Haibao (simplified Chinese: 海宝; traditional Chinese: 海寶), meaning "jewel of the sea", is the mascot of Expo 2010, which was held in the city of Shanghai, China from May 1 to October 31, 2010.
Meaning
"Hai (海)" means the sea in Chinese inscribed from the name of the host city, and "Bao (宝,寶)" means the treasure. Its figure is in the shape of the Chinese character "Ren (人)" (meaning human). Haibao was produced by Taiwanese designer Wu Yong-jian and adopted as the official mascot of the World Expo on December 18, 2007. He was selected out of 26,655 entries as part of an international competition.
Similarities to Gumby
It is sometimes pointed out that Haibao resembles Gumby, the green clay humanoid figure shown on American television from the 1950s–'60s. The expo's secretariat said that it is an original design and they had never heard of Gumby.
See also
- Seymore D. Fair, mascot for the New Orleans 1984 expo
- Twipsy, mascot for the 2000 Hannover expo
Notes
- "上海万博：また盗作騒ぎ マスコット「ガンビーに似てる」". The Mainichi Daily News. 24 April 2010. Archived from the original on April 27, 2010. Retrieved 24 April 2010. (Japanese)
- "上海万博：マスコットのコピー横行 「そもそも米キャラの盗作」". The Mainichi Daily News. 24 April 2010. Archived from the original on 14 July 2012. Retrieved 24 April 2010. (Japanese)
- "Haibao vs Gumby: The copycat charade". Archived from the original on 2010-05-02. Retrieved 2010-05-02.
- "Shanghai Expo designer denies mascot copy of Gumby". Retrieved Feb 19, 2023.
External links
Media related to Haibao at Wikimedia Commons
- 上海万博の公式マスコットキャラクター「海宝(ハイバオ)」にも盗作疑惑が浮上 FNN NEWS(Tokyo),22 April 2010 (in Japanese)
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