Talking Tom and Friends
Talking Tom and Friends is a media franchise created and owned by . The franchise focused on various mobile apps involving anthropomorphic animal characters repeating things said by the user, before diversifying into various types of apps involving animal characters. The first app, Talking Tom Cat, was launched in July 2010. As of March 2020, the apps have achieved more than 12 billion downloads. The franchise also includes various web series, which are mostly posted on YouTube.
Characters
Current
- Talking Tom - A gray tabby cat and the title character of the franchise. Tom is a wisecracking, adventure-seeking cat, described as the "world's most popular cat." In his app, he is a fully animated interactive 3D character that users can tickle, poke and play with in the apps. Users can also get Tom to repeat what they say. The original Talking Tom Cat app was launched in July 2010 for iOS, followed by Talking Tom 2 in 2011. In 2013 the My Talking Tom app was released, followed by the My Talking Tom 2 app in 2018.
- Talking Angela - Tom's love interest, and a stylish but short-tempered white cat with a love for travel, dancing, fashion and singing. Angela has also appeared in other apps in Outfit7's flagship entertainment franchise — more popular ones being Tom's Love Letters, Tom Loves Angela, Talking Tom Gold Run, and Talking Tom Hero Dash.
- Talking Ginger - A mischievous kitten. In the Talking Friends web series, he is Tom's nephew. In the Talking Tom and Friends web series, he is Tom's neighbour.
- Talking Ben - A brown dog who is described in the Talking Ben app as "a grumpy dog and a chemistry professor". He enjoys inventing and doing things involving science and technology.
- Talking Hank - A white dog with blue spots. He was introduced in December 2014 with the premiere of the Talking Tom and Friends web series. His hobby is watching sitcoms.
- Talking Becca - A grey rabbit who was first featured in the Talking Tom & Friends TV series. Like Angela, she is also an aspiring singer.
Discontinued
- Talking Gina - A giraffe, who was only featured in the Talking Gina app and the Talking Friends TV series.
- Talking Pierre - A parrot, who was only featured in the Talking Pierre app and the Talking Friends TV series.
- Talking Larry - A bird, who was only featured in the Talking Larry app along with some other apps.
- Talking Harry - A hedgehog, who was only featured in the Talking Harry app.
- Talking Baby Hippo - A baby hippo, who was only featured in the Talking Baby Hippo app.
- Talking Lila - A fairy, who was only featured in the Talking Lila app.
- Talking John - A mass of bacteria, who was only featured in the Talking Bacteria John app.
- Talking Rex - A dinosaur, who was only featured in the Talking Rex app.
- Talking Roby - A robot, who was only featured in the Talking Roby app.
Apps
Talking Tom
Talking Tom is a video-game released in 2010 by Outfit7, in which the title character, Tom, repeats anything said to it in a high-pitched voice, and interacts with the user.Talking Gina
Talking Gina was an app released in 2011 featuring a giraffe named Gina, which interacts with the user. As of April 2020, the app is no longer available. The title character was featured in the Talking Friends web series, but has since not made any appearances.Talking Ben
Talking Ben, like Talking Tom, is an app released in 2011 in which the user interacts with Ben. The character has been featured in numerous apps, and in every web series excluding Talking Tom Shorts.Talking Tom 2
Talking Tom 2 is the sequel to Talking Tom, released in 2011. It retains most of the features of its predecessor, while having better graphics.Talking News
Talking News is a video-game released in 2011, in which Talking Tom and Talking Ben act as TV news anchors, repeating whatever is recorded and pulling pranks on each other.Talking Pierre
Talking Pierre is a video-game released in 2011 in which the user interacts with a parrot named Pierre. Pierre has appeared in only one web series since being released — Talking Friends.Tom’s Love Letters
Tom’s Love Letters is an app released in 2012, that lets users send personalised messages to their friends and family.Tom Loves Angela
Tom Loves Angela was an app released in 2012 that let users watch Tom courting Angela. As of April 2020, the app is no longer available.Talking Ginger
Talking Ginger is an app released in 2012 that lets the user interact with an orange kitten named Ginger and get him ready for bed. The character has been featured in numerous apps, and in every web series excluding Talking Tom Shorts.Talking Angela
Talking Angela is a chatterbot app released in 2012, which was also the target of a mudslinging campaign in which various individuals alleged that the app was created by paedophiles with the intent of tracking children, though no legitimate evidence was found proving the claims.Talking Ginger 2
Talking Ginger 2 is a video-game released in 2013, featuring Ginger. It allows the user to interact with Ginger at his birthday party. Until April 2014, the app was known as Ginger's birthday.My Talking Tom
My Talking Tom is a virtual pet app released on November 14, 2013 that allows the user to take care of Tom as he grows, and rename and customise him. Unlike My Talking Angela, you don't brush Tom's teeth.My Talking Angela
