>>45340030I don't think it's a direct reference, but I would guess it may have at least been a passing inspiration to either the original design or sugi's art rendition of the sprite. The mascot is from the early '70s. Sugimori was born in '66, meaning it's very possible he saw them when he was a kid, and knowingly or not, used that as inspiration for tangela's coloration (or the original designer did so for the sprite). Further more, the original sprite could simply be lacking detail or misread because of it's monochromatic shading due to color limitations on the GB (not unlike how plenty of people get Lucy's - from I Love Lucy - hair color wrong).
But of course, this is all unfounded speculation, so in the end, these are merely conjectures and coincidences.
