Misha

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In

This name, in any of its forms, is a common

In 1977, the committee organizing the Olympics held a contest for the best illustration of a bear. The judges chose Victor Chizhikov's design depicting a smiling bear cub wearing a blue-black-yellow-green-red (colors of the Olympic rings) weightlifter's belt, with a golden buckle shaped like the five rings. Misha's design of a small, cuddly and smiling bear cub was evidently intended to counter the "big and brutal Russian Bear". Misha was confirmed as an official mascot on 19 December 1977. Chizhikov complained that the country reneged on a promise to grant him the copyright to his bear which deprived him of royalties, although the Russian Olympic Committee stated "in accordance with the Olympic Charter, after Dec. 31 of the year in which the Olympic Games had been held, all the rights to the intellectual property and the symbols of the Olympics go the International Olympic Committee".^[2]

Misha's origins were depicted in the 1979 animated film Baba Yaga is against!

During the

In 1988, in connection with the 60th anniversary of Mickey Mouse, a special magazine was produced in which Mickey Mouse and Misha met.^[6]

Misha's designer,

A short clip of the 1980 Summer Olympics closing ceremony of Misha's departure was shown in the closing ceremony of the 2014 Winter Olympics, afterward the giant animatronic polar bear Mishka blew out the 2014 Games Olympic torch and sheds a tear (in a nod to Misha's tears during the end of the 1980 Games).^[8][9][10]

The main character of the manga series

In the 2017 film Salyut-7, a plush toy of Misha is used as a Zero-G indicator by the cosmonauts.^[11]

Misha the Little Bear

Misha the Little Bear (こぐまのミーシャ, Koguma no Mīsha), is an anime television series produced by Nippon Animation and Asahi Broadcasting Corporation and directed by Yoshikata Nitta. It aired in Japan on TV Asahi from 6 October 1979 to 5 April 1980, running for 26 episodes. It reran on Home Drama Channel in 1999, and again in 2009 on AT-X. Though it has never been released on DVD, it is available on various paid video distribution services in Japan.

The series was inspired by the mascot introduced for the 1980 Summer Olympics held in Moscow. Character designer Isamu Kumada based the design for Misha on Chizhikov's illustrations. The opening and ending animations were unfinished at the time of the first episode's broadcast, and the onscreen lyrics for the songs were also omitted. From episode 2 onwards, the main staff and theme song credits were marked in blue, and finished versions were used, which also displayed the lyrics. At the end of the opening, the 1980 Olympics emblem logo was added with text indicating that the characters were being used with the consent of the Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games in Moscow.

See also