Rovio CEO Mikael Hed has said Rovio will be launching a series of Angry Birds cartoon shorts set to air in Spring.
In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Hed said the company is looking to develop the Angry Birds brand along a growing number of distribution channels, with an animated series being the newest. As of yet Rovio has not released any specific details surrounding the animated series, but the Angry Birds cartoons will be short “entertainment snacks” likely to rely little on a traditional TV network distributor.
“Previously content creators were reliant on others who had the channel,” said Mr. Hed. “The content itself is the channel. We have become the channel.”
With over a quarter of a billion active users in December last year, Angry Birds has become a smart device sensation since its launch in 2009 on the Apple iOS App Store, racking up more than 1 billion downloads for the series.
Currently available on various platforms, including iOS, Kindle Fire, Android, Mac, Windows 8 and BlackBerry 10, Rovio realises the breadth of its user base and plans to launch its animated series in a somewhat unorthodox manner.
Rumours suggest the Angry Birds animated series could launch via an internet video channel such as YouTube, or to retain its current user base, screen via the apps themselves.
“I told them ‘whatever you do, please make an animated series people will still want to watch 50 years from now’,” said Hed. According to the WSJ, the Rovio head wants the Angry Birds cartoon to create a series that will mirror the timeless cartoon characters of Road Runner or the Pink Panther.
Since its acquisition of Kombo Animation in 2011, Rovio has more than doubled its headcount to 70, allowing the Finnish-based game developer to broaden its distribution for the Angry Birds franchise, which already includes toys and other branded merchandise. Rovio has also confirmed an Angry Birds movie release date of summer 2016.
Would you watch an Angry Birds cartoon series? Do you think such a series could ever be as popular as the Pink Panther or other cartoons? Drop us a line at the Trusted Reviews Facebook and Twitter pages or the comment boxes below.
Via: Wall Street Journal
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
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We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
