxi A hackney or hackney carriage (also called a cab, black cab, hack or London taxi) is a carriage or car for hire. A hackney of a more expensive or high class was called a remise. A symbol of London and Britain, the black taxi is a common s ...

Wenlock

Wenlock's name is inspired by

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to ...

, England, where in 1850 the

Wenlock Olympian Society The Wenlock Olympian Games, dating from 1850, are a forerunner of the modern Olympic Games. They are organised by the Wenlock Olympian Society (WOS), and are held each year at venues across Shropshire, England, centred on the little market town o ...

held its first Olympian Games, regarded as an inspiration for the modern Olympic games. The five friendship rings on his wrists correspond to the five Olympic rings, and three points on his head represent the three places on the podium. The pattern on his body symbolises the whole world coming to London, and the shape of his helmet represents the shape of the Olympic Stadium.

Mandeville

Mandeville is named after Stoke Mandeville Hospital in

Aylesbury Aylesbury ( ) is the county town of Buckinghamshire, South East England. It is home to the Roald Dahl Children's Gallery, David Tugwell`s house on Watermead and the Waterside Theatre. It is in central Buckinghamshire, midway between High Wy ...

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-e ...

. In 1948, Stoke Mandeville Hospital organised the first Stoke Mandeville Games, considered to be the precursor to the

Paralympics The Paralympic Games or Paralympics, also known as the ''Games of the Paralympiad'', is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of physical disabilities, including impaired muscle power and impaired ...

. The three spikes on Mandeville's helmet represent the Paralympic Agitos. He also represents friendship.

Animated shorts

The British children book writer

wrote the story concept to go with Wenlock and Mandeville and an animation titled “Out of a Rainbow” was produced by the London office of Beijing-based Crystal CG. This was followed by a sequel, "Adventures on a Rainbow", which was released on 1 March 2011. The video featured guest appearances from Olympic athletes:

Phillips Idowu Phillips Olaosebikan Idowu, (born 30 December 1978) is a British athlete who specialises in the triple jump. He is a former World Outdoor and Indoor, European Outdoor and Indoor, and Commonwealth triple jump champion. He was also a silver med ...

Shanaze Reade Shanaze Danielle Reade (born 23 September 1988 in Crewe, Cheshire, United Kingdom) is a British former bicycle motocross (BMX) racer and track cyclist whose prime competitive years began in 2002. She has won the UCI BMX World Championships thr ...

and Tom Daley as well as Paralympic athletes:

Ellie Simmonds Eleanor May Simmonds, OBE (born 11 November 1994) is a British former Paralympian swimmer who competed in S6 events. She came to national attention when she competed in the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing, winning two gold medals for Gre ...

and

Mandip Sehmi Mandip Sehmi (born 13 December 1980) is a British wheelchair rugby player. He was part of the Great Britain national wheelchair rugby team that came in 4th place at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing, China. He has three gold medals from th ...

. These were followed by "Rainbow Rescue" (5 December 2011) and "Rainbow to the Games" (28 May 2012). The music for the animated films series was scored by British composer Thomas Hewitt Jones. The official theme song, "On a Rainbow", was written by

McFly McFly are an English pop rock band formed in London in 2003. The band took their name from the '' Back to the Future'' character Marty McFly. The band consists of Tom Fletcher (lead vocals, guitar, and piano), Danny Jones (lead vocals, har ...

Tom Fletcher Thomas Michael Fletcher (born 17 July 1985) is an English singer, musician, songwriter, composer, author and vlogger. He is one of the lead vocalists and rhythm guitarist of English pop rock band McFly, in addition to being the group's founder ...

Comic strip

The mascots featured in an Olympic-themed comic strip in ''

The Beano ''The Beano'' (formerly ''The Beano Comic'', also known as ''Beano'') is a British anthology comic magazine created by Scottish publishing company DC Thomson. Its first issue was published on 30 July 1938, and it became the world's longest-run ...

'', starting in issue 3601. The strip, written by Ryan C. Gavan and drawn by Nigel Parkinson, ran until the Olympics began in July 2012.

Reception

The mascots received mixed reviews. '' Creative Review'' said "Both are clearly of the digital age. And we have to say, we think they look rather good". However, others were more critical, with one columnist claiming that the pair were the product of a "drunken

one-night stand A one-night stand or one-night sex is a single sexual encounter in which there is an expectation that there shall be no further relations between the sexual participants. It draws its name from the common practice of a one-night stand, a single ...

between a Teletubby and a

Dalek The Daleks ( ) are a fictional extraterrestrials in fiction, extraterrestrial race of mutants principally portrayed in the British science fiction on television, science fiction television programme ''Doctor Who''. They were conceived by write ...

". Others have compared the mascots to

Izzy Izzy is a common nickname for the given names Israel,Isaac, Isambard, Isidor, Isidore, Isidora, Isabel, Isobel, Isabelle, Isabella, Isaiah, Ishmael, Izzet, Isarn, Ismail, Isra, Izebel, Izmara, Isobelle, Isaura or Isam (عصام). Izzy, Izzi ...

, the mascot of the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

, another critically panned mascot. Still others have remarked that the pair resemble

Kang and Kodos Kang and Kodos Johnson are a duo of fictional recurring characters in the animated television series ''The Simpsons''. Kang is voiced by Harry Shearer and Kodos by Dan Castellaneta. They are green, perpetually drooling, octopus-like aliens from ...

from ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, ...

''. However it has been found that children of the target audience (5 to 15 years) find the duo appealing. Media critic James Bridle has observed that the characters' huge eyes make them fitting mascots for London, the most surveilled city on earth, with the highest ratio of CCTV cameras to inhabitants.HOLO Magazine, Volume 1. August 2013.

Character appearances

The mascots were available to make appearances at schools and community events around the host nation. The then Chair of the

London Assembly The London Assembly is a 25-member elected body, part of the Greater London Authority, that scrutinises the activities of the Mayor of London and has the power, with a two-thirds super-majority, to amend the Mayor's annual budget and to reject ...

Baroness

Dee Doocey Elizabeth Deirdre Doocey, Baroness Doocey, (née O'Keeffe; born 2 May 1948) is a British Liberal Democrat politician and businesswoman. A former chair of the London Assembly, she was created a life peer in 2010 and is now the inaugural chair o ...

raised the issue of the fees. She suggested only the "richest of schools" would be able to afford the appearances. Appearances were £850, rising to £1,720 for events requiring an overnight stay, and £2,450 for a trip to

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is #Descriptions, variously described as ...

. Although LOCOG insisted they only charged the Appearance fee, the fee actually covered the performers, cohort, van hire, and accident liability insurance.

References

External links

Rainbow Productions - Manufacturer of 2012 Olympic Mascots
* {{Olympic mascots 2012 Summer Olympics 2012 Summer Paralympics British culture English mascots Fictional characters who can move at superhuman speeds Fictional characters with metal abilities Fictional duos Fictional golems Fictional humanoids Fictional people from London Mascots introduced in 2010 Olympic mascots Paralympic mascots