Wisconsin football games in the 1920s live mascots were used to inspire fans. The animals used included a black bear, a bonnet monkey, and live badgers. 1949 was the first year a student sporting a papier-mâché badger head appeared; this subsequently replaced the use of live badgers.
The team's nickname originates from the state nickname. In the 1820s, many lead miners and their families lived in the mines in which they worked until adequate above-ground shelters were built, and thus were compared to badgers.
In 2009, Fulton Market Films produced the documentary Being Bucky which followed the lives of seven Wisconsin students who take on the role of Bucky Badger. Being Bucky won "Best Documentary Film" at the Wisconsin Film Festival and went on to play in local Wisconsin movie theaters.
== People ==
=== Alumni ===
Over its history, UW–Madison alumni, faculty, or former faculty have distinguished themselves in a wide variety of fields, and have been awarded 20 Nobel Prizes and 41 Pulitzer Prizes. UW–Madison …
