Althouse: Wenlock and Mandeville.

May 19, 2010

Wenlock and Mandeville.

No, I don't understand. Wenlock looks dangerous and Mandeville seems to have wet his man-da-pants.

50 comments:

Methadras said...: Awesome. Another creepy kids show to relax me into sleep. Tele-Tubbies are my favorite.; 5/19/10, 4:43 PM
Miss Kelly said...: Is it not a wee bit telling that the two English children who are quoted in the article have the names Ali and Zanyeb??; 5/19/10, 4:46 PM
LordSomber said...: And I thought the Izzy/Whatsit from the '96 Olympics was ridiculous.
These characters belong in a tokusatsu Power Rangers episode.; 5/19/10, 4:47 PM
Drew W said...: Hmmm. Unclassifiable one-eyed creatures as Olympic mascots. They’re really trying just about any damned thing now, aren’t they?

At least I think I’ve found the right band to play the opening ceremony.; 5/19/10, 4:47 PM
traditionalguy said...: They are not human or animal. Are they computer signs meant to show that computers will take over the Olympics as soon as we give up using human skills in the competition? How wonderful for the kids to see what we now think of their mere human skill levels.; 5/19/10, 4:48 PM
Ron said...: Are Ann and Meade moonlighting for the Olympics?; 5/19/10, 4:55 PM
KCFleming said...: Looks like two grotesquely huge bottle openers.

Wenlock and Mandeville sounds like a 1970s variety show starring a pair of marginally talented pop stars who do mime and topical skits and sing almost-folk songs. Their one hit reached number 12 in 1976, 'Disco Sinatra', when they had dropped the folky pretense and put a Sinatra medley to a depressing Disco beat. The show was subsequently cancelled, and Mandeville was later convicted of embezzlement from the unitarian church he worked as an office manager.; 5/19/10, 5:02 PM
Fred4Pres said...: Mandeville looks like he is wearing chaps. Or wet himself.

I am going to predict epic fail here.

I am wondering how much they paid some agency to come up with this crap. Frankly they might as well got the sock monkey and his pals from the Kia commerical, by kids love them.; 5/19/10, 5:06 PM
KCFleming said...: Wenlock became famous again as 'Wacky Wenlock' the children's songwriter, whose performances before maniacal throngs of the newly-continent set were accompanied by giant whales, rainbows, and fluffy bears.

However, the hit song Give The Dog A Bone soon came under attack for its double-entendre title, fueled by a photograph of Wenlock coming out of a peep show in 1983. At that point, his second career was over.

His current whereabouts are unknown, but Minneapolis residents swear they hear strains of his trademark tune Itchy Palms in the downtown skyways each November.; 5/19/10, 5:11 PM
Fred4Pres said...: I get the feeling Wenlock and Mandeville went to bording school with Christopher Hitchens.

Not that there is anything wrong with that.; 5/19/10, 5:11 PM
mesquito said...: Teletubbies on acid.; 5/19/10, 5:12 PM
Fred4Pres said...: These guys might be available too.; 5/19/10, 5:15 PM
George Grady said...: Mutant Ninja Toilet Seats?; 5/19/10, 5:20 PM
oleh said...: A chav and his piss-drunk chavette girlfriend.; 5/19/10, 5:26 PM
Moondog said...: Like Halloween costumes, it's not a very good Olympic mascot if you have to explain what it is.; 5/19/10, 5:33 PM
halojones-fan said...: I like how the article describes them as having "TV camera eyes".

Uh...yeah. Big Brother is watching you in a kid-friendly non-threatening cartoon fun way!; 5/19/10, 5:43 PM
Rialby said...: Reductio ad absurdum...

When nearly everything you COULD do would offend someone do something that's so SURREAL that it offends nobody.; 5/19/10, 5:44 PM
George said...: Seems really wrong that it's the Paralympic mascot that looks like he has bladdre control issues.; 5/19/10, 5:52 PM
Paddy O said...: Two one-eyed monsters dancing in front of a rainbow?

Really?

I mean I'm not judging or anything...; 5/19/10, 5:53 PM
Independent George said...: From now on, I think all mascots should be designed by the Japanese.; 5/19/10, 5:54 PM
reader_iam said...: Pogo! Mwah!!

: ); 5/19/10, 5:56 PM
KCFleming said...: Please, contribute to the March of Dimes.; 5/19/10, 5:57 PM
vnjagvet said...: I really cant picture who creates things like these? And were are their kilts?

WV Paryond

A dyslexic who can't understand why everyone is trying to do him in.; 5/19/10, 6:02 PM
Patm said...: Everyone I've shown this picture to has literally pulled back in something like horror. No one understands it, but it is literally repellent.; 5/19/10, 6:08 PM
Unknown said...: The real names of Milli Vanilli?

