Wenlock and Mandeville

Wenlock and Mandeville

2012 Summer Olympics
Bid process Bid details Announcements and developments Venues Torch Relay Paralympics Mascots Medal table (medalists) Opening ceremony (flag bearers) Closing ceremony
IOC • BOA • LOCOG

2012 Summer Paralympics
Bid process Bid details Announcements and developments Mascot Venues Torch relay Olympics
IPC • BPA • LOCOG

Wenlock and Mandeville are the official mascots for the 2012 Summer Olympics and Paralympics being held in London, United Kingdom.^[1]

The mascots were unveiled on 19 May 2010;^[2] this marks the second time (after Vancouver's Miga, Quatchi, Sumi and Mukmuk) that both Olympic and Paralympic mascots were unveiled at the same time. The mascots were created and designed by iris, a London-based creative agency.^[1][3] Wenlock and Mandeville are animations depicting two drops of steel from a steelworks in Bolton.^[2] They are named after the Shropshire town of Much Wenlock, which held a forerunner of the current Olympic Games, and Stoke Mandeville Hospital, a facility in Buckinghamshire that initially organised the Stoke Mandeville Games, the precursor of the Paralympic Games.^[2]

Character appearances

London Assembly Baroness Dee Doocey raised the issue of the London Organising Committee charging for appearances of the characters; she was formerly the chair of the committee that oversees the London Olympics. Doocey suggested only the richest of schools would be able to afford the appearances. Appearances are £850 for the two mascots to appear at a community event or multi-school sports day, rising to £1,720 for events requiring an overnight stay, and £2,450 for a trip to Scotland or Ireland. The fee covers the performer, cohort, van hire, and accident liability insurance. LOGOC insist they only charge the appearance cost, nothing more. LOGOC does issue some free appearances to schools demonstrating a commitment to the games, but Doocey says that poorer schools are too busy with students to deal with the paperwork.^[4]

Characteristics

The two are the world’s first customisable mascots.^{[clarification needed]} According to the associated (fictional) storyline, they were formed from the last girder 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. They have cameras for eyes filming all of their adventures and London taxi headlights with the first letter of their name “W” for Wenlock and “M” for Mandeville.

Wenlock

Wenlock’s name is inspired by Much Wenlock in Shropshire, England, where the Wenlock Olympian Society held its first Olympian Games in 1850, regarded as an inspiration for the modern Olympic games. He has five friendship bracelets on his wrist. Each bracelet takes the colour of an Olympic ring. The three points on his head represent the three places on the podium. The pattern on his body with the logo of the games symbolises the whole world coming to London in 2012. The shape on the front of his head represents the shape of the Olympic stadium roof. In the run-up to the games Wenlock hopes to make as many friends as possible and always looks on the bright side of life.

Mandeville

Mandeville’s name comes from Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, England which held The Stoke Mandeville Games, the inspiration for the Paralympics. Mandeville wears a pink stopwatch on his wrist which on models reads 0:20:12. His helmet-like head with three points coloured blue, red and green represents the agitos, the Paralympic Symbol.

Comic Strip

They appeared in The Beano in issue 3601, and the strip, drawn by Nigel Parkinson, will continue until the Olympics begin, in August 2012.^{[citation needed]}

Animated shorts

The British children’s writer Michael Morpurgo 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;^[5][6][7] it is intended that this will form part of an ongoing series concerning the mascots in the run-up to the games.^[2]

"Adventures on a Rainbow", a sequel to "Out of a Rainbow", was released on 1st March 2011. This episode to their story was publicised on the mascot's Twitter and Facebook pages as well as their website. The video featured guest appearances from Olympic athletes: Phillips Idowu, Shanaze Reade and Tom Daley as well as Paralympic athletes: Ellie Simmonds and Mandip Sehmi.^[8][9]

"Out of a Rainbow"

At the steelworks in Bolton they are finishing building the last girder for the Olympic stadium. Two drops fall out of the molten-steel, and once cooled are picked up by a man named George. The day happens to be George’s retirement day so he signs the finished girder and cycles home. He gets home to his wife and grandchildren as they give him his retirement cake. Later when everyone else is asleep he decides to make a gift for his grandchildren out of the steel drops. The next day George and his wife give their grandchildren the steel Wenlock and Mandeville. The two children take the mascots up to the attic and place them on the windowsill when a rainbow forms going through the house. The rainbow brings Wenlock and Mandeville to colour and to life where they learn sports from the children, posters and the TV. Wenlock and Mandeville realise their names from books and trophies before leaving on the rainbow. The story ends with: “And then suddenly the rainbow is back. Wenlock and Mandeville know that it’s time to go: their journey has just begun: so many adventures to have, so many people to tell. But they will meet again; in London, in 2012. They’ll be there, You’ll be there, the whole world will be there.”

