WARNER BROS. ONLINE LAUNCHES
COMPREHENSIVE WEB INITIATIVE FOR
THREE OF ITS MOST POPULAR BRANDS,
LOONEY TUNES, HANNA-BARBERA AND SCOOBY-DOO
Users Will Have Unprecedented Access to Warner Bros. Studios’ Cartoons
To Customize, Download and Interact With, Anytime, Anywhere
Burbank, CA (August 8, 2006) – Warner Bros. Online, one of the Web’s leading destinations for interactive entertainment, has announced an extensive online initiative for three of its top brands: Looney Tunes, Hanna-Barbera and Scooby-Doo. This was unveiled today by Staci Miller, Vice President of Operations, Warner Bros. Online.
Beginning in mid-August, Warner Bros. Online will announce the launch of a site for Hanna-Barbera, relaunch the popular Scooby-Doo site and add a host of content to LooneyTunes.com. Each site will roll out new, innovative, interactive content, including: broadband video channels featuring classic animated shorts; original downloadable audio content; customized applications; social networking; user-generated content; games and much more.
"Looney Tunes, Scooby-Doo and Hanna-Barbera are some of the most enduring properties in entertainment,” said Miller. “Fans of these properties span all age groups and demographics, but one thing is consistent - they love interacting with the characters. With this initiative, they will be able to do so in unprecedented ways.”
Fans will get access to beloved episodes on a new broadband channel and be able to play a whole series of new games. Taking the web experience even further, the Looney Tunes site will enable users to create and download customized images and flash animations of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and the other characters to share on their own web pages, on CD cases and more. Scooby-Doo.com will offer original audio mysteries that can be downloaded onto computers and portable media devices.
“Overall, this sweeping initiative is our most comprehensive since we first launched LooneyTunes.com more than five years ago,” said Sam Ades, Director of Brand Strategy, Warner Bros. Online. “By taking advantage of the latest technology and online trends we’re able to offer even more ways for fans to enjoy and interact with these classic brands.”
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Scooby-Doo.com:
Possibly Warner Bros. Online’s most ambitious re-launch, the new Scooby-Doo.com will debut on August 15 as a destination for kids ages 2 to 12 years old. The site will feature a new look and new features:
Ø Scooby’s Pet Gallery – An interactive pet photo gallery and safe, social networking site where users can post a profile of their favorite pet and interact with other members of the site in a protected child-friendly environment via the use of pre-approved messages.
Ø Scooby’s Playground - A specially-designed area for preschoolers, providing activities that will introduce them to Scooby-Doo and his companions in a safe, secure online environment. Parents will have access to a Parent’s Guide that will answer most questions parents have about children visiting the site.
Ø Radio plays – Original, downloadable audio podcasts, showcasing spooky campfire tales for Scooby-Doo fans of all ages. Starting this fall, different plays will be offered on the site, which parents can download and play on their computers or portable media players.
Ø Big Summer of Games – In celebration of summer, through August the site will feature several entertaining games involving outdoor activities such as skating and surfing. Games currently featured include “Scooby’s Ripping Ride,” “Big Air! Skateboarding,” “Ghost Pirate Attacks” and “Castle Hassle.”
Scooby-Doo.com also offers consumers 19 games including long-form episodic mystery adventures such as “Horror on the High Seas” and “Mayan Mayhem” and 80 exclusive downloads.
Hanna-Barbera.com:
Connecting new fans with classic Hanna-Barbera characters such as The Flintstones, The Jetsons, Yogi Bear, Huckleberry Hound, Space Ghost, Johnny Quest and many others, the new Hanna-Barbera.com is designed to serve as a premiere destination for pop-culture enthusiasts and teens/tweens and offers a highly entertaining mix of interactive content.
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On August 21, as part of Hanna-Barbera.com, Warner Bros. Online will launch Saturday Morning Forever, a video broadband channel that will offer two full hours of cartoons per week, comprised of approximately 80 percent classic Hanna-Barbera shorts and 20 percent new, original content. Designed to appeal to teenagers, the Saturday Morning Forever channel will stream programs such as “The Flintstones” and “Yogi Bear” free and on demand.
Several new interactive components are also planned for Hanna-Barbera.com such as games, quizzes, polls, trivia contests, sweepstakes and more. The Hanna-Barbera.com site currently offers four games and 148 exclusive downloads.
LooneyTunes.com:
Targeting everyone from kids to young adults and even adults 30 and up, Looneytunes.com takes an irreverent approach to bringing users games, cartoons, downloads, sweepstakes and additional content. In September 2006, the site will re-launch with the introduction of two new interactive components: Toonify.com and We Love Looney Tunes.
Ø The first of its kind, Toonify.com is a unique personalization creativity center which allows consumers to be in complete control of the Looney Tunes characters via easy-to-create content that users can share and rate. This content includes digital wallpapers, IM icons and Looney Tunes-branded media to decorate social networking sites as well as printable items such as CD covers/cases and custom cards.
Ø We Love Looney Tunes is a new section of the site that will feature six to eight classic Looney Tunes cartoons presented on-demand. A new theme will be presented every month. For example, We Love America in July, We Love Eternal Optimists in August and We Love Football/Back to School in September.
Other interactive features on the new LooneyTunes.com include games, screensavers, buddy icons, wallpapers, ring tones, original mobile content as well as Looney Kids, a page dedicated to children ages 5-8, which will include age-appropriate games and activities. Overall, Looneytunes.com will offer more than 50 games, over 50 cartoons and more than 70 exclusive downloads at any given time.
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