Talking Friends

Talking Friends is an American computer-animated mini-series that premiered on June 8, 2012 on Disney.com and YouTube. Based on the popular app franchise of the same name by Outfit7 Limited, it is the first television installment in the Talking Tom & Friends franchise, and would be the only one to be produced in association with The Walt Disney Company. The series ended on August 31.

Not to be confused with Talking Tom & Friends.

Talking Friends
Based onTalking Friends
by Outfit7
Directed byDylan Coburn
Voices of
ComposerAlfred Montejano[1]
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes10
Production
Executive producers
  • Ed Squair
  • Emily Barclay Ford
Running time3 minutes
Production companies
Release
Original network
Original releaseJune 8 (2012-06-08) –
August 31, 2012 (2012-08-31)
Related
Talking Tom & Friends

Characters
  • Talking Tom (voiced by Michael Tauzin) - A gray tabby cat, newscaster, Ginger's uncle and Angela's boyfriend.
  • Talking Ben (voiced by Michael D. Cohen) - A tan dog, genius, scientist and newscaster.
  • Talking Pierre - A green parrot who likes to play video games and gets easily annoyed by the others, particularly Tom.
  • Talking Ginger (voiced by Michael Tauzin) - A mischievous and curious orange tabby cat and Tom's nephew.
  • Talking Angela (voiced by Susannah Hillard) - A white cat, singer and Tom's girlfriend.

Additionally, Talking Gina appears as a plush toy.

Production

Development

According to The New York Times, various studios including DreamWorks Animation, 20th Century Fox (later acquired by Disney in 2019) and Nickelodeon had the chance to adapt the franchise in film or television before passing on the opportunity, until Disney Interactive took the offer.[2]

Music

The show's soundtrack was composed by Alfred Montejano,[1] while two additional songs were released by Walt Disney Records. The first, titled You Get Me was released on the iTunes Store on June 12, 2012 to promote Tom Loves Angela,[3] and the second, titled That's Falling in Love, was released to promote Talking Angela. The music video for You Get Me was produced by ARX Anima, Walt Disney Interactive Media Group and Outfit7 and released on June 12, 2012, by Walt Disney Records.[4] The scenes featured were originally produced for the music video and were not taken from any existing clips in the series. The music video was, however, was animated in the same style as the series. A teaser video for That's Falling in Love was also later released by Disney Music on December 6, 2012.

Release

The series premiere and remaining episodes were released on Disney.com, as well as onto Disney's official YouTube channel, serving as their debut series on the platform. The series finale aired two months later on August 31, 2012.[5][6][7][8]

Marketing

To help promote the series, Outfit7 created an app exclusive to iOS devices known as Talking Friends Cartoons that featured all ten episodes, as well as additional content including descriptions of the characters and downloable wallpapers. The app, however, garnered controversy with some of the advertisements. For instance, a banner displayed at the bottom of the screen while the app was launched directed users to take part in quizzes that included prizes such as a 64GB iPad, which were unable to be completed unless users would spend monthly fees for a membership service. This ultimately resulted in many people feeling upset over the product as well as leaving many parents frustrated over the concerns.[9]

A live performance event also took place in Hollywood that featured DJs from Radio Disney, plush toy giveaways and performers dressed and wearing makeup to portray the characters to promote the Talking Friends Superstars toyline.[10]

Episodes
No.TitleOriginal release date
1"Attack of the Tech!"June 8, 2012 (2012-06-08)
Tom and Ben's giant robot goes out of control and attacks cars and homes, so they try to stop it and eventually succeed.
2"Foolf"June 15, 2012 (2012-06-15)
Ben gets inspiration of mixing golf and football together, only to become obsessed with it.
3"Jet Pack Cat"June 22, 2012 (2012-06-22)
Ginger wants to ride Tom's jetpack but Tom tells him he's too young to try, so, Ginger tries to make Gina ride the jetpack, only to end up destroying it.
4"Newserator"June 29, 2012 (2012-06-29)
Ben creates the Newserator 3000, but all it does is give news. Later, Tom and Ben decide to destroy the robot, but Pierre destroys it before them.
5"Rock the Catsbah"July 6, 2012 (2012-07-06)
Angela's car breaks down on her way to a recording session at a studio. So, Ben makes a makeshift studio for her to record her new song, only for Tom to destroy it by cranking up the volume on the speakers.
6"Shake that Tail"August 3, 2012 (2012-08-03)
Angela returns because she needs to have a music video for her new song. Meanwhile, Ginger wants to defy gravity, so Ben fulfils both their wishes.
7"Multipli-Kitty"August 10, 2012 (2012-08-10)
Ben creates a mirror-like gadget that can duplicate anything. When Tom uses it to duplicate himself, Ben creates a device to reverse the duplication.
8"Super Tom"August 17, 2012 (2012-08-17)
Ben creates a device that can give people superpowers, and uses it on his friends. However, when an armadillo accidentally touches the device, making him gigantic, the friends use their powers to stop it.
9"Angry Parrots"August 24, 2012 (2012-08-24)
Pierre gets too obsessed with his game, and starts to think that his friends are zombies and attacks them.
10"Tom After Tom"August 31, 2012 (2012-08-31)
When the friends debate about which decade is the best, Ben shows his new invention, a time elevator that allows them to go to any decade. In the end, they realize that the decade they're currently living in is the best.

Notes
  1. Initially credited as Disney Online Originals via the trailer, however was eventually rebranded to Disney Interactive shortly before release.

References
  1. "Music Credits". www.alfredmontejano.com. Archived from the original on May 22, 2023. Retrieved May 22, 2023.
  2. Barnes, Brooks (September 16, 2012). "Dicey Path From App to Hit Show". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 22, 2023. Retrieved May 22, 2023. (subscription required)
  3. "Talking Tom to sing for Disney". musically.com. June 11, 2012. Archived from the original on May 22, 2023. Retrieved May 22, 2023. (subscription required)
  4. "Outfit7 Launches First App That Lets Users Have Conversations with Talking Friends Characters". Benzinga. June 8, 2012. Archived from the original on May 22, 2023. Retrieved May 22, 2023.
  5. De Vere, Kathleen (April 24, 2012). "Outfit7 teams with Disney for animated Talking Friends web series". Adweek. Archived from the original on May 22, 2023. Retrieved May 22, 2023. (subscription required)
  6. Duryee, Tricia (April 24, 2012). "Outfit7's Talking Friends Apps to Star in Disney Web Series". All Things Digital. Archived from the original on May 22, 2023. Retrieved May 22, 2023.
  7. Jordan, Jon (April 24, 2012). "Forget Angry Birds. Disney signs up Talking Tom Cat for original animated web series". Pocket Gamer. Archived from the original on May 22, 2023. Retrieved May 22, 2023.
  8. Arrant, Chris (April 28, 2012). "Disney Partners with Outfit7 To Produce Webseries Based on "Talking Friends" Apps". Cartoon Brew. Archived from the original on May 22, 2023. Retrieved May 22, 2023.
  9. King, Mark (February 15, 2013). "iPhone app 'could have landed parents with £200 bill'". The Guardian. Archived from the original on May 23, 2023. Retrieved May 23, 2023.
  10. "Talking Tom Friends Play Live In Hollywood". Techtaffy. December 21, 2012. Archived from the original on May 23, 2023. Retrieved May 23, 2023.
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