Lights, camera, action! London 2012 mascots hit the big screen

As London 2012 prepares to mark one year to go to the Paralympic Games, the London 2012 Paralympic mascot Mandeville will be gracing the silver screen this summer, alongside Olympic mascot Wenlock, as ‘Wenlock and Mandeville’s Out of a Rainbow’ comes to a cinema near you.
The film will be shown exclusively at ODEON Cinemas from August 26 to September 29 nationwide.

Download images from the launch: http://mm.gettyimages.com/mm/nicePath/locog?nav=pr155735607

The short animation, cut especially for the big screen, shows how Mandeville and Wenlock are created from the last two drops of steel from the Olympic Stadium and then follows their journey as they continue on their sporting adventure across the UK, inspiring young people to take up sport.

The story for the film is written by British author Michael Morpurgo and also features narration by English theatre, film, and television actor Jim Broadbent.

Animated versions of British Paralympic and Olympic athletes Ellie Simmonds, Mandip Sehmi, Tom Daley and Phillips Idowu, also make an appearance and the sound track to the film is composed by British award-winning composer Thomas Hewitt Jones.

The film will be shown on 373 screens in more than 100 ODEON Cinemas nationwide before selected family movies including Harry Potter 7.2, Cars 2, Kung Fu Panda 2, Spy Kids 4D, The Smurfs, Mr Popper’s Penguins, Arrietty, Zookeeper and Horrid Henry.

‘Wenlock and Mandeville’s Out of a Rainbow’ will be one of three films exclusively shown at ODEON Cinemas during the lead up to the Games. The two new films will be released in November 2011 and May 2012.

LOCOG Chair, Seb Coe said: ‘Our mascots were created to engage and excite young people in sport. These films will bring the mascots’ experiences of meeting new people and trying new sports to thousands of young people visiting cinemas across the UK. Through their journey Wenlock and Mandeville will help inspire kids to strive to be the best they can be.’

Wenlock and Mandeville are proving to be a hit with young people. The dynamic duo appear on learning resources available to teachers through the London 2012 Education programme ‘Get Set’ and the costume characters have together made over 200 appearances across the UK.

People have ‘customised’ their own version of the mascots as just one of the interactive mascot games on the mascot website and 23,700 people follow Wenlock and Mandeville on Twitter and Facebook. The mascots feature on over 25% of official London 2012 products. Visit www.london2012.com/mascots for more details.

- That’s a wrap –

For further information please contact the London 2012 Press Office on +44 (0)203 2012 100 or visit the website at www.london2012.com. Find out the latest from London 2012 HQ on our blog http://www.london2012.com/blog or follow us on Twitter http://www.twitter.com/london2012

Notes to editors

With over 75 years of cinema experience, ODEON is the biggest cinema chain in the UK and Ireland, owning or managing 893 screens at 113 sites across the UK & Ireland.

Created from the last drops of steel left over from the construction of the final support girder for the Olympic Stadium, their names reflect the UK’s rich Olympic and Paralympic histories. Wenlock’s name is inspired by the Shropshire village of Much Wenlock where the ‘Wenlock Games’ was one of the inspirations that led the founder of the modern Olympic movement Baron Pierre de Coubertin to create the Olympic Games. Mandeville’s name is inspired by Stoke Mandeville in Buckinghamshire. In the 1940s, Dr.Ludwig Guttmann came to Stoke Mandeville Hospital to set up a new spinal unit to help former soldiers suffering from spinal cord injuries. Looking for ways to inspire those in his care, he encouraged them to take up sport, leading to the formation of the Stoke Mandeville Games, widely recognised as a forerunner of the modern Paralympic movement.

Mascot product is available to buy at www.london2012.com/shop and London 2012 shops nationwide.

As it heads towards its £2bn budget for staging the Olympic and Paralympic Games, LOCOG has seven domestic Tier One Partners - adidas, BMW, BP, British Airways, BT, EDF and Lloyds TSB. There are seven domestic Tier Two Supporters – Adecco, ArcelorMittal, Cadbury, Cisco, Deloitte, Thomas Cook and UPS. There are now twenty-six domestic Tier Three Suppliers and Providers – Aggreko, Airwave, Atkins, Boston Consulting Group, CBS Outdoor, Crystal CG, Eurostar, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP, G4S, GSK, Gymnova, Heathrow Airport, Heineken UK, Holiday Inn, John Lewis, McCann Worldgroup, Mondo, Next, The Nielsen Company, Populous, Rapiscan Systems, Rio Tinto, Technogym, Thames Water, Ticketmaster and Trebor.

There is one domestic Tier One Paralympic Games Partner, Sainsbury’s and one domestic Tier Three Paralympic Supplier, Otto Bock.

The Worldwide Olympic Partners signed up for London 2012 are Coca-Cola, Acer, Atos, Dow Chemical Company, GE, McDonald’s, Omega, Panasonic, Procter and Gamble, Samsung and Visa.