Hallmark’s popular online e-card characters Hoops and Yoyo will be starring in their own cable holiday movie in the near future. Hallmark Channel is developing a new animated movie featuring the cute, Helium-voiced pink and green duo as part of its effort to beef up its original programming fare. In addition, Hoops & yoyo will continue hosting the channel’s “Movie Night” during this year’s upcoming holiday season. The characters will entertain viewers with their own fun ‘do’s and don’ts” for the season as interstitials.
The property was created by Hallmark artists Bob Holt and Mike Adair. Holt initially came up with the two characters when he was challenged to meet a 4th of July e-card animation for Hallmark several years ago, using only a firecracker. Up against a tight deadline, he started using a little green bunny he had previously created at home. He then transformed the bunny into a pink cat named hoops. Hoops eventually needed a pal and the original green bunny came back to life as yoyo.
What started as a single e-card created by Bob has now expanded to include everything from party supplies and gifts, to books and music. Almost 14 million hoops&yoyo e-cards are sent annually, and their website receives over 3 million annual visits. Over 50 million free e-cards have been sent since 2004.
Each Tuesday, the two Kansas City, Missouri-based artists pair up in a recording studio and record fresh audio without the help of a script (these sessions are performed in a stand-up, comedy act-like way) and come up with improvised material that’s eventually used in hoops&yoyo e-cards, their website, etc. For more info, visit www.hoopsandyoyo.com
