Photo: © 2010 AP via AAP/Matt Dunham

A $25 million, 18 month creative process has produced Wenlock and Mandeville, who come complete with an animation telling their life story.

Olympic mascots have become cash cows over the years, and organisers will be hoping this pair can win hearts like Misha, the bear from the Moscow Olympics, did.

At the very least, they'll hope they are less controversial and better loved than the London Games' logo.

So far, the reaction from critics has been incomprehension.

"Two parts-Pokemon to one-part lava lamp with yellow 'Taxi' lights on their foreheads" was The Telegraph's description of the duo.

"The characters are not cuddly or cute, but steely, strapping and genderless," reads The New York Times.