My Talking Angela is a virtual pet app released in 2014, that allows the user to take care of Angela as she grows, and rename and customise her and her outfit.Talking Tom Jetski
Talking Tom Jetski is a video-game released in 2015 in which the user either plays as Tom or Angela, riding on a jet ski to complete missions.Talking Tom Bubble Shooter
Talking Tom Bubble Shooter is a bubble-shooting game released in 2015.Talking Tom Gold Run
Talking Tom Gold Run is an endless runner game released in 2016, in which the player, playing as Tom, Angela, Ben, Hank or Ginger chases a robber while collecting coins.My Talking Hank
My Talking Hank is a virtual pet game released in 2016, in which the user takes care of Hank.Talking Angela Color Splash
Talking Angela Color Splash is a match-3 video-game released in 2017 in which the player. As on 2018 the app is not longer available.Talking Tom Camp
Talking Tom Camp is a strategy video game released in 2017, in which the player builds a camp while attacking enemy camps.Talking Tom Pool
Talking Tom Pool is a video-game released in 2017 in which the player builds a waterpark.Talking Tom Jetski 2
Talking Tom Jetski 2 is a jetski racing video-game released in 2018. It has different rules from Talking Tom Jetski.Talking Tom Candy Run
Talking Tom Candy Run is an endless runner video-game released in 2018.Talking Tom Cake Jump
Talking Tom Cake Jump is a game released in 2018 in which the character jumps, continuously adding cake layers.Talking Tom Jump Up
Talking Tom Jump Up is a video-game released in 2018 in which the player moves the character around, making him or her jump higher.My Talking Tom 2
My Talking Tom 2 is a virtual pet game released in 2018, and the sequel to My Talking Tom.Talking Tom Fun Fair
Talking Tom Fun Fair is a match-3 game released in 2019 in which the player plays match-3 levels and rebuilds an abandoned amusement park.Talking Tom Hero Dash
Talking Tom Hero Dash is an endless runner game released in 2019, similar to Talking Tom Gold Run, in which the characters are superheroes.Talking Tom Splash Force
Talking Tom Splash Force is a video-game in which the player uses water balloons to attack criminals.My Talking Tom Friends
My Talking Tom Friends is a video game where the player takes care of Tom initially, but later gets Angela, Hank, Ginger, Ben and Becca to take care of.Web Series
''Talking Friends''
Talking Friends was the first animated web series of the Talking Tom and Friends franchise. It was produced by Disney Interactive Studios, and ran on YouTube from 8 June 2012 to 31 August 2012 for 10 episodes.''Talking Tom and Friends''
launched an animated series called Talking Tom and Friends in 2014, based on the antics of Talking Tom and his Friends. The show's first 3 seasons were produced by the Austrian animation studio ‘arx anima’, while the Spanish animation studio ‘People Moving Pixels’ produced season 4 and currently produces season 5.''Talking Tom Shorts''
Talking Tom Shorts is an ongoing web series. The show revolves around the lives of Tom, Angela, Hank and Tom's pets, and features another character referred to as the hand. Unlike the TV series, none of the characters have dialogue. It is currently available on YouTube.Season 1 (2014-2018)
Season 2 (2019-2020)
''Talking Tom and Friends Minis''
Talking Tom and Friends Minis is a South Korean-British-American 2D animated web series featuring Talking Tom and his friends. The characters are presented without any particular language dialogue. It is developed and produced by Outfit7 and Plenus. The show was released from March 2016 to June 2018.''Talking Tom Heroes''
Talking Tom Heroes is an ongoing South Korean-British-American web series featuring Talking Tom and his friends. The characters are presented in 2D cartoons, and without any particular language dialogue just like Minis. It is developed and produced by Outfit7 and Plenus. It premiered on 26 April 2019.The show revolves around the lives of Tom and his friends as superheroes under the guidance of the Crystal Mentor. The abilities of each character are:
- Tom: Super-strength
- Angela: Super-speed
- Ben: The ability to remotely control any technology
- Hank: No special abilities, though Hank has a bag from which he can take anything needed
- Ginger: No special abilities. Ginger is an aspiring superhero, who has a hoverboard.
Ginger daydreams of being a super hero like his friends, when they leave. Then Ginger goes to Ben's house and finds Ben’s pencil and board from Episode 1 that could create anything that is drawn on it, and uses it to make a power crystal of his own. Then he uses it to go to his friends' hero headquarters, and gets a new hero costume elevator of his own. However, he tries to use his powers, inadvertently damaging the hero headquarters, when Tom, Angela, Hank, and Ben return and see what happened. Ginger leaves in shame, and later disposes off his crystal. Meanwhile, the friends use their powers to fix the hero headquarters, and leave to fight a garbage-spewing monster. Ginger notices his power crystal glowing and uses it again, and attacks the monster while his friends have been defeated, but the garbage monster breaks Ginger's hoverboard. Ginger then uses Ben's device to draw elephants that destroy the monster with water., Ben fixes his hoverboard with his magnetic glove. Ginger becomes happy.