I think I saw Kenneth Tobey or Hugh Marlowe zap both those guys in some invasion from outer space picture at the Bryn Mawr movies back in the 50s.

Either that, or it's representational - Andy Sullivan and the real mother of Trig Palin.; 5/19/10, 6:36 PM
Rialby said...: Are u deleting comments or is that jus happening automatically?; 5/19/10, 6:41 PM
KCFleming said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 5/19/10, 6:46 PM
Brad V said...: Mandeville is a town in Lousiana on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain...perhaps that's what the blue is meant to be...; 5/19/10, 6:49 PM
Unknown said...: WOW ! look at the first lady !!!; 5/19/10, 7:19 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: The Iceland catshark was not available?

ps.. there is something mightily annoying going on with the login and word verification.. one of the two always fails the first time.. no matter how careful I do it.; 5/19/10, 7:44 PM
gordo said...: Is anyone channeling Dr. Who?

The hands leave no doubt. These are re-worked Dr. Who costumes.

I think it was season 9 episode 6?; 5/19/10, 7:47 PM
Dust Bunny Queen said...: Seriously.

Is this a joke?; 5/19/10, 8:48 PM
Methadras said...: mesquito said...

Teletubbies on acid.

That show is called Boobah.; 5/19/10, 8:49 PM
Jason (the commenter) said...: Excellent mascots, I enjoy a good laugh, and these are definitely something worth laughing at.

Can anyone remember mascots from any other Olympics? I can't. And I think these creatures capture the spirit of what the Olympics have become.

In my day people worked very hard to satirize things like Presidents and international institutions. Nowadays they do all the work for us; all we have to do is forward their press releases or repeat direct quotes.; 5/19/10, 9:03 PM
Anonymous said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 5/19/10, 9:03 PM
Mark said...: Makes me want to learn Japanese and refuse to admit English is my first (and at this point only) language.; 5/19/10, 9:06 PM
jeff said...: hmmm....i'm guessing medicinal pot is involved in all this.; 5/19/10, 9:12 PM
Mr. Buford said...: Alert Dr. Who, the Daleks have created a cyborg version of themselves!; 5/19/10, 9:20 PM
AST said...: I thought that it was Mummenschanz with a new look.

Then I wondered what had happened to the TV screen on their bellies.

Now I realize that the London Olympics will be aimed at two-year-olds, but I'm pretty sure my grandson, a couple of years beyond the demographic, would call them "monsters."; 5/19/10, 9:51 PM
Fred Drinkwater said...: I've long had a theory that explains events like this:
"Other people have access to better drugs than I do."; 5/19/10, 10:24 PM
Patm said...: Danielle, I love the first lady's dress, but the bodice is poorly fitted to her. She looks uncomfortable with the right boob smashed like that.

Also, she does not really look happy, anymore.; 5/19/10, 11:03 PM
William said...: According to the report, they are based on two molten drops of steel. It takes a far reach of abstraction to make a cuddly mascot out of such an entity. This is one up on the South Park mascots of Douchebag and Turd Sandwich. I certainly hope that impressionable children do not start playing with welding tools and molten metals.; 5/20/10, 12:39 AM
KCFleming said...: Wenlock and Mandeville are proof that Joni Mitchell has Morgellons disease.

'I've looked at fibers from both sides now;
I really don't know disease at all.; 5/20/10, 6:45 AM
Tibore said...: I dunno about the Olympic committee, but I am not sure that combining abstract art with mascot design is a good idea.; 5/20/10, 7:24 AM
Clyde said...: @ Miss Kelly - I thought exactly the same thing. The fact that they are apparently the most typical kids at the primary school is more disturbing than the creepy mascots. But history belongs to those who show up. The meek don't inherit the earth, the f**kers do, and their progeny. In a few generations, the Brits will be a minority in their own homeland.

Back to the mascots: Kind of an H.P. Lovecraft vibe to them? Or just Matt Groening?; 5/20/10, 8:21 AM
Original Mike said...: I like them.

Which is usually not a good sign ...; 5/20/10, 9:23 AM
rhhardin said...: It's two renditions of Mohammad.; 5/20/10, 9:25 AM
BJM said...: @PatCA

The bodice certainly didn't look comfortable, but the color was fabulous.

Perhaps the Chief of Protocol should wear kitten heels next time out.

What was with the Cinco de Mayo happy hour turquoise and orange color scheme? At least someone had the good sense to call Rick Bayless.; 5/20/10, 12:44 PM
Methadras said...: Patm said...

Danielle, I love the first lady's dress, but the bodice is poorly fitted to her. She looks uncomfortable with the right boob smashed like that.

Also, she does not really look happy, anymore.

I actually thought she looked kind of hot... For a drag queen...; 5/20/10, 7:59 PM
Unknown said...: Bottle openers? Want proof?
look here:

http://wp.me/p2n6eV-l6; 7/21/12, 2:35 AM