Unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to work on the adult Phillie Phanatic quite yet (I’m still hoping) I did get a chance to design a baby version of the character for Major League Baseball Properties! I really have to admire this guy because well, to me he is the most muppet-like of the MLB mascots and I LOVE the muppets!
In fact, he was created by Bonnie Erickson who was an actual muppet person. She actually designed Miss Piggy, Statler and Waldorf which elevates her to Godhood in my book. It’s not a wonder the character is so popular among his mascot peers!
Now this guy was actually created to draw in more families to the Phillies home of Veterans Stadium. I’m betting the team didn’t realize the impact that this mascot would eventually have. He has become an actual cultural touchstone in the world of sports. Appearing on all manner of merchandise, the character has even become a comicstrip in his hometown paper, the Philadelphia Inquirer.
With his wonderful design, its no wonder that in 2008 he was voted “the most popular mascot” by the magazine sports Illustrated Kids. This is on top of the numerous other awards & accolades the mascot has received.
His designer Bonnie Erickson even went on to design the mascot of the Philadelphia 76ers “Stuff”, another fantastic character, who bears a striking resemblance to the Phanatic even though he is a dragon.
Well, I can’t say enough about this design. It’s awesome. I will include a pic of the baby design I created below and hope I added to the wonderful legacy of this character. Somewhere, Jim Henson is smiling whenever this guy rides his AVT around the stadium!
To see the rest of the baby mascots i designed for Major League Baseball click here!
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