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The Dream – Days 9 and 15 (2000)

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clip Fatso the wombat

Original classification rating: PG. This clip chosen to be PG

Clip description

By day nine of the Sydney Olympic Games, the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) has moved to ban the appearance of the wildly popular but unauthorised Olympic mascot, Fatso the fat-arsed wombat. Here, Director-General of the International Olympic Commitee, François Carrard, SOCOG representative Liz Smylie, swimmers Kieren Perkins, Michael Klim and Grant Hackett, and an AOC official, Peter Montgomery, are questioned by unnamed journalists about the ban. Subsequently Roy (John Doyle) and HG (Greig Pickhaver) make a plea for the reinstatement of Fatso as the people’s mascot.

Curator’s notes

Given that Roy and HG’s mission is to make serious things sound trivial and the trivial serious, the AOC’s move to ban Fatso (aka 'the Battler’s Prince’) was a gift. Seen as a threat to the popularity (read money-making potential) of the official mascots Syd, Ollie, and Millie (aka 'Syd, Ollie and Dickhead’) and Alan Bond’s Boxing Kangaroo, for which the AOC had shelled out some $15 million in marketing campaign funds, the athletically challenged Fatso was creating problems by turning up on the winners’ dais under the arms of Australia’s gold medallists.

However, official disapproval only increased Fatso’s popularity with a nation that had not warmed to the three official mascots, who looked altogether too perky and Disney-fied for Australian tastes. Fatso, with his large soulful eyes and comfortably plump body, is not only decidedly non-perky but, when in animated form, given to leaving little greeting cards in front of people as a sign of his own disapproval. Ironically, Paul Newell, the inspired designer of Fatso, is a former Disney animator. The gold stick pins featuring Fatso that were presented to guests but never sold became the most sought after souvenirs of the Olympics.

At the conclusion of the event, Fatso was put up for auction with proceeds going to a children’s charity. Enthusiastic bidding saw the price pushed up to a final sum of $80,450 paid by Kerry Stokes, owner of the Seven Network.

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australianscreen is produced by the National Film and Sound Archive. By using the website you agree to comply with the terms and conditions described elsewhere on this site. The NFSA may amend the 'Conditions of Use’ from time to time without notice.

All materials on the site, including but not limited to text, video clips, audio clips, designs, logos, illustrations and still images, are protected by the Copyright Laws of Australia and international conventions.

When you access australianscreen you agree that:

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  • You may embed the clip for non-commercial educational purposes including for use on a school intranet site or a school resource catalogue.
  • The National Film and Sound Archive’s permission must be sought to amend any information in the materials, unless otherwise stated in notices throughout the Site.

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ANY UNAUTHORISED USE OF MATERIAL ON THIS SITE MAY RESULT IN CIVIL AND CRIMINAL LIABILITY.

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