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Neopets, the online sensation that roped a million kids into learning HTML just to sell pieces of an omelette better, could be coming to a small screen near you. That is, TV, not a computer. Neopets could be getting a cartoon show.
Canadian broadcasting company Blue Ant Media has earned exclusive rights to develop a Neopets TV series, under its Singapore-based production company Beach House Pictures.
“Beach House Pictures is developing new characters and stories,” the company said in a news release, “tapping into the Blue Ant Studios animation team in Canada, to expand the storytelling and bring added dimension to the Neopets kid- and family-friendly brand.”
The Neopets game — really more of a sprawling system of minigames, items to collect, auctions/shops, and forums than anything — was never really about a strong single plot, though there was a world full of cute pets ruled by benevolent fairies and menaced by ... some kind of ... evils? Look, it’s been a long time.
Launched in 1999, Neopets is/was a beloved childhood diversion for many folks who grew up in the ’00s. I myself recall abandoning my Neopets (i.e., turning the account password over to my little brother) only when I bought my first World of Warcraft subscription. The full history of the company is pretty interesting itself — a Neopets cartoon series has a lot of potential directions to go in.
