Wallace and Gromit family embraces the Internet
The animators responsible for the seminal Wallace and Gromit are to release their latest series exclusively online.
Aardman Animations will make episodes of 'Angry Kid' freely available from the Atom Films Web site. The two companies have previously partnered to broadcast Aardman's back catalogue over the Web.
The company claims this is the first time a major production house has launched a series exclusively on the Internet.
The 60 second episodes will be available for free download from midnight on May 7 as a QuickTime Movie. The remaining 24 episodes will be posted at regular intervals over the coming weeks. According to Aardman, each episode will take 3 minutes to download using a 56K modem.
The company says that it will actively encourage the free distribution of each episode by email. "TV and cinemas limit when and how you watch entertainment, the Internet is overcoming these obstacles," explains Michael Comish, managing director at AtomFilms. "By releasing this on the Internet a potential audience of hundreds of millions of people can enjoy each episode the moment they're released."
Aardman's latest creation comes "dressed in regulation 70's parka." He's relentless, idiotic and stubborn and, apparently, his "pre-teen sensitivity" has led to several near car crashes, run-ins with the law and experimentation on his own body.
According to Michael Rose, head of film at Aardman, Angry Kid is "anarchic, irreverent and definitely not for family viewing -- perfect for the Internet".
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