(harp glissando)
- We've done hands that have webs
in between them.
Horns,
spikes,
lizard feet, Viking boots,
whiskers,
teeth.
There is no mascot handbook,
and, if there is, there shouldn't be.
My name is Brittany, and I make mascots.
Olympus Group was founded in 1893.
It's located in beautiful North Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Each mascot is different.
It's such a art form.
It definitely takes a lot of passion;
it takes a lot of creativity;
it takes a lot of teamwork;
and the people who work here are
absolutely amazing with what they can do.
There's Molly, she's the Head Fabrication Technician.
Steve, he's the Sketch and Sculpting Artist.
Sally is the Engineering and the Prepress Specialist.
Mary is the Foam Fabrication Technician,
and Lyssa is the Patterning and Sewing Lead.
And then there's Mitchell.
He usually delivers us lunch.
(bell dings)
Whenever we get a request in,
we get around a table and we come up with a plan.
The request can be anything from a detailed presentation
to a doodle on a cocktail napkin.
The sketch team will sketch up a rendering for the customer
and then we'll send that out for approvals.
After that's settled, we eat.
Lunch is very important.
We have tight deadlines.
We can't always get out and sit down at lunch.
So sometimes it's really helpful to
be able to get delivery to help us through our day.
Collaboration is super important.
There's no one person that can make a whole costume.
First, it will go to the sculptor,
who sculpts the head.
We'll turn that into a mold.
The mold will then be vacuformed.
It's kind of like something out of a Sci-fi movie.
It's a lot of fun to watch.
Once the heads are vacuformed and all put together,
then, they go over to our technicians
on our head covering team.
They'll pull fabrics from the wall
and begin gluing the fabric onto the head.
And then it's a matter of cutting fabric,
sewing it together,
adding, kind of, those last finishing details
to get the whole costume to come together
to fit as one piece.
Then we'll make sure it's able to
meet all the necessary requirements
the performer will need.
- Jump!
- [Brittany] As soon as you put that head on.
- Cry!
- [Brittany] The person kind of, like, becomes that character.
- Dance!
- [Brittany] Some people will start to dance
and do poses.
They can be kind of larger than life.
And then we'll do a photoshoot.
(shutter clicking)
It is just very cool to kinda see the whole process
all coming together and being finished.
There's a ton of pride when it comes to that moment.
Once the mascot is complete,
we'll go to wherever the next cocktail napkin
takes us.
(laughing)