Every Olympic & Paralympic Mascot

[@AmaranthWitch]

i am delighted that "here he is with a gun" is an important part of every mascot, it tickles me, thank you

[@Laurabeck329]

Except Vučko, he is a good boy and he wouldn't shoot anybody

[@emimonsterlicious]

"And here's Desert Bus with a gun!"

[@TheTobeyGaming]

This was such a good running gag, because of course they have guns, but like... yeah 😅

[@klondikefive]

This has been popping into mind at random times since watching this video and makes me laugh every time.

[@fearanarchy]

I mean, if it was a cannon... No, it's just a marksman's rifle

[@LazurBeemz]

Seeing Misha and Cobi together was like watching the Avengers for the first time

[@GrahamStarkVlogs]

Right??

[@TimelordRick]

I legit thought there were gonna be more of them, like Hodori, and Sam Eagle were about to join in or something

[@yeeoof1995]

would be a long shot nowadays but imagine some future olympic mascots being in some sorta officially commissioned animation where the mascots meet past ones

[@StartimerZ]

@@yeeoof1995 I would love that It would be wholsome

[@mirelle_mojena]

NAH LITERALLY

[@dantesdiscoinfernolol]

If the Snowlets have 10 fans, I am one of them If the Snowlets have 2 fans, I am one of them If the Snowlets have one fan, it is me If the Snowlets have no fans, I am dead Long live the Snowlets

[@Thegamergod7444]

If miga has 10 fans, I'm one of them. If miga has 2 fans, I'm one of them. If miga has 1 fan, it's me. If miga has no fans, I'm dead. It's that comment but miga

[@ibisbill2335]

PREACH!!! SNOWLETS SWEEP!!!

[@gabrielchee8470]

Im just watching to see if lyo and merly made it

[@gabrielchee8470]

​@@ibisbill2335I think i liked them the instant i realized theyre essentially rowlets ancestors design wise. And rowlets my favorite Pokemon

[@jeffreydenenberg7101]

funniest parts of the whole video is graham just saying "and heres [character] with a gun", gets me every time

[@jessesaunders7043]

with aGUN

[@jamesstewart7784]

The sudden "here's the mascot with a shotgun" got me the most.

[@jonathanrobles7377]

I've now imagined what a stylized shooter with the mascots would look like with all these "x character with gun" designs

[@mrdelirious8706]

The video is like 80 minutes long, so you maybe think the joke will soon become less funny. Nope. Killer every time.

[@iEcilpse]

i was doing the dishes while watching a chunk of this and ALWAYS had to look over IMMEDIATELY when “and here’s (character) with a gun” was said. it’s important information

[@campbellolney9753]

I just want "Graphic Design with Graham" to be a regular (or at least semi-regular/when he has time and interest in whatever) thing

[@TehFrenchy29]

Irregularly recurring* * As often and involved as is feasible within Graham's willingness and ability to do so **Because "Graham just doesn't feel like it" is a perfectly reasonable and more than sufficient justification for not doing another whether or not it will continue at some point in the future, but we clearly enjoy these and it seems generally like G does as well so hopefully they do

[@campbellolney9753]

​@@TehFrenchy29 yeah, that's basically what I was trying to say, thank you for putting my words together more accurately 😂

[@MarsIsDead86]

Agreed!!!

[@logank9177]

Absolutely, even if it's not Olympic related in the future, more stuff like this would be great!

[@keab42]

Graham's Font Feels

[@barbarasanglard3355]

As a Rio local I absolutely adored Vinicius and Tom! Vinicius would also show up during random matches dressed up as the sport they were paying and terrorize everyone, it was Hilarious. I also can't forget the core memory of Vinicius dressed up as Gisele Bündchen, they were so fun and one of my favourite memories of the games!

[@debonidaniel]

Their behavior was based on Brazilian children who don't sit still and are curious and "a little more intelligent and uninhibited than those from the rest of the world". They also signified the good humor of all of we brazilians.

[@hubster3055]

Im not from Brazil, but I absolutely adore Vinicius and he's my favorite Olympic mascot. I love his warm color scheme and proportions in his design

[@Sonicfan4eva]

I thought Vinicius looked like a Barbie

[@lary_uwu6027]

I remember voting for.. i think a jaguar and i got so disappointed it didn't win i couldnt enjoy Vinicius and Tom at the time. Now i wish i had a plushie...

[@barbarasanglard3355]

My mom was just a little kid in Brazil in 1980 and she remembers how she loved Misha and was sad in the closing ceremony when he shed a tear

[@cerdgold225]

Brazilian here, I also remember my mom talking about Misha in every olympics whenever they showed the mascots, I guess it really resonated with people, huh?

[@christopher9727]

Don't follow the worldly trends follow Jesus Christ today There is no security or hope with out Jesus Christ in this world come and repent of all sins today Today is the day of salvation come to the loving savior Today repent and do not go to hell Come to Jesus Christ today Jesus Christ is only way to heaven Repent and follow him today seek his heart Jesus Christ can fill the emptiness he can fill the void Heaven and hell is real cone to the loving savior today Today is the day of salvation tomorrow might be to late come to the loving savior today John 3:16-21 16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. 21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God. Mark 1.15 15 And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel. 2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. Hebrews 11:6 6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. Jesus

[@debonidaniel]

Are you Ana Paula's volleyball player daughter ?

[@the-np4mr]

And then everyone clapped

[@driveasandwich6734]

@@the-np4mrthere is nothing unbelievable about this comment

[@0990ftn]

Japanese here and boy the degree of everyone’s disappointment when they announced Miraitowa & Someity was immeasurable because most people actually preferred 1:12:39 Kitsune & Tanuki, and 1:12:42 Komainu & Shisa proposals more than Miraitowa & Someity, and the possible reason why kids chosen them was because they had superpowers (the other 4 characters didn’t…..for very obvious reasons)

[@Hijiri_MIRACHION]

I certainly liked Komainu & Shisa as well, Komainu especially. I too was there for the disappointment...

[@6letterss]

Komainu and Shisa do look like porn bait

[@SilverLining1]

I wonder if the vote was split. I personally love komainu and shisa, but honestly miraitowa and someity aren't bad. Just inferior

[@lrgogo1517]

I had this phase of being an Olympics fanatic that both started and ended around Rio season. It was arguably the first Olympiad I actively followed, and I became enamored with all the presentational aspects - the logos, the mascots, the field decorations, the ceremonies... And I was hyped for the future Olympiad in Japan, for reasons that would double the length of this comment. But one day, I discovered that the future (not yet named) mascots for that event, which I was very so-so on, was in competition for the role with... a kitsune and a tanuki. *I FREAKING LOVE TANUKIS* (kitsune are also cool). How could Japan's collective youth fail me so hard? Driven to such despair, I vowed to quit consuming info on the Olympics, and ignore the (originally slated for) 2020 event. Thankfully, my relationship with Tokyo 20“20” was mended when Google's Doodle team of all people dropped an entire video game celebrating the event, and delivered justice for the noble tanuki, and the komainu, and a bunch of other critters from JPN folklore.

[@lrgogo1517]

Not sure what these "very obvious reasons" are supposed to be. Isn't the shared trait between kitsune and tanuki that they have the _power_ to change into things?

[@elliottchrist]

56:08: a character named Coal who doesn’t like pollution, which is like a character named Uranium who doesn’t like radiation poisoning. “We’re all trying to find the guy who did this.”

[@sglenny001]

Brilliant

[@EikoandMog]

Thank you for including Fatso the Fat-Arsed Wombat. Absolutely vital part of the team. Roy and HG were comedians that poked fun at the culture of Sport in Australia and their commentary of the grand finals, while useless for actually following the game made them a household name. Their satirical coverage of the 2000 Olympics called "The Dream" is widely considered a magnum opus and a fond memory of the games and was also widely distributed to all nations, not just Australia! To this day, the official mascots are known as "Olly, Millie and Dickhead". I would also like to mention that Fatso was displayed lovingly at the Olympic Park until stolen in 2010.