"Adventures on a Rainbow"

The story starts in Bolton where the last steel girder of the Olympic Stadium is being transported to London. The two children make their way up to the attic, the two look out the window to see a rainbow form by their house in which Mandeville is travelling on, he sends a text message to one of the children's phones. Mandeville then arrives at Stoke Mandeville stadium and meets members of the Great Britain National Wheelchair Rugby team in which he witnessed a match from Mandip Sehmi's lap. Mandeville then goes swimming with Ellie Simmonds during a training session. Afterwards George and his family are seen on a bike ride when they meet Shanaze Reade the family then try some BMX themselves. The lorry carrying the girder is travelling along a road near Much Wenlock. Wenlock in his spiritual hometown watches the Wenlock Olympian Games and Phillips Idowu in the triple jump. Wenlock then takes part in the 110m Hurdles, he successfully jumps the first hurdle however his fellow competitor trips over the hurdle, Wenlock gives up his race time to help the athlete. Wenlock travels on the rainbow to a community pool where George and his family are swimming. Tom Daley is preparing for a dive on the platform while Wenlock joins him as everyone in the pool witnesses their successful dive. The video ends with: "Wenlock and Mandeville are on their magical adventure, the twins will be looking out for them whenever they see a rainbow, and you can do the same, you'll see them again, we all will; the whole world will see them in London, in 2012."

Reception

In response to their launch the UKs leading design publication Creative Review had this to say "Both are clearly of the digital age. And we have to say, we think they look rather good...".^[10] In other quarters their design has been greeted with some disdain. One columnist theorised that the pair were the product of a "drunken one-night stand between a Teletubby and a Dalek".^[11] Others have compared the mascots to Izzy, the mascot of the 1996 Summer Olympics, another critically panned mascot.^[12] However it has been reported that children of the target audience (5 to 15 years) find the duo enjoyable.^[13]

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Gibson, Owen (19 May 2010). "London Olympics 2012: Meet Wenlock and Mandeville, drips off the old block". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/may/19/london-olympics-2012-mascot. Retrieved 20 May 2010. 
2. ^ ^{a b c d} "London 2012 unveils Games mascots Wenlock & Mandeville". BBC News. 19 May 2010. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/olympic_games/london_2012/8690467.stm. Retrieved 19 May 2010. 
3. ^ iris worldwide | London 2012 Mascots
4. ^ Eccles, Louise; Martin Robinson (29 July 2011). "Outrage at £850 fee for Olympic mascots to visit your school Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2020354/London-2012-Olympics-Outrage-850-fee-mascots-visit-school.html#ixzz1TeAQD6AV". Daily Mail (London UK). http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2020354/London-2012-Olympics-Outrage-850-fee-mascots-visit-school.html. Retrieved 31 July 2011. 
5. ^ "The London 2012 mascots". London 2012. 19 May 2010. http://www.ourlondon2012.com/mascots/. Retrieved 20 May 2010. ^{[dead link]}
6. ^ Crystal CG animates London 2012 Mascots | Crystal CG
7. ^ Organisation | Crystal CG
8. ^ London 2012 Mascots - 'Adventures on a Rainbow' - Wenlock and Mandeville! - YouTube
9. ^ http://www.london2012.com/news/2011/03/tom-daley-stars-in-new-london-2012-mascot-film.php
10. ^ Creative Review - Wenlock & Mandeville: London's Olympic mascots
11. ^ "Behold the One-Eyed Compromise Monster", Globe and Mail, May 21, 2010
12. ^ Atlanta's Olympic mascot meets its ugly match | ajc.com
13. ^ Interview: London 2012 Olympic mascots' creator discusses their design - News - Digital Arts

External links

• The London 2012 mascots

Preceded by Miga, Quatchi and Mukmuk	Olympic mascot Wenlock London 2012	Succeeded by Polar Bear, Hare, Leopard
Preceded by Sumi and Mukmuk	Paralympic mascot Mandeville London 2012	Succeeded by Ray of Light, Snowflake