McMug
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Mcmug.jpg
McMug (麥嘜) is a cartoon pig character that was created in Hong Kong in 1988. McMug first appeared in comics, with its creation attributed to two Hong Kong people—the stories by Brian Tse (who spent time studying in Australia and became influenced by the Michael Leunig-style of cartooning) and the artwork by Alice Mak (graduated from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University). There has been great success after its first publication. Some people believe that the success of McMug (along with the equally successful McDull, who was originally a supporting character in the McMug comics but later became a central character in his own right) is due to its cute appearance, but even more think that it is due to the charming nature of the story. In addition, the stories of McMug always reflect what is happening in Hong Kong, so it has become a way for people to understand Hong Kong. These are not simple cartoon stories, but are meaningful and touching; they are hugely popular among Hong Kong people.
However, most of the McMug stories are related to Hong Kong culture and have dialogues in Cantonese. It can hardly be translated into written Chinese or even English without losing and changing the actually meaning and essence of the stories.
"The McMug comics is sometimes childish, sometimes deep (more often both childish and deep). This may be the reason why McMug attracts readers ranging from kindergarten children to university professors and readers of different ages and backgrounds." (From the preface of the McMug Comics Sampler)
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Biography of McMug
Family of McMug
McMug is a pig adopted by humans. Before being adopted, he was just one month old and was living in one of the farm on Lantau Island. In a thundery night, all the pigs were very scared and escaped from the farm. Meanwhile, a couple that went to Lantau Island for a holiday met McMug. They thought that he was cute and decided to adopt him. McMug called them Papa (http://home4u.hongkong.com/entertainment/comics/mcdull/pic/papa.gif) and Mama (http://home4u.hongkong.com/entertainment/comics/mcdull/pic/mama.gif). They are both rightful people. When they were young, they were chevaliers (called BugBug) and worked together so as to help the needys. Superman as well as Superwoman are their friends.
McMug not only received love from his parents. In fact, was also received fondly by the son, Dak Dak 達達 (http://home4u.hongkong.com/entertainment/comics/mcdull/pic/dada.gif) and daughter, Yuen Yuen 緣緣 (http://home4u.hongkong.com/entertainment/comics/mcdull/pic/yoyo.gif) of his adopted parents.
Girlfriend of McMug (Lisa)
Lisa is McMug's penfriend. Being a wild boar, Lisa does not have a beautiful face, but she is a nice and understanding girl. In their first date, MuMug could not recognise her at first. However, after a letter by McMug fell from Lisa's handbag, he realised that the girl in front of him was Lisa.
School life of McMug
Like other children around his age, he needs to go to school. The name of the kindergarten was Springfield Flowers Kindergarten. He has been studying in kindergarten for 8 years, a pretty long time.
This kindergarten is one of the most popular places that has appeared in the comics, and many funny things as well as comical events have happened there.
In addition, McMug has many classmates and friends:
- Darby is a tomcat.
- Goosie is a goose who is very kind-hearted.
- Fai is a tortoise. He is not smart but he is loyal and truthful to his friends.
- May is a female cow.
- June is a female hippopotamus who always sticks with May and keeps fit together.
- McDull, McMug's only pig friend, who is even sillier than McMug.
The principal and the class teacher, Miss Chan, are also important characters in the comics.
Furthermore, McMug's school life are very diversified and enriching. Besides lessons, McMug likes singing with his friends, and so he participates the choir in his school. Although McMug and his friends do not sing very well, they are some of the most funny in the choir.
Apart from that, the school life of McMug is affected by the school motto, "吾德物賜". Actually, many of McMug's stories involve the Springfield Flowers Kindergarten.
Why is McMug so popular in Hong Kong?
McMug, a “Made in Hong Kong” cartoon character, is so popular in Hong Kong because McMug impress everyone, no matter elderly or youngster, by seeing the reflection of their own lives in the simple words and pictures of this little piggy.
This cute animal is welcomed by a wide range of consumers, which can be seen by wide age range, from 6 to 50, of members of McMug Club. Now, there are over 200 local retail outlets where McMug series products are available.