[@xGamermonkeyx]

I cannot stress enough how wild it was seeing these characters again. I was in grade 4 I think when the Olympics were on, and I remember watching Roy and HG's show on 7 with my family. Being reminded of Fatso while watching this video sent me into a solid ten minute spiral of hysterical laughter, like a core memory was unlocked from my childhood, and while I love him as what he really is; an Australian critique of the safe, digestible design by committee mascots of the Olympics in general and a lampoon on the over-advertised and corporatized nature of the Olympics at the time, I really have to betray myself by being honest here and saying I really was just laughing at the name Fatso the Fat-Arsed Wombat for the whole ten minutes.

[@TheBrainSpecialist]

"Olly, Millie, and Dickhead" Ah, Australia, never ever change

[@lrgogo1517]

Wait, why is _Syd_ the "dickhead"? Aren't echidnae the more phallic-looking animals?

[@xGamermonkeyx]

@@lrgogo1517 I think because he's from/named after Sydney and it's a common gag in Australia that people from Sydney are huge dickheads.

[@merdehappens]

​@@lrgogo1517 It rotated around, or whichever order they were going with when mentioning them. 'X, Y. Dickhead.'

[@WFierce]

What makes Roni's soulless dead eyes more terrifying is the apparent confidence he has with a gun.

[@kigut7443]

oh roni has definitely taken a life. no doubt about it

[@juliamavroidi8601]

He's always terrified EXCEPT when he's holding a gun. Just what I want at a mass event!

[@red-trinity7390]

“yo can’t believe I have a gun.”

[@Wohlfe]

Pretty sure he's a Vietnam vet with severe PTSD

[@WFierce]

@@Wohlfe Roni: First Blood?

[@SailorFailures]

Just when I thought it had all blown over... Part of the reason Lizzy may have been more popular than the Olympics mascots is because the Australian Paralympics Committee operates completely independently from the Olympics Committee, including their marketing. So the Paralympics marketing department may have simply spearheaded a more successful advertising campaign for Lizzy in the 2000s than the Olympics Committee did. When I worked on the 2020-2021 Australian mascot redesigns, the Paralympics Committe and Lizzy weren't brought on until after I had already been working on the Hockey & Surfing Kangaroo Olympic mascots for a while, because the committees communicated separately, and consequently the scope of Lizzy's redesign/branding was different. I really felt like the Australian Paralympics Committee genuinely loved Lizzy and her connection with the Aussie public - she's a really fun mascot and it was an honour to work with her :)

[@hellowatsupo]

I feel like this needs to be pinned. I love it when I see people in the video also in the comments

[@debonidaniel]

That's not exactly what you said. In Sydney there were two separate Organizing Committees. However, everything that was managed in common was unified. Two different marketing strategies were developed. While the licensed products for the Olympics were dedicated to stores and supermarkets " premium" and were more expensive. Those for the Paralympics went to more popular and suburban markets as a way of getting the population involved with the Paralympic Games, which were unknown to around 85% of the Australian population. They were even the same suppliers and manufacturers, but in smaller quantities and more cheaper in an action to envolve better the population with the Paralympic Spirit. However, Australians identified more with Lizzie personality, than with the Olympic mascots. While products with Lizzie with the Olivia Newton-John's voice sold like hotcakes, those with Olympic mascots dried up.

[@paulmooney2833]

I love Graham's delivery of GUN. Made me giggle every time.

[@calebmarmon1310]

My reaction is a split-second instinct to shout “Duck!” before giggling.

[@brettcaldwell3318]

Love the "looks like it could have been done better by a six year old" followed by having Penelope provide an actual drawing was great.

[@IdentifiantE.S]

It was really cool

[@magentasky234]

27:57 *traumatic flashbacks*

[@yeeoof1995]

the eyes being different sizes added a LOT of personality to them!

[@ThirdCultureChinese]

As someone who lived in China during the 2008 Olympics, I, together with millions other Chinese kids at that time, have special ties with the Fuwa's, as the years leading up to the Games witnessed some rather rough times, yet we overcame the obstacles and welcomed the world. Fuwa embodied the optimism of that special year. I remember how hyped we all were, even for those who did not live in Beijing (like me, who lived in Shanghai). We learned English phrases that would help us assist foreigners, kept our streets clean, and (us kids) showed best effort in school (as if it mattered at all LOL). To this day, the 福娃 (Fuwa in Chinese characters) bring me waves of nostalgia and warmth. Oh btw, while Izzy from Atlanta might be the most memed mascot in the West, 砳砳 Lele (the mascot of Nanjing 2014 Youth Olympics) was our Chinese Izzy. I was no longer living in China at that time but from what I saw on Chinese social media, that little cr*ckhead turned the internet into a wildfire.

[@adiuntesserande6893]

Graham, you realize that you’ve turned yourself into quite likely the world’s foremost expert on the topic of all things Olympic-but-not-sports, right?

[@andrewsparkes6275]

He's filled up his brain so much with that stuff, he quite literally forgot he HAD CANCER.

[@F66x]

@@andrewsparkes6275 We found the cure. Rev up those wiki articles.

[@danquaylesitsspeltpotatoe8307]

Para olympics are evil they discriminate against little people banning them!

[@mike04574]

did he forget helicopters existed during munich olympics

[@tuney7319]

Tbf everything about the olympics except for the sports themselves are interesting

[@TheThundercow]

I think it's actually very cute that Lillehammer just had children representing every part of Norway instead of a walkaround.

[@e5h8x3]

King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard

[@christopher9727]

Only Jesus Christ blood can cleanse us of are sins come to Jesus Christ today Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Come to Jesus Christ today Jesus Christ is only way to heaven Repent and follow him today seek his heart Jesus Christ can fill the emptiness he can fill the void. The Holy Spirit can lead you guide and confort you through it all Heaven and hell is real cone to the loving savior today Today is the day of salvation tomorrow might be to late come to the loving savior today John 3:16-21 16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. 21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God. Mark 1.15 15 And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel. 2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. Hebrews 11:6 6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. Jesus

[@JrIcify]

They justified the whole thing with that move

[@richarddavis8863]

​@@e5h8x3lol damn you just triggered a memory, I super spun out girl at a festival told me I should check that band out, they good?

[@the-np4mr]

I don't and think it was a federal psyop 👍

[@M75248]

"Cobi, the greatest mascot He lives next to the sea in Barcelona" I remember watching Cobi's cartoon when I was a kid! I didn't know Petra was the paralympics' mascot tho.

[@RhJones]

I (British) was trying to remember the 2012 London mascot all the way through and thought it’s got to be a lion and maybe they’d do a dragon and a unicorn to include Wales and Scotland. The freaky metal creatures unlocked a memory of why so many people thought the games were going to be awful.

[@nuttynatsu2354]

The only part of the mascot I liked was the name. The opening ceremony made up for it though

[@melissaharris3389]

Big miss not using a dragon as the London 2012 mascot as a dragon is on the coat of arms for the City of London

[@samsowden]

@@nuttynatsu2354 the opening ceremony was SO GOOD.

[@TachyonKing]

Nothing speaks London like two dripping slags of molten metal forged into sentient creatures. Seriously what on earth was going on with London’s branding?

[@jlofty281]

EXACTLY. I was 9 at the time and had thought the Vancouver mascots were adorable so I couldn’t wait to see what my country would do only to realize that sometimes things are bad for no reason

[@Tajessa]

Hello, no one has asked for more Fatso lore and here it is anyway: Fatso was called "the Battlers' Prince" for reasons, there is a statue of Fatso outside the Sydney Olympic Park which has been repeatedly stolen, and yes, the Australian Olympic Committee had NO SENSE OF HUMOUR about it which just made Fatso more popular. Thank you Graham, I enjoyed the heck out of this!

