Boomerang U.K. Boasts New Animated Look

files/pictures/picture-35.jpgBoomerang, Turner Broadcasting's top-performing cartoon channel in the U.K. for kids 4-9 is getting a brand new look with its best loved characters taking center stage.

The reface aims to make the channel more accessible and appealing to its large pre-school audience and create a fun environment for viewers of all ages to watch its lineup of shows, which include TOM & JERRY, THE FLINTSTONES, WACKY RACES and SYLVESTER & TWEETY, from its library of Hanna-Barbera and Looney Tunes cartoons.

The new-look Boomerang has its characters communicating directly with viewers to transport them away from reality and into a cartoon world of their own. This meant creating brand new animation for more than 30 of the U.K.'s best-loved cartoon characters, including Scooby-Doo, Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and Road Runner.

Created in-house at Turner Broadcasting, the reface has been 12 months in production for the overhaul of the entire Boomerang brand including both on and off-air communication from the new channel logo, on-air bug, signature tune, idents and promos too all print executions, a brand new dedicated website and the soon-to-launch Boomerang magazine, TOONERANG.

The refresh launches Sept. 13, 2004 in the U.K. and will also roll out across Europe at a later date.

"Boomerang needed a cosmetic boost to give its content a more contemporary look and feel,” said Richard Kilgarriff, svp/gm. “The in-house team headed by art director, Henry Bell and creative director Peter Drake have done a great job of working with the characters to make this happen."

Boomerang U.K. Channel manager Dan Balaam commented, "Working with cartoon veterans such as Scooby-Doo and Bugs Bunny ensures that there is always something seriously funny on Boomerang. We feel it is really important to make our toons attractive to new generations by giving their home a makeover and taking Boomerang into the 21st century."

Turner Broadcasting System (TBS) Europe, delivers some of the world's most successful and well-known news and entertainment brands -- Cartoon Network, Boomerang, Toonami, TCM (Turner Classic Movies) and CNN International -- across almost 100 countries in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Turner Broadcasting System Europe Ltd. is a TimeWarner Co.