The Story Behind Why Universal Orlando's Christmas Icon Is A Squirrel
Why is Universal Orlando's Christmas mascot a squirrel in a sweater with no pants?
We all love to see our favorite characters from cartoons or movies in a theme park. Getting a chance to hug a favorite character can be a legitimately emotional experience. There’s something perhaps even more special about those characters that are original to a theme park. Universal Orlando has created some incredibly memorable characters through Halloween Horror Nights. It calls the the likes of Dr. Oddfellow and Jack the Clown "icons," but for any that prefer Christmas to Halloween, and I do, the true “icon” of Universal Orlando is Earl the Squirrel, the mascot for the Christmas season.
But why exactly is Universal Orlando’s original holiday character a squirrel in an ugly Christmas sweater and no pants? I have wondered exactly that in the past, but on my recent trip to experience Universal Orlando’s holidays for the first time, I learned exactly where Earl the Squirrel came from. Assistant Director of Creative Development Lora Sauls told the story of Earl, who is based on an actual squirrel that ended up in the Universal Orlando Christmas tree several years ago. She explained…
So Earl the squirrel started life as a real squirrel who stowed away on Universal’s tree, and then he became a stuffed squirrel that would sit in future trees. What exactly happened to the real squirrel is unclear, though one assumes he was captured and released somewhere. You don’t want a squirrel eating your Christmas lights since the little guy could get shocked.
Earl may have started as a fun character for Team Members at Universal Orlando, but it wasn’t too long before he broke out and became known to regular guests. Eventually, finding Earl in the Christmas tree became a game for guests to play before it was decided to take Earl out of the tree and make him a full character in the park. Sauls continued…
In addition to being a character around Universal Orlando, Earl the Squirrel has his face on merch and his name on some of the fantastic seasonal food at Universal Orlando. He’s as much a part of the holiday as Santa himself. That's not bad for a squirrel that liked to eat plastic Christmas lights.
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CinemaBlend’s resident theme park junkie and amateur Disney historian, Dirk began writing for CinemaBlend as a freelancer in 2015 before joining the site full-time in 2018. He has previously held positions as a Staff Writer and Games Editor, but has more recently transformed his true passion into his job as the head of the site's Theme Park section. He has previously done freelance work for various gaming and technology sites. Prior to starting his second career as a writer he worked for 12 years in sales for various companies within the consumer electronics industry. He has a degree in political science from the University of California, Davis. Is an armchair Imagineer, Epcot Stan, Future Club 33 Member.