HP and Cartoon Network announce Toon Creator Awards for school kids

Media News

Bengaluru, July 11, 2009

The Toon Creator Awards is a collaborative effort between HP and Cartoon Network to promote self-expression and inspire creativity amongst young children in a fun and exciting way. An online animation contest, the Toon Creator Awards provides a regional platform for young talent in India to showcase their creativity.

Budding animators aged 6 -14 years of age are encouraged to direct their own short animated clips, featuring characters from the popular series ‘Ben 10: Alien Force’ and ‘Chowder’. Between July 13 and September 30, children and their families can visit the www.ToonCreatorAwards.com and create their own 25-second ending after viewing a five-second mini-cliffhanger using either Ben 10: Alien Force (available starting July 13) and Chowder (to be released in mid-August) characters.

"The power of a creative idea is undoubtedly demonstrated in the greatest innovations of our times. HP recognises the need to nurture this culture of creativity and innovation at a very young age. Toon Creator Awards and our collaboration with Cartoon Network is a small step in this direction," said Ketan Patel, Country Manager – Consumer Desktop PCs, HP India. "This platform promotes self-expression, evokes imagination of children and equips them with important computer skills at an early age. It engages both children and their families in a fun and exciting way."

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.'

Cartoon Network and HP will show children how easy it is to create animated movies using HP technology and Cartoon Network’s animation software. Booths equipped with HP TouchSmart PCs and desktops will also be set up across 130 schools in Mumbai and Bangalore as part of the first phase to allow students to use the software with mentors on hand to guide them through the process. As part of the program, students can also buy an HP Pavilion desktop and get a HP DeskJet Printer absolutely FREE on presenting their school IDs at select HP stores in Bangalore and Mumbai.

Amazing prizes are up for grabs with individual country winners eligible to 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 Awards winner will also 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 win three HP TouchSmart PCs for their computer lab.

The competition is open to applications for individuals and schools in India and internationally in Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand. The entries will be open for online voting at www.ToonCreatorAwards.com and the winners from each category will be determined by a combination of online votes and a professional judging panel from HP and Cartoon Network.

For further information, please contact:

Genesis Burson-Marsteller

Neha Pathrella

Mob; +91 9873818411

Email: neha.pathrella@bm.com