Recently, Softway Solutions had the privilege of creating a coloring book for the up and coming animation stars, Burnie & Earl. The idea for Burnie & Earl originated from Kid Energy USA. The purpose of Burnie & Earl is to educate adults and kids regarding how much oil and gas related products impact our lives. Burnie is a flame-shaped character, while Earl looks like an oil drop.Background Story of Burnie & Earl
Burnie and Earl originally lived under ground. Unfortunately, both of them have been pulled out of their homes and have been placed above ground in a new city, exposed to the modern world of a working society. In this “new world”, Burnie and Earl will be going on different adventures while conveying the message of the usefulness of oil and gas.
Development of Burnie & Earl
Kid Energy USA decided that “811 Call Before You Dig” would be the first way of bringing Burnie & Earl to mainstream America. The “811 Call Before You Dig” project was developed because PCM saw an immediate need to educate the public about 8-1-1, a hotline where people can call and get information about the location of any gas pipes or lines. Often, this info is requested by construction companies or even home users when they plan to dig into the ground.
Kid Energy’s USA idea is to inform children about 8-1-1 through the cartoon characters of Burnie & Earl. In turn, children would bring the knowledge and materials from school or daycare centers to parents, thereby also informing their parents of 8-1-1.
Softway Solutions and Burnie & Earl
Shortly thereafter, Kid Energy USA asked Softway Solutions to develop promotional material for the “811 Call Before You Dig’ campaign. The first piece that Softway developed was a coloring book. Our Houston 3D Animation team was able to bring to life the adventures of Burnie & Earl through stories and activities contained in the coloring book.
The project, which included all concept design and the coloring book, took about a month and half to develop. Currently, the 3D Animation team is working on a cartoon/animation project of Burnie & Earl which is scheduled for completion July 1. For this first leg, we had nine people working on different parts of the Burnie & Earl project; however, we plan to expand the number of people on the project once the things take off.
Future of Burnie & Earl
Kid Energy USA and Softway Solutions are working together to expand Burnie and Earl into a series of short shows, cartoons and toys for children.
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