On September 25, 1974, a beaver was born. This wasn't just any beaver, it was the official mascot of the upcoming Montreal Olympic Games, announced and introduced to the world. Its name, Amik, was chosen via a public contest. Nobody ever figured out if Amik was male or female... but then again, nobody really asked the question.
A Canadian national symbol chosen for its industriousness and patience, the minimalist mascot was a product of Montreal's overall design concept, which was created by the Graphics and Design Directorate, a committee made up of prominent Canadian graphic artists of the time. The designers credited with the mascot's birth were Yvon Laroche, Pierre-Yves Pelletier, Guy St-Arnaud and George Huel.
That winning name, "Amik," means "beaver" in an Algonquin language -- which is, in the terms of the 1976 Official Report, "the most widespread among the Amerindians of Canada." It was notably used when natives attempted to communicate with Canada's white settlers.
The mascot was usually seen either wearing the red sash that accompanied the Games of the 21st Olympiad's medals, and occasionally a rainbow sash. Speaking of colors, small plastic Amiks were produced in many, many different hues -- including an alternate black one with a grey sash. Here's a white Amik with a blue sash on a pin. The possibilities were endless.
Amik, and we're being honest here, is one of the least-liked mascots in Olympic history. The beaver cuts a simplistic figure... perhaps too simplistic, even by the Mies "less is more" standards that dominated popular design during that era. From above, Amik could have been mistaken for a bird. From the side, he has been variously described as flattened roadkill, a bad mullet haircut, a derogatory hand gesture, or -- far less politely -- as a turd.
I did once own a stuffed Amik such as the one above (it got lost in a move), and I fully admit to using it as a travel pillow once. But I choose a different view to the prevailing one. Time has rendered Amik a tragically misunderstood mascot, one with no means to defend itself against the slings and arrows of a demanding public.
It's very important to note that Amik -- like Waldi before it -- was designed as a symbol. That might be difficult to fathom in an age when we demand our mascots to come alive, dance, even talk to us. This silent, stoic beaver was the very last of its breed: a non-cartoon mascot that wasn't designed to be a "suit" worn by a human, that wasn't expressly designed to entertain kids with short attention spans.
After Amik, Olympic mascots would never be the same.
(Images via the 1976 Official Report and the Canadian Design Resource)
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