| WhirlGirl | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Science fiction Comedy Action Romance Superhero |
| Created by | David B. Williams |
| Developed by | Danny Fingeroth Jason Fruchter Betsy Hooper Ephraim Kehlmann Joel Rodgers |
| Written by | Betsy Hooper Gregg Ostrin |
| Voices of | Kim Campoli David DiLeo Jonathan Ellinghaus Moe Fischer Lani Ford Betsy Hooper Kathleen Hubbard Kristen Johanssen Jennifer Richards Angela Tweed Sara Van Beckum |
| Theme music composer | James Avatar |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | Buzz Potamkin David B. Williams |
| Producers | Glenn Ginsburg Christine Jones Howard Ephraim Kehlmann |
| Production company | Visionary Media |
WhirlGirl debuted in 1997 as an online sci-fi series about a reluctant superheroine battling an evil "mediatech" empire in 2077 Southern California. The title character—dubbed "a real revolutionary for a virtual age"—balanced freedom-fighting with realistic personal concerns like dating and having friends.
Initially launched as a webcomic with light animation and short bursts of music and sound effects, WhirlGirl ultimately became the first regularly scheduled web series using Flash animation, and went on to achieve a variety of other industry firsts over a 100-webisode career, including: syndication partnerships with major websites, a distribution partnership with a premium cable network, a web television simulcast, cross-media advertising campaigns, and licensing and merchandising agreements.[1][2]
Kia Cross is the only daughter of mid-21st century revolutionary leader Morgan Cross. After Morgan was captured and destroyed by forces working for ZoneWerks, an evil media/technology corporation run by Ty Harden, Kia was brainwashed and dispatched to a life of quiet servitude. Flash forward: Years later, as the programming wears off, Kia recalls her mother's work and transforms herself into a superheroine. Armed with a trademark weapon (the whirlblade) and a signature fighting move (the spin kick), she resumes the fight for freedom.
WhirlGirl's allies include Stekatta "Kat" Tressner, a stylish gear-head with a thing for WhirlGirl, and teenager Sid X, who can control computers telepathically with a "cybernetic crystal" implanted in his forehead. Victoria Thalios leads the "FreeVox" rebel group, which WhirlGirl often defends.
WhirlGirl's primary foe, Ty Harden, not only runs the evil ZoneWerks empire; he is also Sid X's estranged father. Harden relies on Axxen Baines, a sadist who heads the ZoneWerks security apparatus.
In a September 1999 webisode, magicians Penn & Teller appeared as animated versions of themselves in a futuristic Las Vegas.[3]
In May 2000, WhirlGirl teamed up with the hero of the SciFi (now Syfy) Channel's Barbarian Moron cartoon in a series of webisodes that appeared on both the Showtime and SciFi websites.[4]
Created by David B. Williams and produced by Visionary Media, the studio he founded, WhirlGirl launched at a Spring 1997 trade show.[5] Because high-speed broadband access at home was very rare in 1997, and rich media could take minutes to load with a dial-up connection, the series consisted of comic-book-style panels livened up with animated GIFs (minimal animation elements) and looping music and sound effects. In August 1998, using Macromedia's new Flash 2.0 animation software, WhirlGirl replaced its comic-strip panels with five-minute-long webisodes, becoming one of the first animated web series.[6]
Even before the series was fully animated, Visionary signed online syndication deals with five affiliates, and WhirlGirl debuted in March 1998 on BMG's BUGjuice, E-Pub's Amused, ICL's GamesZone, Microsoft's WebTV Networks, and Canada's BeyondTV.[7] That July, the site began running on Lycos as well.[8]
In January 1999, Showtime licensed WhirlGirl for online and on-air use, making it the first regularly scheduled animated web series [9] and the first independently produced web series licensed by a national television network.[10] Showtime's parent company, Viacom, took an undisclosed equity stake in Visionary Media.[11] All 100 episodes were also dubbed into Spanish and distributed on Yupi., one of the first major Spanish-language online networks.[12]
On February 27, 1999, the series helped advance web-TV convergence by being the first animated webisode to premiere simultaneously on a TV channel and its website—in this case, Showtime and SHO.com. WhirlGirl went on to appear in 100 weekly webisodes [13] through March 2001, with the character making occasional appearances on the TV channel as, for example the "host" of a programming block called "Lethal Ladies."[14]
In July 1997, WhirlGirl became the first web series promoted with a traditional TV ad campaign that included high-profile spots in major markets.[15] In 1999, Showtime supported WhirlGirl with a million-dollar multimedia marketing campaign featuring billboards and other outdoor ads in major U.S. markets, as well as full-page ads in major magazines.[16]
WhirlGirl also appeared on the SciFi (now Syfy) Channel as part of the Barbarian Moron stunt, and in June 1999 became the first non-MTV property to be represented for licensing and merchandising by MTV Networks (another Viacom property).[17]
In 2000, toy maker ReSaurus unveiled a WhirlGirl action figure at Toy Fair, but the toy was not brought to market.[18]