[@konpbitz2913]

It's fun to imagine that the local news keep reporting that fatso got stolen for the 12th time this week

[@ireallysee]

Brazil loves Vinicius btw, he's seen as a funny mascot, appearing in many games and on Brazilian TV, every now and then a compilation video of his best moments in the 2016 Olympics goes viral on tiktok, the Rio Olympics was horrible for the people that lived in Rio so having at least one fond memory of Vinicius being just a silly lil mascot is really cherished

[@vinnyfromvenus8188]

why was the olympics bad for the people?

[@kidrinke]

@@vinnyfromvenus8188 idk if it was horrible, but it surely was not good, the government invested a shit ton of money to hold the games, money the population needed, and wll, it was very successful, the games were very good, but to this day, a lot of structural parts of the olympivs were simply abandoned, not repurpoused, not renovated and still used as sports training, simpley abandoned

[@juliarangelr]

@@vinnyfromvenus8188 the games were, mostly, horribly timed. Brazil went through political unrest at the time, we just held the World Cup and spent a LOT of money on that that ended up not being well spent, which undermined the government's popularity. Long story short, the first ever female president in the history of the country got impeached and was replaced by her VP (from a different party) less than a month after the olympics were held here. wasn't fun lmao

[@julianaarau]

​@@vinnyfromvenus8188 is just some people been stupidy. We love the games. Was a amanzing experience

[@julianaarau]

​@@vinnyfromvenus8188 was not. He is just been dramatic

[@Lenoh]

24:55 "Voosh-ko", it's "Little Wolf" in Slovenian, which explains his singing voice; he doesn't howl, he Sarajevos!

[@deirdregibbons5609]

Thanks for that. I remember watching the 1984 Winter Olympics on TV s a kid and really liking the idea of Vučko as a mascot. I liked that he looked a bit fierce but was actually very friendly. I read later on that the Olympic planners wanted to change the fairy tale depiction of wolves as scary villains and show children that Vučko was a friendly and playful wolf.

[@onihaiena6152]

idk why but misha and vinicius give me joy having had soviet parents i understood how iconic the former was and honestly the latter gives off Adventure Time nostalgia and i just love the energy

[@justlola417]

CRIMINAL not to show Vinicius' walk-around costume and people dancing with it. It was the best part of the Rio Olympics

[@monskiski01]

I'm *SO* happy you included Sydney's Fatso the Fat-Arsed Wombat... I couldn't even remember what the 'official' Sydney mascots were - but I'll never forget my, and my countries love for Fatso.

[@Othraerir]

the battler's prince :)

[@optiquemusic6204]

I'm the opposite: I forgot Fatso was a thing until he was brought up, while I still remember Syd, Millie and Ollie (along with Lizzy) after 20 years. Tho he's a Commonwealth Games mascot, I want to shout out Borobi, the Koala of the 2018 Gold Coast CG's. His design was cool.

[@LeeAllanSpades]

My high school's mascot was just a top hat with arms and legs. Not even anthropomorphized. Just a hat. Seeing the 2024 mascot brings me such joy.

[@XxzoundsxX]

Lol what was team name (not the school, just the generic "vikings," "warriors" etc...) that evoked top-hat?

[@LeeAllanSpades]

@@XxzoundsxX the Hatters

[@LordArikado]

My high school's mascot didn't even have a proper mascot suit. They just dressed a dude in a cheap knight costume without even a helmet to hide his face.

[@DrDashajacsonaleksan]

We were the Bethlehem stars and did not have a mascot.

[@Gman_2009_]

Lmao we were a dumbass football-centric town that just used the generic bulldogs

[@itsdord]

The art style for Vucko is so slick, huge fan of the smooth lines and geometry.

[@mewr11]

I have a soft spot for Millie the Echidna because I had a water bottle as a kid that was shaped like her. You're probably wondering how you make a water bottle shaped like an echidna - let me tell you, it's exactly as inconvenient as it sounds to drink from a bottle covered in yellow plastic spikes.

[@aperson1]

That didn't answer my imaginary question but thank you very much for the information nonetheless

[@patrickmitchell9068]

God I remember those

[@WFierce]

I still have my Syd the Platypus drink bottle. I don't think I ever actually used it as a drink bottle.

[@staffaroni09]

Asked my korean husband about the '88 mascot and he remembered the boy and girl both by name so definitely not hodori in drag haha hosuni seemed to be most featured in a gold or jade statue set with them in wedding outfits. The two of them are even standing very tall at the entrance to the Seoul Olympic museum right now

[@fntthesmth423]

That makes sense, but ah... a bit of a shame. Just because one wishes something were true does not make it so, though

[@ernestomedina7163]

Cobi is still a cultural touchstone in Barcelona life (there are tons of small grafittis of him everywhere) The olympics marked a before and after in the city and they’re regarded as a great moment in the city’s history. And (like misha) he was also released to the air on a silver boat at the closing ceremony, very pretty actually. Also, its funny to see him as a bullfighter, given that bullfighting is forbidden at catalonia and is a very “spanish” thing, opposite to the catalan culture

[@cobicheese]

If you're talking about the graffiti that I think you're talking about, they were actually done by Mariscal himself!

[@jamiegreenberg8476]

this semester im studying abroad in barcelona and i cant wait to see the cobis! school starts during the paralympic games so im gonna see if i can head to paris for a couple days to watch them! i love the olympics

[@Antonio_868]

As a funny fact, there was a mascot that coexisted with him called Curro. He was the mascot of the World Exhibition held in Barcelona that same year (he is a big white bird with a colored beak, a big crest, and dot eyes).

[@AnimalCrosser53]

I really like the choice of Blaze as the Atlanta Paralympic mascot over Izzy. It may not be understood as such in the popular consciousness, but the phoenix IS a symbol of Atlanta. The phoenix is even on the seal of the city in order to represent the city's rebuilding and growth following the burning of the city by General Sherman in the Civil War. It seems to me a real shame that the folks designing and choosing Olympic mascots for the city seemed to think it was this unrepresentable place, when they easily could have gone for low-hanging fruit like the phoenix, the "city in a forest," or even (pun intended,) just peaches. Thanks so much for making another amazing video and I'm so glad to hear you're in better health!

[@kigut7443]

for a paralympic mascot the phoenix is a great choice too. a powerful bird who, after falling, is fated to rise again stronger and burning brighter than ever. what a beautiful message to incorporate into the paralympics

[@SWalkerTTU]

Maybe they should’ve just borrowed Momotarō from Japan.

[@the_real_Kurt_Yarish]

Cobi and Petra are incredibly 90's in design in a way I can't articulate, and I love it. The Snowletts, too.

[@the_real_Kurt_Yarish]

@@Blakbox92 They do! Wish I could narrow down what to call that style beyond "90's clip art", though.

[@y.m.or.4053]

@@the_real_Kurt_Yarish I guess post modern digital screenprint art, but don't quote me on that lol

[@the_real_Kurt_Yarish]

@@y.m.or.4053 As good a name as any!

[@burningphoneix]

They remind me of the seven up guy

[@charityquill4965]

they seem pretty "anti-corporate" I would say. lots of the safe or boring mascots have uniform shapes and clean lines, whereas cobi, petra, and the snowletts are very asymmetrical and a sketchy pencilled-in kind of artstyle. it gives them a lot of charm and character

[@elliottchrist]

A few stray thoughts about Vučko (which, apparently, is pronounced "voosh-ko," and his name literally translates to "Wolfie")... 1. As per Wikipedia - in Yugoslavian culture (like most places) the wolf was generally seen as a ferocious, villainous character - so having Vučko be a friendly, likable wolf character actually rehabilitated the image of the wolf in the public eye. 2. It seems like, in the 1970s and early 1980s, designers were still trying to figure out whether an Olympic mascot was supposed to be more of a geometric, modernist logo like Waldi or Amik, or a fun cartoon character like Schneemandl or Misha. It looks like they tried to split the difference with Vučko, who still has those clean, geometric shapes and lines, while still maintaining the poses and facial expressions of a cartoon character (though I kind of prefer the more hand-drawn, slightly Chuck Jones-y look of the animated version). 3. I remember seeing articles and image galleries of abandoned Olympic sites in the present day, and since the area had gone through the Bosnian War, there were plenty of pictures from Sarajevo. And there, in some places, amongst the graffiti and crumbling concrete, you can see Vučko's friendly face, happily welcoming you to the now-decaying site, like an Olympic Ozymandias. ("'I am Vučko, King of Wolves! Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and have fun!' Nothing beside remains...") You threw me down this rabbit hole, Graham. You did this to me. I hope you're happy.

