Hutos - The Flying House

What do you think?Hutos - The Flying House is a new show made for preschoolers. It is made here in Korea and broadcast on KBS. This subway advertisement showcases the main characters. Do these characters strike you as very similar to another international hit show for preschoolers?Here's an abstraction of the main characters into basic shapes and colors. Don't they seem awfully familiar to you? Tell me what you think in the comments sections. I'll add more about Hutos to this post later.

UPDATE (March 15th, 2008): The similarities between Hutos and Teletubbies are not coincidental. Hutos is intended as the 'Korean Teletubbies'.The first obvious similarity is the character design. The characters are very similar colors as well as other design elements. The second similarity is in the structure of the show. It is undeniably like the Teletubbies. It is set in a beautiful nature reserve and they live in similar eco-friendly structures. The previews for this show even feature the characters posing in the same ways as Teletubbies and speaking baby talk as Teletubbies do. Although, in the actual show, a major difference is that the characters speak full sentences in Korean. And a further difference is that the show features music videos and animated segments (not beaming from their bellies).

Do you think that modeling Hutos so closely off of Teletubbies is a good idea? Here are some possible pros and cons:

Pros:

1. Teletubbies is a proven international success, so Hutos need not reinvent the wheel.
2. The similarities between the two shows helps audiences (parents) and global investors know exactly what to expect from this property.
3. Teletubbies rip-off or not, at least a Korean television program is gaining international interest. And anyways, nothing is ever completely original and it's not EXACTLY like Teletubbies.

Cons:

1. People may criticize Hutos as a blatant rip-off.
2. Is there a need for a Korean Teletubbies? There already is Teletubbies, so why bother with Hutos?
3. With all the financial backing for Hutos, the lack of originality is a missed opportunity for Korean talent to truly shine.

Hutos is a cute show that will likely have success on its own merits. The show looks beautiful. And, the heavy marketing can't hurt it either. However, will the Teletubbies similarities hurt or harm it? And what does Hutos reveal about the state of the Korean animation industry? Please share your thoughts.

Here are some links I found useful while researching this that you may too:

1. Episode of Hutos (with advertisements)
2. KOCCA: 'Hutos', KBS Young Kids Program, to develop a character manual

Boom Chiki Boom! on Stage

Boom Chiki Boom!!!!Are you familiar with OSMU? It's an acronym for One Source Multi Use which is currently a buzzword in Korean business. Boom Chiki Boom! is a good example of OSMU.

Boom Chiki Boom! is a preschool program that encourages kids to dance and interact with the characters on screen. It promotes activity and health. Boom Chiki Boom! is used in many ways. It is a computer generated program as seen in the poster above.

It is also a live-action show featuring actors in costumes. It is also a stage show performed for a live audience as seen above. Boom Chiki Boom! translates quite easily from screen to stage. The same costumes and performers can be used, after all.

The sets and props are recycled for the stage show as well.

For example, this pig speaker from the original set is used for this stage show. In fact, it can also be found rendered in the computer generated show.

This gold pig couch seemed irresistible and kids kept defiantly trying to sit in it without permission. One kid succeeded. And I think an adult tried, too!

The stage show reuses the script and audio from the live-action costume show. The only major difference is these two hosts above. They exist solely in the stage show. They help make the performance more interactive and also to give the costumed performers some breaks inbetween "episodes".

The hosts had lots of energy and made the audience really feel involved.

In a segment about balls, they bounced a big red ball around the audience. They also passed out small plastic balls to everybody.

In a segment about paper, they spread giant sheets of paper over the audience. Then everybody was encouraged to shred it to pieces. They didn't have to tell the kids twice!

All that interactivity sure can leave a mess!

The only element that doesn't translate well from the screen to stage is A-Do. A-Do is a mischevious puppet who is puppeteered by someone hidden behind the pig couch. Unlike the television show, the audience can't see A-Do closely via camera zooms. This takes away some of his edge and charm. It's a shame, too, since he's my favorite character.

Boom Chiki Boom! is a good example of creating a property and applying it many different ways. It's a young property, so I'm interested to see how it develops. I'm rooting for it since it is an original Korean property.

You can take a behind-the-scenes look at the English voice acting for Boom Chiki Boom! that I posted about previously.