Drawing style of works of McMug
At the very first glance, McMug's pictures and charaters are just like stupid drawings of little kids. The objects are always very colourful and the lines always run very freely. You can't really tell why, they simply just give you a mood relaxation and joy. Readers can find a shleter from its works against reality, or in other words, they can obtain something which is alternative, from the busy, pressured and fast-paced cityscape.
Some may think the author can't draw. And some may rudely consider the pleasant consequence as an accident.
Actually, this is not an accident. And the author is not an idiot in drawing and painting. From McMug's work, you may realize that, the proportion of the characters are designed carefully. The use of curve and free form are rather intelligent. Simplicity and minimalism are the origin of this kind of naivity. There is an intimate interaction between the author and readers through the graphical and visual media. As a popular art publisher as well as painter, Alice Mak have found a unique way and personalized style.
McMug Comic Books
- Fairy Tales for the Adults (麥嘜成人童話)
- The Flying Pig (麥嘜天空飛豬)
- The Dinosuar's Love Song (麥嘜恐龍戀曲)
- The Three Pigs (麥嘜三隻小豬)
- Gloves (麥嘜絨裡手套)
- The Youth Song (麥嘜青春舞曲)
- Bygones as Dreams (麥嘜舊歡如夢)
- McMug Poems' Collection (麥嘜詩畫選)
- Mcmug's Little Stories (麥嘜感人至深小故事)
- Sort-of Blue Sub-tropics (麥嘜算憂鬱亞熱帶)
- Micro-fiction (麥嘜微小小說)
- Springfield Flowers Kindergarten (春天花花幼稚園)
- McMug Chun Tin Fa Fa Stories (麥嘜春田花花)
- McMug Comic Strips (1) Stories (麥嘜格格漫畫 (1))
- McMug Comics Stories - Sampler (麥嘜漫畫 - Sampler)
- McMug's Collection of Games to be Played When Bored (麥嘜無聊才玩遊戲集)
McMug Song
- 《月光光》
- 《 腳瓜大顫 - 中國人好腳法》
- 《一定得》
- 《麥兜與雞》
- 《黎根之歌》
More about McMug
To understand more about the McMug, Web site of Yellow Bus (http://www.iyellowbus.com) Magazine could help. This website has many things about McMug and his life. Besides his family and school, many other stories are included there, for example, "McDull de la Bun".
McMug products - McMug Badges
S-SocS-okspellitout.jpg
In 2005, the Circle-K convenient store together with Bliss, the company of McDull and McMug series' copyright owner, launched a marketing campaign named McMug Spell-it-out(Chinese:麥嘜任你串 Lit. Spell it out with Mcmug). For any purchase in Circle-K exceeding HK$20, a McMug(or its friends) badge alongside with a silly motto sheet will be given to the customer. These badges are English alphabets of A-Z with hidden ones including heart(Goosie), exclaimation mark(Darby), question mark(Fai), a '&'(May and June).
External links
- School song of Springfield Kindergarten (http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Flats/3919/mcmug_mcdull.html)
- MuMug Email Account (http://www.mcmug.org/webmail.html)
- Download area of McMug Wallpapers and short movies (http://www.iyellowbus.com/download/getDownloadmain.asp)
- McMug's mini-game (http://www.geocities.com/HotSprings/7220/game/)
- McMug game zone (http://hello.to/mcgame)
- McMug comic picture (http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/7188/mcmug.html)
- McMug cursor (http://home.hkstar.com/~simonho/mcmug.htm)
- McMug/ McDull test (http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Highrise/7649/)
- Map of Springfield Kindergarten (http://home4u.hongkong.com/entertainment/comics/mcdull/pic/map.gif)
- Pictures of McMug's classmates and friends (http://is6.pacific.net.hk/~chuntin/family.htm)
- Video about the McMug's choir (http://hk.geocities.com/irishome/photo.htm)
- McMug's School life photo (http://www.geocities.com/HotSprings/7220/chuntinfafa/)