[@elliottchrist]

Quick addendum to that last point: not only can original, authorized images of Vučko be seen alongside the graffiti - at times, Vučko IS the graffiti. It seems that some of the vandals who came to tag the site had a soft spot for the guy, and have spraypainted their own renditions of Vučko throughout the abandoned venue - including at least one holding a spray can. Rock on, Vučko.

[@alexfarkas3881]

@@elliottchrist I so dearly wish to see these images.

[@smoki99able]

Vučko is highly underrated and the first mascot i remember as a child. There was many shorts and he could sing.

[@enysuntra1347]

​@@smoki99ableHis "Sarayevooo-ooo-ooo" chant IMO is an integral part of the character. In a documentary or awareness commercial during the air bridge to Sarayevo, they showed him chanting, and on the "ooo", they made it look as if the arm was drawn across the record, and the film broke, to make room for the perspective of a relief flight descending upon Sarayevo airport. For me, this was a VERY powerful image, having seen Vučko announcing the sports reporting during the games as a child.

[@gabrielchee8470]

​@@smoki99ableI think for me it's probably the fuwa, though wenlock and Mandeville were the ones i probably interacted with the most

[@griffindor65]

When the redesigned Lizzie mascot popped up, I asked why the Olympic committee designed a fuckable mascot, and then Graham offered the obvious explanation.

[@dracocrusher]

Yeah, my initial reaction was literally: 1. This looks good! 2. Holy crap, this is pure furry bait, isn't it?! Most mascots wish they could get the glow-up Lizzie did, just holy shit!

[@LexYeen]

furries: we're everywhere.

[@BowserTheSecond]

​@@LexYeenWe are indeed everywhere.

[@SilverLining1]

I love her mouth in the original design. Redesign is indeed smashable tho

[@gungle2595]

@@LexYeen they're in tech, they're in the Olympic committee, wouldn't be shocked if they took over the illuminati at this point XD

[@corruptdropbear]

I have to be honest, having a furry artist make an entire suite of redesign for the entire Australian Paralympic team, including their own gold coin, and it somehow getting approved is amazing.

[@LexYeen]

You have to admit though, New Lizzie is everything a mascot should be. We furries understand the assignment when it comes to character design.

[@emilysmith2965]

Furry artists are great at mascot design… it doesn’t have to be saucy to be furry.

[@IdentifiantE.S]

@@emilysmith2965The problem is what people do with that 💀

[@IAmCaligvla]

@@LexYeen The redesign is great... It doesn't really represent the Paralympics though.

[@baconpantsable]

I was super confused on why Lizzie had a weird amount of muscle definition in her coin and that actually answered a lot of questions

[@Jaxymann]

Misha & Cobi showing up in the 1996 Olympic cartoon was a bigger crossover than Endgame.

[@thejackscraft3472]

The Beijing 2008 mascots actually make sense to me as a group of 5, since they look to at least partly be based on the 5 elements of Wuxing. Water, Wood, Fire, Earth, and Metal.

[@sabrina-wuz-here]

they're the colours of the 5 rings as well which probably adds to it all!!

[@richardliu5339]

I agree with this. As a Australian-Born Chinese who was young at the time of the Beijing 2008 Olympics, and was influenced by them, I may sound biased in saying this, but Graham Stark is a bit too harsh on them. I believe that the fact they are supposed to be imp-like is because they're representative of China's sporting spirit in a sense. Just watch the donghua that they star in, and you'll see that they're really into the theme of the Olympics overall, with their various quirks. So five might seem much, and I'm not too against that idea, but their theming was pretty good. I do still feel bad for the artist Han Meilin, now that I learned that they went through thousands of drafts for this. But I think that they deserve praise for making the mascots of the Olympics as good as they are, from my perspective.

[@m_a_p]

Loving this. Schneemanndl (and Sonnenweiberl) are Austrian diminutives. So more or less "little snowman" and "little sun woman"

[@twell1984]

And the utterly terrifying song lyrics thus literally mean "Little snow man, why do you have such big hands...?"

[@ChiSbaObePcheH11]

@@twell1984 continuing on with "what do you want to do with them - pinch me in the bottom?" im literally speechless

[@juliamavroidi8601]

​@@twell1984Is Sonnenweiberl supposed to be singing this? HER HABDS ARE JUST AS BIG!

[@twell1984]

@@juliamavroidi8601 That is not really clear. Here is everything I was able to understand: „Little snowman, why are your hands so big? What do you plan to do with that pair, pinch my rear?“ „So I can clap louder during (unintelligible) tonight, then I will need my giant hands to make it really crack.“

[@-._.-o-._.-]

@@twell1984 The part you didn't understand is "Schneeplattln" which i guess is a pun on "Schuhplattln", a traditional dance where you slap your hands against your thighs/shoes

[@kurinthekitty6842]

As of this morning The Mascots for the next winter olympics have been announced There 2 minks named Tina & Milo

[@lexezlao]

They are adorable

[@just.existing6747]

​​@@lexezlao they are!!!

[@ocularpatdown]

Love them

[@littlewickedlaugh1216]

I laughed way too hard when lumpi came on screen. JUSTICE FOR LUMPI!!!

[@AbiFranklin]

I wonder if there was any relationship between the olympic Lumpi and Picasso's dog Lump (aka Lumpi) who was from Germany.

[@Dong_Harvey]

There will never be justice for Lumpi, he didn't deserve it

[@larrymantic2635]

Lumpi looks so blomby

[@FerretNoir]

I gotta say man, I am completely not interested in the Olympics at all. And yet you've managed to make me sit through about 2 hours worth of videos about it, and they've thoroughly entertained me. Nice job!

[@GrahamStarkVlogs]

Thanks!

[@SuperFlashDriver]

As a person that did Special Olympics from January 2005 up until June 2014, and even getting Mario & Sonic At The Beijing Olympic Games, and heck, even played the Ham-Ham games that were related to Athens 2004 Olympics games, it's always interesting to see what sports used to occur or what events took place before, during, or after the olympics in the early part of the 20th century compared to the 21st century....But considering that Paris is going to have the summer olympics nearly 100 years later is quite a coincidence, and I wouldn't be surprised if we get another type of Chariots of Fire film in the 2080s at some point (If it doesn't, oh well, but it would be like reviving the original with a new perspective on the athletes from the 2024 games, not just the 1924 games in Paris, France).

[@andyknapp]

2 hours? You really rounded up there

[@avr7120]

@@andyknapp adding up this and the emblem videos its about 2 and a half hours

[@andyknapp]

@@avr7120 true

[@AverytheCubanAmerican]

The thing about Izzy's special is that it debuted on August 12, 1995 on TNT and it wasn't actually discovered until December 2020, so I guess you could say Izzy was so bad that his backstory became LOST MEDIA! For whose who wanna more about the special, this Torch World is an alternate universe contained within the Olympic flame. Izzy wants to compete in the Olympics but is bullied for wanting to. Like his parents said here, he is told that Torch World citizens can't compete in the Games until a council of elders lets him under the condition that the only way he can go down to Earth to compete is if he obtains the five Olympic rings. Perseverance, Integrity, Sportsmanship, Excellence, and Brotherhood. By being confident that he will get them all, he earned Perseverance. He found himself in a cycling race, but admitted he cheated as he found a shortcut, which earned him Integrity. He competed in gymnastics, earning higher scores than a bully, except from one judge who was another bully in disguise. Even though this was unfair, he accepted, earning Sportsmanship. In hurdles, despite the bullies raising the hurdle heights, he still won, earning Excellence for giving his all. All the hate Izzy is getting catches up to him, and he can't do a 1v1 basketball match against a bully, stating it wasn't worth the Olympics, earning him Brotherhood in his effort to bring peace, as the elders realized the Olympics are meant to bring people of all walks of life together for the betterment of society.

