Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Quatchi Miga Sumi

Nope, it's not another language. Rather it's Japanese anime meets mythical forest creature meets First Nations artwork. Quatchi, Miga, and Sumi are the new mascots for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games. I can't figure out if I like them or not. They're cute, for sure. Miga is a sea bear (what? part orca whale, part Kermode spirit bear) who loves to surf and snowboard. Quatchi is a sasquatch who dreams of being a famous goalie. And Sumi is what? A Thunderbird, I think? With an orca hat? Drawn in Japanese anime?

It's definitely a mish mash of styles. But on the other hand, it probably represents Canada and the west coast better than I would first think. There IS a huge Asian influence here in Vancouver, and it is important to recognize First Nations cultures, too. It's kind of too bad that it's not a little bit more representative of more of the British Columbian population (as people also said about the Olympic Logo - which I like, by the way: it's friendly, fun, welcoming), but then again, how exactly would they do that? BC is so diverse already, they'd have to have a dozen or more mascots to do that.

I think I like them. They're a little over-the-top cutsie, but then they're marketed towards kids. They've each got personalities that have been created along with them - likes, dislikes, stories, dreams. You can click on any of the pictures to learn more about them. We'll be seeing much more of them in the years to come. May as well get to know them!



Quatchi....................................Miga....................................Sumi

And let's not forget the mascot's sidekick Mukmuk the marmot!

8 comments:

heather said...

huh. not sure what i think. they ARE cute. but are the olympic games supposed to be CUTE? what happened to competition, aggression, trash-talking? now we have bears and smiles and flowers. seems a bit soft to me. but they are cute.

Katrina said...

I like them! They are cute, recognizable, and far less annoying than the weird Whatizit (Izzy)character that represented the Olympics when they came to my hometown of Atlanta, Georgia. I'm giving them two thumbs up--especially that adorable sasquatch!

Melissa said...

Sumi is a guardian animal spirit with magic powers and is a combination of a whale, thunderbird and bear.

Quatchi is obvious ;)

Miga is a sea bear.

I also took the "which mascot are you like" quiz twice and got "miga." -Not sure why but ok.

karen said...

I like Mukmuk the best -- he seems to be the most Canadian of the bunch to me. :)

Anonymous said...
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Hillary said...

Thanks for commenting, Me, but keep it clean. I've delted your comment.

nachtwache said...

Did "me" not like the mascots? I agree, Mukmuk looks the most Canadian, toque and all. I guess they're for kids, we don't really like them ( hubby& I).
Been busy. Congrats on the successful NaBloPoMo completion. I did it too!
Got real good at copy and paste :)

Kaz said...

Quatchi looks like a MacKenzie brother, eh?