It's a cartoon bee. It's the guy from "V for Vendetta."
Wait, it's … Sparky?
Arizona State has unveiled a new, kid-friendly mascot as part of its ongoing sports re-branding. The cartoonish Sparky, above, will make his debut at the Sun Devils' spring football game.
ASU nipped and tucked its 61-year-old mascot with help from Disney and a nod to its past. It was a Disney artist, after all, who drew ASU's cartoon devil character in 1946. (Lore has it that the mascot was made to look like Walt Disney, his boss.)
Sparky isn't the only mascot to undergo a facelift recently. Wilbur T. Wildcat, left, and his longtime partner, Wilma, got a new look - and an apparent tan - last summer. The furry suits are a darker brown than the Wildcat mascots have traditionally worn.
The Wildcats and Sun Devils - the teams, not mascots - will meet Saturday at McKale Center in their regular-season basketball finales. The UA men won their January meeting in Tempe.
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