City denies Haibao is imitation of Gumby

• Source: Global Times
• [11:05 April 26 2010]
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Gumby

Haibao

Just days before the World Expo 2010 in Shanghai opens, many local and foreign city residents are somewhat perplexed about accusations by foreign media that say the design of the event's mascot Haibao has been copied from American cartoon character Gumby.

The confusion comes after Shanghai correspondent Louisa Lim for the American broadcaster National Public Radio claimed on Friday that the baby blue-colored Expo figure - said by its designers to have drawn inspiration from the Chinese character for people - is an imitation of the cartoon that first became popular in the United States in the 1960s.

"When I heard about this news I went online to check out who Gumby was, and I don't at all think Haibao looks similar to the American cartoon," An Mei, a Chinese woman in her twenties, told the Global Times yesterday. "In fact, Haibao looks to me like typical Chinese cartoon."

Comparable sentiments are being posted online by Chinese who say they cannot see the resemblance between the two characters while many Americans who the Global Times spoke with yesterday said that the accusations seemed like a bit of a stretch.

"My first impression of Haibao is that the mascot looks like a tube of toothpaste, or a type of cream," said Preston Murphy who arrived to Shanghai from the United States last year. "The image of Gumby never occurred to me the first time I saw Haibao."

But after being pressed to give both cartoons more thought, others reasoned that they could see how Haibao's smile triggers a faint sense of familiarity to Gumby.

"Well, Haibao is obviously blue while Gumby is green, but now that you mention it, their general shapes are kind of alike," said American Jason Engebresten who teaches English in the city.

Meanwhile, Haibao designers are bewildered by the plagiarism claims, saying that they are groundless.

"How could we have copied from Gumby when we never even knew who the cartoon was until now?" said Shao Longtu, one of the chief Haibao designers.