This summer marks 30 years since the opening ceremonies of the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games held in Atlanta and 36 years since the city was awarded the Games of the XXVI Olympiad.

AJC Olympic Over

Cover of the AJC from September 18, 1990 showing celebrations after Atlanta was announced the host of the 1996 Summer Olympics

Credit: Jeff Hullinger

So much has changed, a very different metropolitan area has emerged, bigger population, less provincial, big city sophisticated for better or worse. 

Oh Atlanta!

There are a dwindling few reporters left from the Atlanta Journal Constitution and local television who covered the run up to games and the event.

A decade ago, Brenda Wood and I hosted an hour long television broadcast from the Atlanta History Center with Billy Payne and Andrew Young among the luminaries to share their observations on the 20th anniversary.

Jeff Hullinger and Brenda Wood host TV special on 1996 Olympics

Credit: Jeff Hullinger

Memories evolve with the passage of time, becoming less vivid. The 30th anniversary has a different lilt from the others.

In the weeks ahead, there will be a conga line of articles, essays and columns chronicling the “true meaning” of those games long ago.

Today for the purposes of this blog, a look back at the much-maligned mascot of 1996—-Izzy. A computer generated, slug like blob, first debuting at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona.

Whatizit! was universally mocked, panned by writers across the globe. The Associated Press wrote, “the most maligned product to come out of Atlanta since New Coke.” The AJC with a survey showing only 14 of 300 respondents “loved it.” The London Daily Telegraph penned, “it certainly wins a gold for ugliness.”

Today, a new Atlanta documentary film to commemorate a unique symbol of those local Olympic times. A mascot that strangely became a lightning rod on public opinion.

2-year-old Wesley Boutilier with Izzy at the 1996 Olympics

Credit: Wesley Boutilier

Marietta Native Wesley Boutilier was 2 years old during the 1996 games, he met Izzy from a stroller pushed by his mother.

Today the 32-year-old filmmaker, along with his documentarian partner Cody Seymour, have crafted a reflection on the ever-controversial mascot:

Jeff: “ What triggered this 30-year commemoration Olympics project focusing on Izzy?

Wesley: “I’m a big fan of themed entertainment and I’m always looking to cover stories that focus on rides, animatronics, puppets, or mascots. I figured it was the perfect time to finally tackle an Olympics character that I’ve always found fascinating. Izzy has such a fun, wacky design, and the fact that he caused such an uproar really adds to the intrigue.”

Jeff: “Local television, all local media was terrified of ACOG in the lead up to the games. As I recall, criticism was often muted for fear of losing access. And that included Izzy, Did you discover this?”

Wesley: “This may have been the case for some aspects of the ‘96 Olympics, but the AJC didn’t hold back on their Izzy criticisms! I was shocked to see just how creative some of the insults were.”

Jeff: “ Was Izzy a mistake?”

Wesley: “I don’t think Izzy was a mistake. The design didn’t exactly evoke Atlanta, but it did get people talking. The original goal was to create a character that would be popular with kids, and I think they succeeded in that department.”

Jeff: “Did Izzy have any impact?”

Wesley: “I didn’t realize just how hard ACOG was pushing Izzy at the time. He had his own Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade balloon three years in a row, a video game, an animated special, and an outrageous amount of merchandise. He had a huge impact at the time, but sadly there’s not much of a life for Olympic mascots after the event. He served his purpose.”

Jeff: “Did Billy Payne like it?”

Billy Payne seemed to love Izzy! Computer animation was still in its early stages, so this was cutting edge at the time. I think Payne wanted people to see Atlanta as a high-tech city and that was a great way to do it. Some of the other members of ACOG may have been perplexed at first, but Payne always seemed onboard.”

Jeff: “ Olympics here, overrated or underrated?”

Wesley: “ Many people looked down on the Atlanta Olympics at the time. International Olympic Committee President Juan Antonio Samaranch famously broke his tradition of calling each Games the “best ever” and simply said “Well done, Atlanta.” It may not have been the smoothest Olympics, but it was more successful than most. It had a positive economic impact on the city and completely revitalized midtown/downtown. That’s my long-winded way of saying underrated!

Jeff: “Tell me something you learned creating this project you didn’t know?”

Wesley: “I was surprised to see how many structures that were built for the Olympics are still in use today. I drive past the Georgia Tech dorms on a regular basis and never knew they were originally used as Olympic athlete housing. It was also exciting to see some of the other potential mascots who were turned down. One of them was designed by Cabbage Patch Kids creator Xavier Roberts!”

Here is the film. 

Atlanta beat the odds to become the host city for the 1996 Olympic Games, but one controversial figure became the media's favorite punchline. This is the story of Whatizit.