WhirlGirl
| WhirlGirl | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Genre |
Science Fiction Comedy Action Romance |
| Created by | David B. Williams |
| Developed by |
Danny Fingeroth Jason Fruchter Betsy Hooper Ephraim Kehlmann Joel Rodgers |
| Written by | Betsy Hooper Gregg Ostrin |
| Voices of | Kim Campoli David DiLeo Jonathan Ellinghaus Moe Fischer Lani Ford Betsy Hooper Kathleen Hubbard Kristen Johanssen Jennifer Richards Angela Tweed Sara Van Beckum |
| Theme music composer | James Avatar |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) |
Buzz Potamkin David B. Williams |
| Producer(s) | Glenn Ginsburg Christine Jones Howard Ephraim Kehlmann |
| Production company(s) | Visionary Media |
| Website | |
WhirlGirl debuted in 1997 as an online sci-fi series about a reluctant superheroine battling an evil "mediatech" empire in 2077 Southern California. The title character—dubbed "a real revolutionary for a virtual age"—balanced freedom-fighting with realistic personal concerns like dating and having friends.
Initially launched as a webcomic with light animation and short bursts of music and sound effects, WhirlGirl ultimately became the first regularly scheduled web series using Flash animation, and went on to achieve a variety of other industry firsts over a 100-webisode career, including: syndication partnerships with major websites, a distribution partnership with a premium cable network, a web television simulcast, cross-media advertising campaigns, and licensing and merchandising agreements.
Kia Cross is the only daughter of mid-21st century revolutionary leader Morgan Cross. After Morgan was captured and destroyed by forces working for ZoneWerks, an evil media/technology corporation run by Ty Harden, Kia was brainwashed and dispatched to a life of quiet servitude. Flash forward: Years later, as the programming wears off, Kia recalls her mother's work and transforms herself into a superheroine. Armed with a trademark weapon (the whirlblade) and a signature fighting move (the spin kick), she resumes the fight for freedom.
WhirlGirl's allies include Stekatta "Kat" Tressner, a stylish gear-head with a thing for WhirlGirl, and teenager Sid X, who can control computers telepathically with a "cybernetic crystal" implanted in his forehead. Victoria Thalios leads the "FreeVox" rebel group, which WhirlGirl often defends.
WhirlGirl's primary foe, Ty Harden, not only runs the evil ZoneWerks empire; he is also Sid X's estranged father. Harden relies on Axxen Baines, a sadist who heads the ZoneWerks security apparatus.
In a September 1999 webisode, magicians Penn & Teller appeared as animated versions of themselves in a futuristic Las Vegas.
In May 2000, WhirlGirl teamed up with the hero of the SciFi (now Syfy) Channel's Barbarian Moron cartoon in a series of webisodes that appeared on both the Showtime and SciFi websites.
Created by David B. Williams and produced by Visionary Media, the studio he founded, WhirlGirl launched at a Spring 1997 trade show. Because high-speed broadband access at home was very rare in 1997, and rich media could take minutes to load with a dial-up connection, the series consisted of comic-book-style panels livened up with animated GIFs (minimal animation elements) and looping music and sound effects. In August 1998, using Macromedia's new Flash 2.0 animation software, WhirlGirl replaced its comic-strip panels with five-minute-long webisodes, becoming one of the first animated web series.
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