By now, Rovio and their Angry Birds franchise need no introduction. Especially since Angry Birds has garnered over 1 billion downloads across multiple platforms, including iOS, Android, PC and multiple game consoles. Not long after Angry Birds hit it big, we started to see stuffed animals and T-shirts based on the franchise all over the place. In April of last year, we heard rumblings of a 3D animated movie.
Rovio has been teasing a new element using the Angry Birds name for a while, and yesterday they revealed just what that new medium is. A web based cartoon series featuring the Angry Birds characters will debut on March 16th; and it’s called Angry Birds Toons.
The webisodes will air once a week and will take place on Piggy Island. Rovio aims to provide more of a backstory on the Angry Birds world with this new cartoon.
“Deep in the heart of Piggy Island.”
If you ever had a question about the infamous piggy and birdy conflict, you might find it answered through the web series. Rovio has promised that the new cartoon will “throw the doors to Piggy Island wide open.”
That’s funny because I never even knew there were doors on Piggy Island. In fact, I don’t recall any doors on their protective structures in the Angry Birds games. Frankly, I’m not even sure how the green pigs got inside those structures in the first place.
It’s likely the cartoons will be watchable via different channels. For example, Rovio could launch a proprietary app dedicated to the cartoon, in addition to hosting the content on various websites. CNET mentions that the series will only be available on the internet, but that doesn’t mean it will stay that way indefinitely.
Apparently, there are a total of 52 episodes scheduled and each will last for approximately three minutes. On March 16th, however, it looks like the series will premiere exclusively on the dedicated website.
Speaking of the dedicated website, it’s now host to a series trailer along with a tasty little message stating that Angry Birds fans should “stay tooned!”
http://youtu.be/w5px1IbyAjw
In addition to the web series, Rovio has confirmed that a 3D animated movie is in the works, set to release in the summer of 2016. John Cohen, producer of “Despicable Me” will also be producing the animated film.
I will say that it’s nothing short of astounding to see Rovio transformed from a simple game development company, into a comprehensive entertainment firm.
How many of you are excited for the web series? Personally, I’m more excited for that animated film.