The creator of Misha the brown bear, the iconic mascot for the 1980 Moscow Olympics, has accused the artist responsible for designing the mascot for the Sochi Winter Olympics of plagiarism. Children’s book illustrator Victor Chizhikov said the current polar bear’s “eyes, nose, mouth and smile” were an almost exact copy of Misha’s. Misha the smiling bear was the first sports mascot to achieve commercial success through the sale of merchandise. In addition to a teddy bear, he even had his own short animation in Russia and an animated television series in Japan.
In addition to the polar bear, a rabbit and a leopard are also mascots for this year’s Games. The trio became one of most talked about elements of the opening ceremony on 7 February after three giant robotic versions of them glided into the arena and broke out into a gentle dance. The polar bear received particular attention on Twitter for his droopy, blinking eyes, which commentators said made him look drunk.
Source: Lenta