[@DasNordlicht91]

also, in case anyone wanted to know, we don't get explanation as to *why* he's the Olympic mascot for Atlanta. We don't get something like he's sent to down to represent the magic Olympic torch realm or whatever in Atlanta.

[@LightOfZeon]

Imagine being nine years old in 1996, living in Atlanta.. Yes, I was flooded with all the Izzy merch, as was every kid at my school. Edit: You're not alone, Graham. I too recall Izzy getting kidnapped. Someone would say they spotted Izzy in a crowd at a Coke party, or on top of the Swissgear pavilion. They might have had little faith in their audience, but more likely I remember it being a pretext for the 'detectives' to visit all the advertiser stalls and get a cheeky extra commercial in.

[@Antifearn]

IZZY WAS AT A COCAINE PARTY?!

[@jonathanhughes3537]

@@Antifearn That explains the eyes.

[@gabrielchee8470]

​@@jonathanhughes3537I kinda feel it's becuz the rings lock his eyelids down that way for some reason

[@TheatreKallum]

The Snowlets, I love them so much I burst out laughing when I saw them but they inhabbit such a spirit I can't help but love them.

[@YuBeace]

I love how I heard the woman sing at 16:48 and then wondered "Hm, if that's the wife, I wonder how Schneemandl himself is going to sound." ...and boi. That's a smurf.

[@ahuman6901]

Not sure why the 2002 flash animation was so charming to me, it’s so nostalgic for some reason.

[@SuperFlashDriver]

Believe it or not, in the late 90s early 2000s adobe introduced the Adobe Flash Player to compete with I believe was Apple's Quicktime Player in the late 1990s. Shockwave Player was made by Macromedia, so you were either a macromedia shockwave player type of person, a Quicktime Player type of video user, or Adobe Flash Player type of user. Some videos on theme park websites either chose Adobe Flash Player, Shockwave Player, or Quicktime Player for their websites that have videos you can stream through the website (or on a separate window player), or it would play embedded in a programmed window the coders did in the late 90s early 2000s. Believe me, theme park, video game, and many multimedia companies all used one of those three at some point in the mid to late 90s, eventually adobe bought shockwave player once Macromedia got discontinued or went bankrupt. But sometimes when Adobe's Shockwave or Flash Player didn't work, I used to use Apple's Quicktime Player function if the shockwave player wasn't working for say a Front POV of Talon The Grip of Fear or Hercules, or heck, even Cedar Point with Blue Streak, Gemini, Magnum XL-200, MIllennium Force, Top Thrill Dragster, etc. All of those back in the 2000s and late 1990s all used Quicktime Player or Adobe's Shockwave/Macromedia Shockwave Player, or Adobe Flash Player up until it's discontinuation in the early to mid 2010s, and later shut off on January 1st, 2022. So yeah, I'm also nostalgic for Shockwave/Flash/Quicktime Players that you would separately install on Windows 98/2000/XP back in the day. Heck, if you had a Macbook or even an iMac, Quicktime Player was automatically installed upon installing the Mac OS X back in the day (which were 10.0 to 10.3 in the early 2000s up until Maverick in 2012).

[@staysterling]

Real early Neopets energy

[@Raymaniak]

It is somewhat nostalgic, but for me the most noticable part is the music. I don't know why, but some music tonations seem really sad and wistful to me, unlike most people and often seemingly the composers. Can't shake the feeling. The music in this animation, particularly the middle part where they go down the slope, has that quality - the sounds feel in place for something deeply melancholic, like themes of aging and loss. Very surreal with the visuals. If anyone reads this and feels the same way please let me know I'm not crazy

[@30juneJPN]

Hello. Your video appeared in my feed over here in Japan, and in defense of Miraitowa and Someity (Tokyo 2020), I wanna point out that they have an *insane* cult following 2 years after the games took place. There was an anniversary event in July of 2023 where fans were able to meet and greet with the two, and participants had to wait in line for free tickets to get a picture with them that were scheduled to be handed out at 1PM. They were gone by 11AM because enough fans (mostly adults, ironic considering the selection process) were already in line early and they had to give them out early to avoid heatstroke cases! This is a really Japanese phenomenon and because "forgettable" was your conclusion, I thought I'd just point that out. These fans are really remembering a specific aspect of the Games very fondly and with so much controversy surrounding Tokyo 2020, the mascots have really helped cement their legacy.

[@jonathanhughes3537]

I thought that the two Tokyo mascots were the Legendary Pokemon from the next game to be released when I first saw them. I still like the design and am glad to see they have a following!

[@BaobhanloreArt]

I actually really like them! They're like chibi mecha heroes, and look like they'd make awesome nendoroids. Tokyo 2020 may have suffered from the pandemic but their character designs are still on point!

[@elodee3]

I don't think they're very good at all, but I'm glad some people really enjoy them

[@dsadgegdsg4740]

@@jonathanhughes3537 They reminded me more of Pokemon designs from the then-recent generations 5 and 6 games when I first saw them, with the strong, somewhat geometric outlines that were most heavily seen in those generations' designs. I also predicted that kids would prefer them for that same connection, so I wasn't surprised that they won.

[@eruno_]

I love them!!!

[@zippy8250]

All Mascot timelines (Because its hard to find them in order) Los Angeles (1932): 5:35 Tokyo (1964): 6:54 Grenoble: 7:26 Mexico City: 8:30 Sapporo: 10:12 Munich: 11:50 Innsbruck: 14:46 Montreal: 16:56 Lake Placid: 17:53 Arnheim 18:59 Moscow: 19:49 Sarajevo: 24:36 Los Angeles (1984): 26:22 New York: 26:05 Calgary: 30:12 Seoul: 31:46 Albertville: 34:10 Barcelona: 35:23 Lillehammer: 38:38 Atlanta: 39:48 Nagano: 48:58 Sydney: 51:39 Salt Lake City: 54:48 Athens: 56:48 Torino: 57:49 Beijing (2008): 58:36 Vancouver: 1:02:23 London: 1:05:15 Sochi: 1:06:35 Rio: 1:08:36 Pyeongchang: 1:10:01 Tokyo (2021): 1:10:49 Beijing (2022): 1:13:50 Paris: 1:17:10

[@ArthurBrooklyn]

[@helmaschine1885]

18:59 Arnheim (first para Olympics mascot)

[@gabrielchee8470]

...i feel depressed that YoG is ommitted now, thats part pf the reason i clicked...

[@zippy8250]

@@gabrielchee8470 what's YoG?

[@thentertaineronyoutube]

wheres la 1984

[@Peronioz]

HOLY CRAP when you started the Cobi Troupe globetrotter experience with Brazil's version I got such a wild whiplash because BKS (the studio that did the brazilian version) is where my uncle worked! He did most of the text translation and localization at the time since the 60s! He worked in Felix the Cat, Flintstones, Jetsons, Tom and Jerry, all that stuff. He always brought home some memorabilia (mostly plushies) of the stuff he worked on, so I have this weird dog in a wardrobe just... sitting there. And I only connected the plushie with the mascot when I heard the theme song, because of how familiar it was.

[@Mateus_Carvalho]

Yeah, that BKS call just screams nostalgia. I think I remember catching stuff they dubbed as a little kid with my aunt watching the state channel. Were they the ones who did Madeline?

[@mirelle_mojena]

whoaa that's incredible!

