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DULLES, VA, May, 2005 – Coming off the heels of “Princess Natasha” -- the animated series that successfully transitioned from the Web into a Cartoon Network TV program and Little, Brown Books for Young Readers series of books – AOL’s KOL™ service for kids will launch a new original animated series called "SKWOD." Developed in partnership with Animation Collective, the ten episodes will follow the adventures of a skateboarding high school, crime-fighting team.
In addition to each eleven-minute episode, the KOL service will launch an online comic for each episode as well as an interactive game based on one of the team's adventures. “SKWOD” joins Animation Collective’s “Princess Natasha” and “Kung Fu Academy” as the KOL service’s full line-up of original animated programs.
“Working on feedback from over 3.5 million kids we have developed a unique cartoon targeted at skateboarding, humor and action, available for them to watch whenever they want,” said Malcolm Bird, AOL's Senior Vice President and General Manager, Kids and Teens Programming. “We have a successful track record in launching original cartoons that become wildly popular with our young users, and we're confident SKWOD will make an exciting addition to our programming line-up.”
“SKWOD is different from anything else we’ve done both stylistically and in tone,” said Larry Schwarz, SKWOD’s creator and C.E.O. of Animation Collective. “The series has a unique visual look influenced by skateboarding art and graphics. The humor is both wry and slapstick and extremely kid-relatable. The action is cartoon-like and over-the-top, while at the same time being real. The characters perform actual skate-moves that have been rotoscoped and animated. There’s nothing else like it on the web or on television.”
Millions of kids can now skate along with SKWOD members Logan, Jax, Kick and Seth, the radical skateboarding team who attend Fairmont High School. The top secret team, which is directed by the undercover assistant football coach - and renown skater - Phoenix, can serve up a mean melon drop and pull a 1080 on the half-pipe, all while saving the world from evil criminal mastermind, Gorthon Kozmon
About the KOL™ Service for Kids
Winner of the 2004 National Parenting Seal of Approval, the KOL service is the first version of the America Online® service designed entirely for kids. Combining exclusive content from industry leading kids' brands and original programming, the KOL service is fully integrated with the AOL award-winning Parental Controls, offering kids a safer and more secure online environment.
About America Online, Inc.
America Online, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Time Warner Inc. Based in Dulles, Virginia, America Online is the world's leader in interactive services, Web brands, Internet technologies and e-commerce services.
About Animation Collective:
New York based Animation Collective is a leader in creating animation for television, the Internet, home video and feature films. Animation Collective has previously produced the “Princess Natasha” and “Kung Fu Academy” online series as well as many games for KOL. |