First appearance 14 November 2004 Family Ollimania Family | Species Elephant Nationality Dutch | |
Created by Hein Mevissen
Diederiekje Bok Developed by John Doe
Hein Mevissen Diederiekje Bok | ||
Olli is a cartoon character and a stuffed toy. The character Olli was original created in 2004 by Dutch designer and film director Hein Mevissen and writer Diederiekje Bok as a character for a bottled mineral water. Olli was one of many characters used on the packages and posters of the bottled water brand and John's Phone. Olli was launched on a party of MTV In Rotterdam in 2004. In 2013 Olli was again part of a campaign. This time to save the Rotterdam Zoo Diergaarde Blijdorp. Olli is part of the Ollimania family which is the company that created and owns all characters. Olli became a national hype in the Netherlands from the launch in 2004. After the launch Olli became the symbol of Rotterdam and professional football club Feyenoord. On September 10, 2015, Ollimania and its creators Hein Mevissen and Diederiekje Bok donated a huge Olli statue to the Sophia Children’s Hospital in Rotterdam. They did this to give a smile to the little patients and parents in the hospital. This original big Olli is there to stay.
Contents
Books
The first two Ollimania books were launched in October 2014. 'Olli en het poepkanon' and 'Olli is een olifant'. Both books made it into the top 10 of best sold children books in the Netherlands. In June 2015 Ollimania published again two new books called 'Olli en de woestijndraak' and 'Olli op reis'.
Design
Hein Mevissen and Diederiekje Bok from design company John Doe designed Olli from the basic shape of a soccer ball. They believe the basic shape, size and character was part of Olli's success. This made Olli easily recognizable to audiences. Olli is drawn in a minimalist style, requiring only a few lines and one primary color. Olli was created in three sizes, one small size 4.7 in. one medium, size 11 in. and one big size 7.2 ft.
Big Olli
There are two big Olli's. They are the elder version of small Olli. The Big Olli's is a special creature model made for several charities. One is a permanent hard plastic polyester statue at the Sophia Children's Hospital and another one has a temporarily place at the Rotterdam Zoo. The big Olli that is used in the short film to save the Rotterdam ZOO is stored at a secret location according to the creators.
Fictional character biography
Olli is toy elephant grown to the size of a real elephant. Olli is a lovable character with furry friends living in a Japanese fantasy world. Later in 2013 there was a story added that he was also the favorite toy of Famous Soccer player Giovanni van Bronckhorst. Together they are the main cast of a short film. In Rotterdam, Netherlands of 1980, Giovanni van Bronckhorst is a little boy (played in the short film by the son of Giovanni van Bronckhorst). One day, he discovers a stuffed Elephant at the Rotterdam Zoo and immediately grows attached to it. The name of the elephant is Olli. Giovanni takes him everywhere he goes, especially when he plays soccer. One day during a soccer game, he loses Olli in the canal of Rotterdam. 28 years later in 2013, Giovanni became a Famous Soccer Player and trainer of soccer club Feyenoord and Olli, also grew big, reunite again.
Background
Hein Mevissen and Diederiekje Bok have a history in creating things that help people. To give something back to society and convince big brands to do so too. Olli was a few times part of a strategy they developed in 2004 and created Olli as a separate brand to generate awareness and in one campaign to generate more traffic and money for a ZOO in Rotterdam.
Awards
In December 2013 Hein Mevissen and Diederiekje Bok of John Doe got awarded with the highest Dutch advertising award the Golden Loeki for this campaign. The agency John Doe got the award in a Live television show from Arian Buurman, CEO of the Stichting Ether Reclame who hosts the Loeki awards.
Sales
In 2013 Olli was used to help and save the Rotterdam zoo to generate money after the zoo lost government funding. In one year over 200.000 Olli's were sold. Olli also generated 75.000 more visitors for the Rotterdam zoo. Ollimania is a licensing brand for a large range of products and always attached to a good cause. In 2015 Ollimania sold over a million of their licensed products.
Charity
Ollimania is always involved with giving back to the community. Ollimania works with local charity organizations as well as collaborating on common projects, fund‐raisings and social activities. In 2013 Ollimania saved a historic Zoo. In 2015 Ollimania brings its stuffed toy characters to children hospitals, where he interact with little patients by distributing Ollimania presents, reading out Ollimania stories, taking pictures and even organizing birthday celebrations for the most needing ones and their families. On September 10, 2015, Ollimania and it’s creators Hein Mevissen and Diederiekje Bok donated a huge Olli statue to the Sophia Children’s Hospital in Rotterdam. They did this to give a smile to the little patients and parents in the hospital. This original big Olli is there to stay.
copyright infringement
In 2015 John Doe BV/Ollimania started a lawsuit against the Dutch insurance company ASR Nederland for copyright infringement. The Dutch Insurance company used illegally images and foto’s from Ollimania to sell insurances to their customers. The Dutch court ruled in favor of John Doe BV and urged ASR Nederland to stop their copyright infringement. ASR Nederland had a license for a year on one of the Olli toys that expired in August 2014. The insurance company also kept 30.000 toys that were meant for the Rotterdam zoo to earn money to keep the ZOO open. ASR Nederland was entitled to keep the toys and distribute them however they see fit as long they would not infringe the copyrights of John Doe BV and Olli again. ASR Nederland is the biggest insurance company of the Netherlands with almost 3000 employees. Hein Mevissen, the artist and creator of Olli urged the insurance company to look in their hearts and give the toys back to the ZOO where they belong.