[@y.m.or.4053]

Seriously the Paris 2024 package is SO GOOD LOOKING. I don't think branding for the games has been this good since Rio. The mascots are adorable, I like how the paralympian one is a bit taller and has a metal prosthetic running leg (I like that it's SPECIFICALLY a running leg instead of just a prosthetic.)

[@brigittesantos3260]

Vinícius and Tom were kinda criticized in Brazil because of their similarities to American cartoon aesthetics... But in fact, they were strongly grounded in different Brazilian street art styles, which really helped them generate identification with the public.

[@tuney7319]

That’s silly, most Brazilian cartoons are based on western aesthetics, heck most cartoons period are based on western aesthetics. Heck cabolinha the most famous Brazilian character is very clearly based on the current western comic style at the time.

[@debonidaniel]

@@tuney7319 Monica's Gang cartoons are based in japanese manga.They won more western aestestics with the time.

[@lugnutoverjapan]

Graham starting off saying nothing can beat the first mascot. Me, "oh we'll see about- WHAT A GOOD BOY!"

[@snowyalice]

As someone who was an Australian child who went to see the Sydney Paralympic Games, meeting Lizzie was the highlight of my time there. I still have merch with the Olympic and Paralympic mascots on it kicking around in my house. So iconic. EDIT: Asked my mum if she remembered Schuss (she’s French was would have been about 7 at the time of the Olympics). She very much remembered Schuss, with very fond memories.

[@gungle2595]

I would advise against telling people that Lizzie is your favourite given the recent redesign, might seem questionably motivated

[@transcodeshootingstar8266]

@@gungle2595who cares? Its not offensive or suggestive in the slightest

[@SuperFlashDriver]

@@transcodeshootingstar8266 Yes, but you do realize furries online do make NSFW artwork on the side right??? So keep that in mind that yes, they can do Safe For Work stuff, but they also like to do Not Safe For Work. Considering the 2000s and 2010s were a time when Furries used to do deviant artwork online, and nowadays it's exemplified by 3. Thank goodness for the safesearch/mature filter/SFW switch for every website, can't imagine not having that as an option on every art website out there.

[@LadyLockwood92]

@@SuperFlashDriver Lots of people who *aren't* Furries make nsfw art. It doesn't stop anyone from liking any other sfw art. 'Furry porn exists so you shouldn't like any furry art, regardless of content' is a weird take.

[@SuperFlashDriver]

@@LadyLockwood92 I did not say "Furry porn exists" only for those into anthros and such, I'm just saying that I"m not surprised many people prefer that specific mascot over the others, and thus, furry porn/art exists. So my take on it didn't make sense to you at all, my mistake...But I do admit I forgot the other end of NSFW for those not into furry porn and such. So that I had no clue, that's on me.

[@martsip]

im russian and im in animation college rn and last week i visited a lecture by the director of Баба Яга Против (Baba Yaga is opposed) (24:02). the director is a very nice 82 yo man and is suprisingly liberal :) thanks for mentioning soviet cartoons they were a really huge part of my childhood and one of the reasons i went into animation school

[@trudbenik]

Soviet era cartoons are wild. Very creative, progressive and artistic. And like the rest of Europe, everything went to hell in the nineties.

[@BadWebDiver]

Russia has great history of animation. I still love the Russian animated Jungle Book story! And the scifi themed animated films.

[@cs3417]

Ok, needed to check on the 1972 marathon route. They actually did a rerun of the same route for the Isar (Munich's big river) Marathan 2022 because of the 50th birthday of the games. Found an image of the route immediately by searching for "1972 München Olympia Marathon Strecke" (1972 Munich Olympics Marathon route). Should be the first picture. As you said, why? Fun though. Thanks for this fun trivia. Now continuing with the video. Thanks Graham as always for your work. Love and energy from just a bit east of Waldi's butt on the map ;)

[@GustavoFernandesKing]

As a brazilian I have to say that winter Olympics is a thing I always get surprised when I am remember of its existence.

[@michellecavalcante5883]

I guess it does not help the fact that when what they call "Summer Olympics" happens it is winter here in Brazil 😆😆😆

[@GustavoFernandesKing]

@@michellecavalcante5883 and in Brazil we call the Summer Olympics. just The Olympics

[@michellecavalcante5883]

@@GustavoFernandesKing true

[@readysetfish1299]

If Cobi has a million fans, I’m one of them If Cobi has 5 fans, I’m one of them If Cobi has 1 fan, that one is me If Cobi has no fans, I’m no longer alive If the world is against Cobi, I’m against the world

[@Harkzoan]

I'm loving how 'and then Japan' happens surprisingly more than the number of games they held. Also thanks Future-Past Graham!

[@dragonbretheren]

You can't tell Japan to NOT go wild with mascots. It's a physical impossibility for them.

[@nibblitman]

Everything in Japan is mascoted. Towns, Prefectures, Schools, Companies, Fruit, it goes on forever.

[@gabrielchee8470]

​@@dragonbretherenI guess that explains why miraitowa and Someity still appear from time to time. Poor snowlets and parabbit tho (especially the latter since I think it's gonna be impossible to hunt down media of that)

[@GMSTRrules]

Of note, for the 2008 Beijing mascots, China (and more) recognizes the 5 elements philosophy instead of the Hellenistic 4 elements. They are fire, water, wood, metal (sometimes translated as gold), and air. Each mascot seems to be associated to an element -- though I can't find any source to back that up.

[@loadeddice4696]

My first thought was "Oh hey, there's five stars on the Chinese flag, and of these five mascots one is bigger than the other four. Cute"

[@Fireluigi1225]

Honorary mention goes to Mario, who appeared to promote the Tokyo games at the end of the Rio games

[@NathanBeatty]

I heard the voices of Izzy’s parents and said, “I know those voices!! Tress MacNeill and Rob Paulsen!” Then you went ahead and confirmed it. Thank you for keeping me from having to look it up!

[@jeffschauff4364]

As a Calgarian old enough to have attended Olympic events, I loved Hidi and Howdy to bits as a kid and therefore, still do. My grandparents worked at the "Bear Cave" which coordinated their appearances and were along for much of the torch run so my bias runs strong. Here's where I pray somehow Graham reads this. When the games were over the suits were disassembled into little pieces and given to staff as a thank you. So I have a Howdy right paw. And now you have to know that there are disembodied parts of Hidy and Howdy scattered across who knows where. :D

[@dandylionwine]

We hope that they will not one day self-animate and reassemble like the Iron Giant. Delighted to learn this, though. What a cool thing, to have such a tangible and historical connection between the subject and the audience. Thanks for sharing!

[@aperson1]

and this is a side quest for some adventurer in the distant future, i can tell.

[@Dylan184m]

Epic video. Loved it

[@nathanaelwaters2509]

Hello fellow calgarian

[@outistynnanyt5153]

Howdy and Hidey were drawn and quartered???

[@KristjanKalve]

A fun tidbit about the 1980 Moscow games - the sailing events were held in the then Estonian SSR and had it's own separate mascot in addition to Misha - the baby-seal Vigri.

[@TwinnedBanana]

I never thought I would hear 'Olympic mascot Sam the Eagle' and 'Hetalia' in the same context, but here we are! Also, awesome video!

[@cipherquest3024]

Well the other "Sam the Eagle" probably would not be a fan of the show for not having enough America

[@OddModlin]

This content is soul food. Thank you! Please bring us along on your next rabbit hole.

[@uforad170]

i remember one time i did a thread rating every olympic and paralympic mascot on a scale of 1 to 10 on twitter. glad to see im not the only one weirdly fascinated with these lil guys.

[@flippy015]

Honestly the whole Misha story is wild to me, in particular as a kid growing in Costa Rica I vividly remember watching the little bear Misha anime spanish dub not knowing it was an Olympic mascot, Latin America has a wild story of old animes being dubbed and transmitted on public tv between the 80's and 90's. Bonus fun fact around the 80 Costa Rica had a lot of soft ties with the Soviet union including scholarships and public projects so having an anime transmitted to children from that time strikes me incredible hilarious

[@Vontyak]

It’s incredible to me that so many of these mascots exist in a connected universe. The MCU, the Mascot Cinematic Universe!

