Oreo, the raccoon who was the basis of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Rocket Raccoon, died Thursday, according to those who cared for him. He was 9.
Quinta Layla, which is a quinta (a farmhouse or country house) located in central Portugal that’s “home to many grapevines, cork trees and animals of the usual and unusual kind,” said that Oreo had died after a brief illness.
https://www.facebook.com/quintalayla/posts/1862813517160687
Many Marvel friends may recognize Oreo from Guardians of the Galaxy. The film not only used Oreo as the inspiration for Rocket, but he charmed director James Gunn so much that the raccoon even attended the London premiere of Guardians of the Galaxy with Gunn.
“There was a raccoon by the name of Oreo, who became my pal in London,” Gunn explained in a Guardians of the Galaxy Blu-ray feature. “I’d get to hang out with him all the time. The cast would meet Oreo, the visual effects artists would all study Oreo, and Oreo was the basis for a lot of what Rocket is.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4aePobSZMU
But for those who cared for him, Oreo wasn’t just the raccoon who helped make a Marvel character come to life. He brightened up the day of just about anyone he met, including the people who first found him 10 years ago. (Although the dates provided by Quinta Layla put Oreo’s death just before his 10th birthday, Quinta Layla also says that it was “10 years since [Oreo] arrived in our lives.”)
“Oreo you made so many people’s lives happy,” the Quinta Layla page wrote. “You have been an amazing ambassador for raccoons everywhere. You loved all people of all ages and other animals too and were never phased by anything be it a walk down the red carpet as Rocket Raccoon, a trip to a hospice to visit a sick child or anything else that came your way. You just enjoyed everything and it showed. You instinctively knew when to calm, when to be bouncy and we never worried that you would do the wrong thing because you never did. You were perfect.”
Following the outpour of sympathy from fans and fellow animal lovers from all over the world, Quinta Layla provided an update to let everyone know that Oreo had been buried. One of the people who volunteered to dig the grave also made a slate for the raccoon.
“He was loved by not only us but by so many people,” Quinta Layla wrote.“He truly was one in a million.”
https://www.facebook.com/quintalayla/posts/1863421327099906/
H/T The Wrap