Update: Funny Face Cartoon wins award

Loudmouth Lime cannot keep his mouth shut about his much-anticipated Funny Face cartoon series, though he must share the spotlight with his other fruity friends. We wanted to take this opportunity to pass along a very exciting and promising update!



The Funny Face team was invited to participate in the MIPCOM Junior licensing challenge in October. MIPCOM Junior describes itself as "the world’s largest kids’ programming screening event and the leading international conference venue for kids and youth programming" and takes place in Cannes, France each year.

84 different projects had submitted applications for the event. Of those, only six were selected to present their pitch at the event.

Drumroll..........

I'm happy to inform you that the Funny Face team won the challenge as the "most promising property"!



They've put together a brilliant idea for a good, clean cartoon for kids with a splash of nostalgia for us big kids, too. If you have not seen it already, be sure to check out the original Funny Face trailer.

Jolly Olly Orange almost lost his hat while rolling in to remind me of another media highlight. The project was featured in a licensing magazine article which can be seen here.

Help spread the word and keep your fingers crossed that these happy fruits find their way to a television set near you in 2009!

Funny Face Coupon

I was sifting through a pile of vintage coupons recently, and was thrilled to discover this cool offer for Funny Face drink mix. It is not dated, but would be from between 1965 and 1967.

Fortunately no one cashed in on this sweet "Save 7 Cents" deal, which equals more fun for me some 40 years later. :-)

Characters from left to right are:

• Loud-Mouth Lime
• Freckle Face Strawberry
• Lefty Lemon
• Rootin' Tootin' Raspberry
• Jolly Olly Orange
• Choo Choo Cherry
• Goofy Grape

(click to see larger version)

Funny Face Cartoon Series?

Funny Face cartoon series, you say? Yes, I did. And no, you are not dreaming!

My friend Dan at a sampler of things alerted me to the news that Renegade Animation has obtained the rights to make a pilot for a cartoon series based on the old Funny Face characters.

Funny Face was a powdered drink mix, like Kool-Aid, made by Pillsbury in the 1960s and 1970s. Each flavor featured a funny, anthropomorphic fruit character. Many kids from that era have such fond memories of Funny Face, and this will most certainly stir up more nostalgia in anticipation of the cartoon.

You can read more information about the project at Cartoon Brew who recently broke the news.

The characters featured in the picture above are:

• Rootin' Tootin' Raspberry
• Loud-Mouth Lime
• Goofy Grape
• Jolly Olly Orange
• Freckle-Face Strawberry
• Captain Black Cherry
• Lefty Lemon
• Choo Choo Cherry
  

There were several other Funny Face drink characters over the years, but this represents the nucleus of the gang.

I expect great things from this production. Renegade Animation does tremendous work, producing many wonderful shows such as the revival of Mr. Men which airs on Cartoon Network.

As the plans are currently to make a pilot, there's no guarantee that the series will be picked up for a run on TV. Along with the enthusiasm there's uncertainty. Because of that, I urge everyone to help spread the news! Notify your friends, post a note on your blogs, websites and social networks. We can help by creating a buzz about the show in advance.

If you're helping to spread the word, please post a comment in reply here. Include a link to your blog post, website, etc. where you're helping to spread the word. Thanks in advance!

Can you tell how excited I am? :-)