[@ben-chan420]

Not just that, thanks to Misha the Bear's comic with Mickey Mouse they're also all tied into the Disney universe too lmao

[@emilyoflynn]

i would totally imagine athena and phevos meeting up with wenlock and mandeville

[@OM19_MO79]

I’m glad the 2010s are on their way out, that whole cinematic shared whatever is finally becoming tiresome and cringy.

[@anindhitakiranaisa5815]

Qatar fifa mascot event make huge universe of maskot.

[@olliesidaway]

I can confirm that as an 8 year old British kid during the 2012 London games, all the kids (at least the ones I knew) loved the mascots. I still have a soft spot for them today, they’re weird lil gremlins that had admittedly very huggable plushes

[@psyc840]

Yeah they were definitely of their time. I remember that Britain hadn’t quite gotten out of the 90s era of candy rings and pop-up sucking-sweets. So of course they were going to make the mascots unique for the sake of it. Still better than stock-animal-character number 142. They also reek of the same “designer vinyl” style that produced Vancouver’s mascots, in that they also made for great figurines. (We also still have the best opening ceremony so suck it)

[@abbyelectric]

I turned 8 in the run-up to the games as well! I remember loving the aesthetic the mascots had, and the fact that they were entirely 3D animated characters was super cool. Funnily enough, I'm now a student animator myself!!

[@alittleredvixen]

Yeah and I have wenlock and still think their cute!

[@calibunnyVT]

I’m gonna be honest, as someone who didn’t know he existed until I watched this, I LOVE Izzy in a “this guy looks like the mascot for a children’s edutainment series about teaching kids about the internet” kind of way. He’s just whimsical and nonsensical enough in design that I now treasure him dearly, thank you for this gift

[@mirelle_mojena]

HELL YES MORE IZZY LOVE!

[@sedeuphadude80]

Never heard of him until this video, but similar reasons. Sometimes, I like things that people don’t.

[@charityquill4965]

yeah that tracks pretty well, expecially considering the use of the poorly aged cgi lol

[@izzyliberti]

ok, I'm definitely biased because I'm also an Izzy from 1996, but THANK YOU for this Izzy justice!!! ✌😤

[@4whomittolz846]

I loved Vinicius and Tom! Rio games were at that exact time in my early teen years that I remember a lot of the stuff quite vividly, and I remember watching the whole animate series on the lead up to the games. Thank you for reminding me of those little guys.

[@SupremeLeaderKimJong-un]

It was more than just a threat at Atlanta, it killed two and injured over a hundred. Here's more info on Hodori: Hodori was also the 1986 Asian Games mascot! The Amur tiger was historically found across Korea, though today their range is mostly just in the Russian Far East. Tigers are important in Korean culture. Korea is known as the land of tigers because Korea is said to resemble one! In the myth of Dangun, the founder of Gojoseon, a bear and a tiger wished to become human beings. The bear turned into a woman by observing the commandments to eat only mugwort and garlic for 100 days in a cave, but the tiger could not endure the ordeal and ran off, failing to realize its wish. The bear gave birth to Dangun. The Sangmo hat is an ancient hat. The origin of it can be found in the history of the jeon-lip. Jeonp-lip is a black cap of the sangmo. The origin of the jeon-lip is the jeolpung on the head. Jeolpung is the basic type of crown cap of the Korean Three Kingdoms Period, and used various ornaments such as flowers, branches, and bird feathers to represent the region and its identity. The old style of sangmo can be found in the mural paintings of Goguryeo tombs which adorn the feathers of birds on soldiers' heads.

[@Dong_Harvey]

@SupremeLeaderKimJongUn Thanks Supreme-Leader Kim Jong-Un, your impressive knowledge of Korean history is always so very immaculate and well received. Even more interesting is how you at so well versed in the legacy of Atlanta terrorism!

[@Hydraas]

The sudden cut to Good News! with the Innsbruck music caught me so off guard I love it

[@mollywalker5790]

As a British kid during the 2012 Olympics, I loved Wenlock and Mandeville. There was an animated webseries that I watched with my siblings and we had the plushies (which were almost sold out at every store at the time). In a weird way I found them kind of cute

[@kurinthekitty6842]

I still have a plushie of Wenlock It (somehow) survived my childhood Mandeville with the British friend Emily

[@renatonomicon]

This was phenomenal. And i almost cried when I saw Cobi animation dubbed in Brazilian Portuguese, because it was a cartoon I watched as a kid. And also about Misha, if I was Sochi committee I would put it again as mascot, Misha is the perfect definition of an Olympic Mascot even because it’s the first one I remember, even being born closer to Los Angeles games. And as a Brazilian, the Rio Mascots are great, the funny part is that they were created in an animation company based in São Paulo, the Rio de Janeiro “rival” city here in Brazil.

[@ANeMzero]

The wear on the toy in the first shot of Shuss makes him even more upsetting because instead of just being a red ball it looks a bit like muscle, like he had his face removed. Howdy and Hidy also have a unique distinction of being mascots who are also instructions, in that when the walkarounds say howdy you'll want to hidey.

[@gravymoat]

Thank you Graham! My wife walked in the room and was like "I remember these!" and I got to make her day by informing her you made a new one! Aside from the brightening of our days, I'm very happy you're doing well!

[@tunicoco]

Hi, Brazilian here. You guys should look up videos of Vinicius characters interacting with the crowd during the 2016 Games. Those guys went wild.

[@sushivoid6295]

Vinícius and Tom in my opinion were the best mascots, especially because they were integrated into the games

[@gungle2595]

Those guys deserved the 100 episode show with 2 spin-offs, not the chinese quintuplet

[@lightofaangelg2372]

Also, the whole idea of Vinícius and Tom gave both of them the same importance. It ain't the Olympic mascot and the other one, they are together, they are friends, they complet eachother

[@biazacha]

At very least they should have kept the wrestling plushie thing, that was a genius PR move.

[@debonidaniel]

​@@lightofaangelg2372I'm Brazilian and the idea was exactly that. They are Brazilian children who are very curious and can't stay still until they discover what's around them. This characteristic demonstrates that children don't discriminate against anyone and everything is the same as the Olympice and the Paralympics.

[@debonidaniel]

​@@biazachaThis is the spirit of Brazilians. We are not rigid with life. Everything can be less serious and as we saw in the ceremonies, a lot can be done with little and broken a lot of concepts.

[@1257Dark]

I feel that Graham saying "Here's -mascot- with a gun" needs to be a Desert Bus reaction audio clip. I feel this very strongly.

[@MrLoaded2012]

I was a kid when Cobi was revealed as the Olympic mascot and I perfectly remember the controversy since almost everyone found it hideous. In fact, Javier Mariscal, the author, grew increasingly defensive amid the criticism...Funny thing, it ended up growing on the general public and I dare say it is very fondly remembered nowadays. Thanks for the video, I hope you're doing OK with your recovery.

[@Mario_N64]

It took some time to understand Cobi. Once I studied cubism he grew on me.

[@BikoFactory]

36:27 "Now unlike Cobi, who is a sheep dog, Petra is a girl with no arms." Why is this sentence so funny

[@Kramburger]

If you're wondering why the Sydney Olympic mascots didn't feature a Kangaroo, it's (probably) because the Mascot for the 1982 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne was Matilda the Kangaroo and they didn't want to double up, although we'd really be the only ones who cared. Matilda was a giant statue that built for the opening ceremony that winked, wiggled it's ears, and deployed about 2 dozen kids from it's pouch. After the games the statue lived at a water park in Queensland halfway up the country and now lives at a truck stop on the Bruce Highway. Also, Lizzie the lizard was voiced by Olivia Newton-John.