Note: the total duration includes that of Episode 8."
Other Media
The Talking Tom and Friends franchise has expanded beyond apps and animated series. The franchise also sells branded merchandise and music videos.Talking Tom and Talking Angela's music video for their single "You Get Me", created in cooperation with Walt Disney Records, has received over 350 million views on YouTube as of March 2020. Talking Angela has also recorded her first solo song called ‘That's Falling in Love’. Talking Tom and Talking Angela's "Stand By Me" received 26 million views as of April 2020.
Talking Tom and Friends launched a range of interactive toys called Superstar in 2012. The plush toys talk and interact with multiple Talking Tom and Friends apps, as well as with each other, using a voice recognition system. The series has since been discontinued.
Controversies
Paedophile Hoax
In February 2014, Talking Angela was the subject of an Internet hoax claiming that it encourages children to disclose personal information about themselves, which is allegedly then used by paedophiles to identify the location of these children. The rumor, which was widely circulated on Facebook and various websites claiming to be dedicated to parenting, claims that Angela, the game's main character, asks the game's user for private personal information using the game's text-chat feature. Other versions of the rumor even attribute the disappearance of a child to the app, or claim that it is run by a paedophile ring, while some go so far as to even claim that the user is recorded by the camera and can be seen in Angela's eyes. The former rumor originated from an article on Huzlers, which has since been proven to be fake, like many articles on the satirical website. The rumour has been claimed to be true even by YouTubers and even on the app's review page on the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store, even though there have been no verified reports of the said events happening.It was debunked by Snopes.com soon afterwards. The site's owners, Barbara and David Mikkelson, reported that they had tried to "prompt" it to give responses asking for private information but were unsuccessful, even when asking it explicitly sexual questions. While it is true that in the game with child mode off Angela does ask for the user's name, age and personal preferences to determine conversation topics, Outfit7 has said that this information is all "anonymized" and all personal information is removed from it. It is also impossible for a person to take control of what Angela says in the game, since the app is based on chat bot software.
In 2015, the hoax was revived again on Facebook, prompting online security company Sophos and The Guardian to debunk it again. Sophos employee Paul Ducklin wrote on the company's blog that the message being posted on Facebook promoting the hoax was "close to 600 rambling, repetitious words, despite claiming at the start that it didn’t have words to describe the situation. It's ill-written, and borders on being illiterate and incomprehensible." Bruce Wilcox, one of the game's programmers, has attributed the hoax's popularity to the fact that the chatbot program in Talking Angela is so realistic.
However, genuine concern has been raised that the game's child mode may be too easy for children to turn off, which, if they did, would allow them to purchase "coins", which can be used as currency in the game, via iTunes. Disabling child mode also enables the chat feature, which, while not "connecting your children to pedophiles," still raises concerns as well, according to Stuart Dredge, a journalist from The Guardian. Dredge wrote that in chat mode, Angela asks for information such as the user's name.
Impact
The scare has significantly boosted the game's popularity, and is credited with helping the app make it into the top 10 free iPhone apps soon after the hoax became widely known in February 2015 and 3rd most popular for all iPhone apps at the start of the following month.Age Inappropriate Advertising
In 2015, the My Talking Tom app was reported for having advertised age-inappropriate advertisements for adult services. The Advertising Standards Authority of the United Kingdom ruled that advertising for an adult web site was delivered to underage children via the app. The ASA noted that Outfit7 "had a strict advertising policy" but that the company "had not been able to identify which ad network had served an age-inappropriate ad on a children’s app" and how the advertisements were shown in the app.Reception
My Talking Tom had over 11 million downloads and was the top games app in 135 countries worldwide within 10 days of its launch.The Talking Tom and Friends YouTube channel has over 10 million subscribers and 3.5 billion views as of March 2020.
As in April 2020, the franchise has had its apps downloaded more than 12 billion times.
Accolades
The My Talking Tom app won the award for "Best iPad Game: Kids, Education & Family" at the 2014 Tabby Awards, the global competition for the best tablet app.My Talking Tom was also voted the 2014 Tabby Award Users’ Choice favorite in two categories, "Best iPad Game: Kids, Education & Family" and "Best Android Game: Puzzle, Cards & Family".
The Talking Tom and Friends television series won the Best Animated Series Award at the 2016 Cablefax Awards.