Disney Interactive to make Talking Friends

Disney Interactive Media Group (DIMG) has signed up to produce an animated series based on the popular Talking Friends app.

DIMG will work with Outfit 7, the Slovenian mobile phone app developer behind Talking Friends, to create a web version for Disney’s website and YouTube channel.

The app features a variety of animal characters, such as Tom Cat and Talking Ben the dog, who serve as pets to the person controlling them via a smartphone. It attracts an audience of children and families.

Samo Login, founder and CEO of OutFit 7, said: “Tom, Ben and the entire Talking Friends cast are international celebrities who have built strong emotional connections with millions of fans worldwide. As a result they are transcending the mobile space to new entertainment mediums with online video being one of the first.”

The series will also be accessible through the Talking Friends mobile apps, which first launched in 2010 and have now been downloaded more than 390 million times.

Talking Friends is not the first app on which a video series has been based. Last month at MipTV, Nick Dorra, head of animation at app developer Rovio, announced it would be developing an animated series based on the Angry Birds app for online and TV. Rovio has already stated that it aims to become “the next Disney.”