Say hello to Irbir!
1981-82 the Rochester Chamber of Commerce in Rochester New York decided to try their hand at a mascot marketing campaign, they created this little alien known as IRBIR... an acronym which spawned from their other marketing campaign, "I'd Rather be in Rochester - It's Got It!" Sending this little alien and his space ship to help promote local retail businesses.
His species isnt exactly known. Brian Bram, who helped create the puppet (shown above) was reported to have said that Irbir's kind was called Norgans. (A portmanteau of the words "nuts" and "organs", but doesn't explain further in that). There doesn't seem to be many publications that can offer background on the character itself or his home planet that sadly seems to be far below the standards set by the booming metropolis that was 1980's Rochester.
The puppet took multiple people to operate, having a puppeteer with a voice-changing pitch transposer while watching the puppet/audience from television screens placed inside the ship/stage. The puppet Irbir was seen all around the city doing guest appearances at places like Camp Good Days and Special Times, and helping spread the love of the city of Rochester.
A local business by the name of McCurdy’s wanted to leverage the Irbir character for promotion but didn’t want to pay to license it from IRBIR co & the Effects company, (whom still have copyrights to it, as it is unknown at the time of writing if that has changed). The full rights to the little alien were eventually offered to the American Cancer Society with underwriting by corporate sponsors, but they declined.
If it looks like the Shaknado version of Speilberg's E.T., then you aren't alone. Irbir made his appearance 6 months before the release of the cinematic titan 'E.T.: the extra-terrestrial', but once the movie was out, that is the only thing that people thought the Roc City mascot was. The constant need to explain it wasn't the movie character was disheartening to the team and the Chamber of Commerce, and eventually lead to Iribr and his ship being boxed and left in a basement.
Here is illustrator's John Magnus Champlin's interpretation of the Irbir that never left, he's rolled with the scene from the 80's on up, and enjoying what the #roc has to offer an out of towner for 2017!
@magnusapollo
His species isnt exactly known. Brian Bram, who helped create the puppet (shown above) was reported to have said that Irbir's kind was called Norgans. (A portmanteau of the words "nuts" and "organs", but doesn't explain further in that). There doesn't seem to be many publications that can offer background on the character itself or his home planet that sadly seems to be far below the standards set by the booming metropolis that was 1980's Rochester.
The puppet took multiple people to operate, having a puppeteer with a voice-changing pitch transposer while watching the puppet/audience from television screens placed inside the ship/stage. The puppet Irbir was seen all around the city doing guest appearances at places like Camp Good Days and Special Times, and helping spread the love of the city of Rochester.
A local business by the name of McCurdy’s wanted to leverage the Irbir character for promotion but didn’t want to pay to license it from IRBIR co & the Effects company, (whom still have copyrights to it, as it is unknown at the time of writing if that has changed). The full rights to the little alien were eventually offered to the American Cancer Society with underwriting by corporate sponsors, but they declined.
If it looks like the Shaknado version of Speilberg's E.T., then you aren't alone. Irbir made his appearance 6 months before the release of the cinematic titan 'E.T.: the extra-terrestrial', but once the movie was out, that is the only thing that people thought the Roc City mascot was. The constant need to explain it wasn't the movie character was disheartening to the team and the Chamber of Commerce, and eventually lead to Iribr and his ship being boxed and left in a basement.
Here is illustrator's John Magnus Champlin's interpretation of the Irbir that never left, he's rolled with the scene from the 80's on up, and enjoying what the #roc has to offer an out of towner for 2017!
@magnusapollo