A Natural Next Step
Xiaolin Showdown creator returns
By Cliff Annicelli -- Playthings, 1/1/2008
One could forgive Christy Hui for taking some time off.
In a whirlwind career, Hui went from trailblazing cable TV executive to creator of the award-winning animated series Xiaolin Showdown. While the series never attained breakout status, for Hui it led directly to her next step, the Hulala Girls.
From her Xiaolin experience, Hui learned that “the girls watching wanted to know why there weren't more girls kicking butt like Kimiko [the series' feisty female monk]. So that's why I thought that, if I could only choose one project, it would be one where the heroine was more vivid.”
The result launched as a website last summer that served to introduce Hana, Mele and Skye, surfer girls with magical abilities. Though currently centered on green-themed casual games, the site is intended to become a larger social network for girls.
The site has ties to several eco-friendly groups, including American Forest, which is planting a tree for every soft doll sold at the site's store. The dolls are the first in what could be a larger merchandising effort, but “that's got a ways to go,” Hui says. “We'll be looking for licensees, but it's not one of my major concerns.”
Of more immediate import for Hui is a Hulala Girls TV series. “The series is going to happen,” she says. “The whole premise is built around a TV show format.” A book is also imminent.
