Press Release from Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network, the number one kids' channel in Asia Pacific, has partnered with HP to launch the inaugural Toon Creator Awards, an online animation contest for children, in July 2009. Open to kids aged 6-14, the contest provides a regional platform for young talent from Australia, India, Taiwan, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore to showcase their creativity through technology.
Benjamin Grubbs, Regional Director for Turner Entertainment Interactive Media, said "Cartoon Network and HP both share a deep commitment to innovation and the Toon Creator Awards enables kids to think out of the box and become animators. Using HP's technology and Cartoon Network's online platform, we hope to ignite the interest of Asia's budding young creators and generate an interactive showcase to put their work in front of millions of our users in a fun and engaging manner."
"HP's collaboration with Cartoon Network on the Toon Creator Awards is a joint effort to leverage each other's strengths -- HP's leadership in personal computing and Cartoon Network's expertise with kids' entertainment", said Ajay Mohan, Vice President, Marketing, Personal Systems Group, Hewlett-Packard Asia-Pacific. "We aim to enhance the experience for young kids and their families by inspiring creativity, promoting self-expression and evoking imagination through technology in a fun and exciting way."
Cartoon Network will allow kids to step into the shoes of its dedicated animation team where they can direct their own short animated clips, featuring characters from the popular series Ben 10: Alien Force and Chowder. Between July 13 and September 30, kids can visit the Cartoon Network website and create their own 25-second ending after viewing a five-second mini-cliffhanger from either Ben 10: Alien Force (available starting July 13) and Chowder (to be released in mid-August).
Aiming to inspire creativity, promote self-expression and evoke imagination in a fun and exciting way, Toon Creator Awards is open to applications for both school and individual categories. Cartoon Network and HP will teach children how easy it is to use Cartoon Network's animation software through live demonstrations at participating schools. HP computer booths will also be set up in selected schools in participating countries to allow students to use the software, with mentors on hand to guide them through the process.
Amazing prizes are up for grabs and winners from each category will be determined by a combination of online votes and a professional judging panel from HP and Cartoon Network. Individual country winners will each receive a HP Touchsmart PC and automatically qualify for the regional competition to win a HP connected home grand prize. The ultimate regional Toon Creator Award winner will see their dreams become a reality with the winning project broadcast on Cartoon Network in November 2009. The school with the most registered entries will also win three HP Touchsmart PCs for their computer lab. For more information and complete contest details on Toon Creator Awards, please log on to www.ToonCreatorAwards.com.
