ILoveEgg (partially lost Korean flash animated series; 2004-2010s)
Logo and characters
Status: Partially Lost
iLoveEgg (아이러브에그) was a character franchise launched since 2004 by Korean educational and publishing company D&H Inc. The franchise had character products around the world, including the United Kingdom, the United States, Japan, and Taiwan. The franchise began with the flash animated series, of which 23 episodes were produced.
History
In 2004, D&H Inc. launched its franchise, publishing flash animations on its official website[1], Yahoo! Kids[2], and Jr Naver[3]. Kid's Chosun Ilbo published an iLoveEgg comic strip made of clay, which ran for 218 episodes until 2008[4]. In the same year, the company signed merchandising agreements with Coolabi in the UK and Ephoenix in Taiwan, and began overseas expansion of the franchise[5]. An official website has also been launched in the United Kingdom[6][7]. The comic strip was published in book form in 2005, with Vol. 1 released on June 10 and Vol. 2 on December 12. In the same year D&H signed an agreement with TYE in the United Kingdom and TYC in the United States to release capsule toy danglers[5].
In 2006, a Chinese translation of the comic strip's book was published in Taiwan. Then came the expansion in Japan, with the signing of a capsule toy dangler release agreement with Tomy Yujin[5], and the airing of the animated series on the Cartoon Network Japan.
In 2007, he signed a merchandising agreement with TIGA of Thailand. On April 27, the company announced a partnership with MoffY, a Hong Kong-based digital content company[8][9]. In December, a Japanese version of the iLoveEgg theme song, "Egg Song," was released in Cartoon Network[10].
In 2008, D&H signed an MOU with entertainment company Wao World for a new project to expand iLoveEgg in Japan. Wao World became the exclusive distributor of the franchise in Japan, and the Japanese version of iLoveEgg was named "Love Tama." From October 10 of the same year to April 3, 2009, the Love Tama radio show aired on Nippon Cultural Broadcasting.
In 2009, iLoveEgg mobile VOD service was offered by Vodafone in Germany. In Japan, a wallpaper service was offered by NTT Docomo[5].
In 2010, D&H participated in the 2010 Shanghai Licensing Pavilion, held from October 12 to 14, 2010, in order to fully launch iLoveEgg in China. D&H character business division director Dong-joon Hur said "We attended the exhibition to find a good merchandising agent because we decided that it is necessary to approach China following the success of iLoveEgg overseas," "We have had meetings with a number of agents, and so far, we are positive.[11]"
In March 26, 2013, Henson Independent Properties (HIP), the third-party and consumer product banner of The Jim Henson Company, acquired the global rights to iLoveEgg outside Asia from D&H[12].
Aftermath
Since 2013, no news about iLoveEgg has been reported and no new projects for the franchise have been confirmed. The Yahoo! Kids and Jr Naver pages were taken down and even the official websites were removed, but they are still viewable today because they are stored in the Wayback Machine. The site existed in the saved history until 2017.
Availability
The flash files for the animated series can be obtained from the official website where they are stored or from other sites, but they are uploaded to YouTube or the Internet Archive, so it is quicker to watch them there. However, not all of the episodes have been uploaded, and episodes 15 through 23 are currently unavailable, as the files are not even available. Incidentally, footage of the badly filmed televised episode 16 has been uploaded to YouTube. As for Episode 19, it is not even clear what the story is about, and the official website is blank in the column where the episode is supposed to appear.
Episode
| # | Episode Title | Status | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Epilogue (에필로그) | Found | Is it a mistake of "Prologue"? |
| 2 | Soccer Game (축구경기) | Found | |
| 3 | Underwater (바다속) | Found | |
| 4 | Chase (추력) | Found Found |
Different two versions exist for Episode 4. |
| 5 | Snowman (눈사람) | Found | |
| 6 | Comfort your baby (아기 달래기) | Found | |
| 7 | Samurai (사무라이) | Found | |
| 8 | Playing Music (음악연주) | Found | |
| 9 | Motor Car Racing (지동차경주) | Found | |
| 10 | Circus (서커스) | Found | |
| 11 | Rambo (람보) | Found | |
| 12 | Firefighter (소방관) | Found | |
| 13 | Christmas (크리스마스) | Found | |
| 14 | Summer Vacation (여름휴가) | Found | |
| 15 | Halloween (할로윈) | Lost | |
| 16 | Cooking Contest (요리대회) | Partially Found | |
| 17 | Dolphin Show (돌고래쇼) | Lost | |
| 18 | U.F.O | Lost | |
| 19 | Unknown | Lost | |
| 20 | Lupin Egg (루팡에그) | Lost | |
| 21 | Magic Show (마술쇼) | Lost | |
| 22 | Egg Land (에그랜드) | Lost | |
| 23 | The Hare and the Tortoise (토끼와 거북이) | Lost |
Egg Song
The music video for the theme song "Egg Song" is readily available in Korean and English, but the Japanese version is currently lost.
External Links
- Naver Blog article about the lost episode
- iLoveEgg official website
- A blog of iLoveEgg "Love Tama" radio show in Japan
References
- ↑ Animation page on the official website Retrieved July 2, 2023
- ↑ iLoveEgg page on Korea Yahoo! Kids Retrieved July 2, 2023
- ↑ iLoveEgg page on Jr Naver Retrieved July 2, 2023
- ↑ Comic strip series published on Chosun Ilbo website Retrieved July 2, 2023
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 History of iLoveEgg on the Korea Culture Contents Licensing Association website Retrieved July 2, 2023
- ↑ Official website in United Kingdom Retrieved July 2, 2023
- ↑ Animation page on the official UK website Retrieved July 2, 2023
- ↑ Sina article reporting on iLoveEgg expansion in Hong Kong and China Retrieved July 2, 2023
- ↑ Announcement article from iNFOiSLIVE Corporation Limited (MoffY's holding company) Retrieved July 2, 2023
- ↑ Reference to the Japanese version of Egg Song on the FAQ page of the Cartoon Network Japan website Retrieved July 2, 2023
- ↑ Aving News coverage of iLoveEgg's expansion into the Chinese market Retrieved July 2, 2023
- ↑ AWN.com coverage of Henson Independent Properties' acquisition of global rights to iLoveEgg Retrieved July 2, 2023