[@tottallyok]

I am absolutely obsessed with the Snowlets and their incompetence at sports

[@Bleesotron]

If we include the episode of ENN, Graham's actual Bacon number is 3, and it's not even an obscure link. O'Halloran was in The Happening with Mark Wahlberg, who was in Patriots Day with Kevin Bacon.

[@moohawkofdrknss]

I *knew* there had to be a way that Graham’s Bacon number would be lower, I could feel it in my bones.

[@varmintx0]

I have absolutely no memory of Patriots Day's existence. Looking at its box office, I was obviously not alone.

[@valosonthor]

A bit of clarification: the idea of degrees of separation became popularized through connections to Kevin Bacon, and thus the shorthand term has become Bacon number. However, the Bacon number is a measure of separation between any two people, not specifically between a person and Kevin Bacon. So, when Graham was talking about a Bacon number of 5, he was saying there are 5 degrees of separation between himself and Hidi & Howdy.

[@LexYeen]

I'm sure that Lumpi was just happy to be considered.

[@SpawnofHastur]

Tbh I stan Lumpi.

[@lll.24601]

I loved the Fuwa!! I used to collect all five of them, and my favourites were Jingjing, HuaHua and Nini!

[@valoriedarling588]

Izzy was such a pivotal part of my childhood and I grew up with so much of the merch. I genuinely loved his design as a kid and I thought it was wild that people hated him so much x.x

[@jamesstewart7784]

The story Mukmuk is actuallly super wholesome and adorable and I now love the Vancouver mascots, also, as a British person, as a nation we HATED our mascots in 2012 along with the logo.

[@emilysmith2965]

Well we all know the logo looked like some very inappropriate Simpsons activity

[@trcon]

As an olympic-obsessed kid during 2012, for some reason I was absolutely infatuated with Wenlock and Mandeville. Even had the plushes that I got from Hamley's. Hugely nostalgic now even if, in hindsight, they were ugly as sin haha

[@yeeoof1995]

another brit here, yes the mercury twins do suck ass. mr. blobby is our go-to for this kind of thing and any would-be pretenders shall be smote.

[@icaruskarin]

Well yes as an adult in the UK - EVERYONE hated the mascots and the logos.

[@yabe-kfptentacultist]

Wait uk people hated it? I loved it and still love it

[@eggmanslostson3009]

Fun fact: In 2014 5 mascot’s from previous summer Olympic Games visited Rio for the 2016 Rio Game’s. The 5 mascot’s we’re: Misha from the 1980 Moscow Games- Athena from the 2004 Athens Games- Fu Niu Lele from the 2008 Beijing Games- And unfortunately, Wenlock and Mandeville from the 2012 London Games-

[@FoxGalahArtStuff]

Since this happened, I hope Miraitowa and Someity can visit the Paris 2024 Olympics, LA 2028 Olympics and Brisbane 2032 Olympics. Oh yeah, don't forget about all future Summer Games.

[@FoxGalahArtStuff]

The 2014 Para Mascots were at the Rio 2016 closing ceremony.

[@pytawidmo]

Regarding the Sochi naming conventions - to be fair, some of the previous mascots also had similar names, just not translated. For example Vučko means "a wolf cub", the lovable Misha is just "Mike" but that's also used as a colloquial name for "a bear" (often similar in use to the American "Teddy bear").

[@SQUIZZLER24]

As a little aside, vučko is pronounced “vuchko”, right?

[@heididavison816]

@@SQUIZZLER24I was thinking that too with the little mark above the letter c!

[@midloran]

I was looking for this comment, you gained my like.

[@brendaneichler5244]

To be fair, Teddy Bears were named after a very specific man.

[@MadameChristie]

Closer to Voochko. ​@@SQUIZZLER24

[@GaijinBaseball]

50:17 The reason the Owlets like hockey is because the major driving force behind the Nagano Games was Yoshiaki Tsutsumi, both Japan's richest man and the head of Japan's chapter of the International Ice Hockey Federation at the time. Through his company, Seibu, Tsutsumi owned both a hockey team, the Seibu Prince Rabbits (since defunct), and a baseball team, NPB's Saitama Seibu Lions. When the Lions won their first Japan Series championship under his ownership in 1982, Tsutsumi wasn't with the team in Nagoya (home of their opponents, the Chunichi Dragons), as was customary for the owners, but he was in Tokyo watching a Seibu Rabbits game.

[@c1nnamodoll]

i genuinely haven’t laughed as hard as i did at misha’s segment in so long. i thought my chest was gonna cave in man, that jumpscare of him with the gun and BEING SENT OFF WITH A BUNCH OF BALLOONS ???? i think i’ve been rewinding and laughing for 10 if not 15 straight minutes, oh my god i keep having to pause because i was laughing so hard. this video rules, thank you for making this

[@c1nnamodoll]

just when i finally stopped dry heaving from laughing so hard at misha with a gun, i yelled out loud "WAIT, WHAT???" at the balloons clip and laughed even harder. holy shit i dont think ill laugh like that again in my entire life

[@mrphlip]

Oh man, I completely forgot about Fatso the Wombat. I watched a bunch of The Dream back in the day, but that particular detail completely slipped my memory. The main thing I remember from that show was during the 2002 winter games, Steven Bradbury got first place in the semi-finals of the ice skating when everyone in front of him crashed, so they had him on The Ice Dream to talk about how silly that situation was, and asked "so what's your strategy for the finals" "basically the same again, it seemed to work well"... and then in the finals everyone in front of him crashed and he got first place again.

[@massgunner4152]

That man has to be a wizard, what are the odds?

[@mrphlip]

@@massgunner4152 To be fair, he knew he couldn't really compete against the other racers, so his strategy legitimately was "hang back so you don't get caught up in a crash if one happens, hope one takes out a couple people so you get the podium"... It just went far better than he could have expected.

[@jvanyai]

Bradbury was the first in line to acknowledge he wasn’t the best skater at the time, and took the win as a reward for his career as a whole. Legend.

[@marvinling7635]

Okay I don't know if anyone's commented on this before but based on the Chinese subtitles of the 2D Beijing mascot cartoon, apparently the blue mascot WENT BACK in time to America 30+ years ago??? And the blue one is explaining it's an Olympic mascot, just like Sam the Eagle. Doesn't explain HOW the people animating and story boarding the show know Sam but like. Just a diagetic elaboration of what in God's green Earth is happening in that scene. Source: I speak Cantonese and Mandarin, and also read both simplified and traditional Chinese

[@GrahamStarkVlogs]

Amazing! Thank you!

[@gabrielchee8470]

Maybe china isn't as closed off as we think...

[@issanghessi5661]

fun fact about petra! shes actually based on an artist named lorenza böttner, a friend of mariscal! böttner even appeared as petra in the opening and closing ceremony

[@tomjackal5708]

Penelope Stark, age 6 (at time of drawing) god. what a superstar

[@SievertSchreiber]

Thank you Graham for continuing this series after your hardships. Edit: wtf! This video is over an hour long…

[@GrahamStarkVlogs]

oh, there's so much

[@SievertSchreiber]

@@GrahamStarkVlogs you and your friends (aka LRR) got me through my chemos. It makes me happy to see you do what makes you happy again after your experience with cancer. Also, I like me some trivia!…

[@GenCavox]

Literally, not figuratively, but literally my exact reaction

[@300lbcanary2]

Direct comment to the edit.....YES WTF? I laughed and cried when I noticed that about 1:30 in (when we got to see past, future, curly headed Graham in cameo).

[@Gatraz]

@@GrahamStarkVlogs and none of it prepared me for Kristi and Hakon. Nothing at all.

[@waffleless]

Glad that KZbin kept recommending this because it was a thoroughly entertaining watch

[@GrahamStarkVlogs]

Thanks!

[@GuardianShrek7]

Thank you Graham, this is awesome and you have a wonderful style as a presenter. You also unlocked a memory from my wife who had forgotten about the Baba Yaga vs Misha cartoon till now.