Expo Oz

Expo Ozは、Expo 1988 ブリスベンの公式マスコットで、つば広のオーストラリア帽をかぶり、サファリ風のジャケットを着たカモノハシです。カモノハシを選んだことで、カンガルーやコアラとは違う新しいオーストラリア像が示され、衣装の金色はクイーンズランドの太陽を思わせました。国際博覧会のテーマは「技術時代の余暇」でした。

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誕生と選考

Queensland Premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen commissioned the character in 1984. Choosing the platypus presented Australia in a fresh way, beyond the familiar kangaroo and koala. His slouch hat, as worn by Australian soldiers, and the green and gold of his safari suit, Australia’s national sporting colors, made him unmistakably Australian, while the gold tones also evoked sunny Queensland.

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The walk-around costume now in the Queensland Museum was made in California in 1986. Expo Oz was launched on November 30, 1986, to build publicity for the Expo within Australia and abroad.

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博覧会で

During the Expo, which ran from April 30 to October 30, 1988, Expo Oz made more than 1,500 appearances on the site. He led daily parades, appeared in concerts and strolled the grounds posing for photographs. He even greeted visitors on Telecom’s Expo Info touch screens, a novelty at the time, with the line “This is a touch screen. Don’t be afraid to touch me!”

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切手・映像・グッズ

Expo Oz appeared on a wide range of souvenirs, posters and promotional articles. The largest plush toy produced for the Expo was a seated Expo Oz in his hat and safari jacket.

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レガシー

The Queensland Museum keeps an Expo Oz costume and plush toys in its Expo 88 collection, preserving the mascot as part of the Expo that many residents regard as a turning point for Brisbane.