Rovio, the creator of the popular game, Angry Birds, has released the dates for their new TV-show based off of the game. Beginning March 16th, episodes will be released in numerous international zones, including Australia, Brazil, Finland, France, Germany, India, Israel, Korea and Norway. Then, American audiences will be able to watch Angry Birds Toons on Comcast’s Xfinity on-demand channel, as well as in a channel on the Angry Birds app on March 17th.
Rovio has made statements about how they want this show to be unusual. Rather than targeting audiences specifically online or through cable, the company is using its reach of 1.7 billion downloads as a way to contact viewers.
Since the mobile game began in Espoo, Finland in 2009, Angry Birds has found its way to all different types of mediums, including all tablets and physical games.
Now, Andrew Stalbow, executive vice president of strategic partnerships for Rovio, claims that, “Video is the final piece in our transition from a mobile game maker into an international entertainment company.”
Plans for Angry Birds Toons began about a year and a half ago after the success of the Angry Birds promotional videos. Now, the company has about 75 animators, and an animated film planned for 2016. The cartoon series is merely a stepping stone towards the movie, as it will introduce characters that will be able to play important roles and evolve on the big screen.
This will definitely be interesting to watch. Usually, the TV-show/movie comes before the game, but Angry Birds is certainly highlighting on the game’s success. Whether or not the cartoon series is good or not remains to be seen. I guess that we’ll find out on March 17th! It is cool how the show’s characters are keeping their personalities from the game, and I really want to know why the pigs have it out for the birds (for all we know, the birds are the evil ones and are trying to save us from the psychotic birds…) What do you think of this? Should Angry Birds remain as a mobile app, or are you excited to see the show?