The Zimmer Twins

children's website and animated television series

The Zimmer Twins is a Canadian animated series and website. The project was made by producer Jason Krogh and artist Aaron Leighton and is made by Lost the Plot Productions Inc. Some animations made by users of the website are made into shorts that are shown on Teletoon.[2] Les Jumeaux Zimmer is the version of the television series and website in French.

The Zimmer Twins
Also known asZimmer Twins
GenreAnimated series
Created by
  • Jason Krogh
  • Aaron Leighton
Country of originCanada
Original languages
  • English
  • French
No. of episodes106[1]
Production
Running time1-2 minutes
Production companyLost the Plot Productions
Original release
Network
ReleaseMay 23, 2005; 19 years ago (2005-05-23)[1] –
July 2, 2008; 16 years ago (2008-07-02)[1]

The Zimmer Twins is known for its unique format, which allows users to join in online to get their work to be shown on television. Children are invited to make and share 1-minute animated episodes using a story editor and library of animation. The audience creates endings to short story-starters that are professionally produced.[2] Children tell their stories by choosing actions, characters, props and backgrounds. They can also add their own dialog and on-screen text. New clips are sometimes added.

The first Zimmer Twins website came out on March 14, 2005. The television series was first shown on Teletoon in May 2005.[3] 60 episodes (30 in English and 30 in French) were made and shown in the 2005/2006 Canadian television season. By the end of the first season, over 50,000 users had made over 100,000 episodes. A major change to the website happened on July 1, 2006. 120 episodes were shown in the 2006/2007 Canadian television season, and 32 episodes were shown in the 2007/2008 Canadian television season. The website's amount of users passed 200,000 on November 5, 2011.

In 2008, the online audience voted to select the three most popular movies made by users. The winners' movies were in a half-hour awards show special that was shown on September 26, 2008 in English and September 20, 2008 in French. An Australian Zimmer Twins was made from 2006–2009, featuring James Arnold as Edgar, Alisa Koverick as Eva, and Luke as 13, and an American Zimmer Twins was made from 2007-2010, featuring James Arnold Taylor as Edgar, Lacey Chabert as Eva, and Seth Green as 13.

Characters

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  • Edgar Zimmer (voiced by Ben Head (2005-2007), and Louis Grise (2007-2008)) – The younger twin and Eva's brother. He is clumsy, out-of-date and unintelligent. He loves food and is good friends with 13. He has a superhero persona called "Super Action Boy".
  • Eva Zimmer (voiced by Lauren Menzo (2005-2008), and Jorah Dawson (2006-2007)) – Edgar's older twin sister. Eva is intelligent, mature, and kind. She is annoyed by girls in her class who think she is a witch. She is skilled in karate and other martial arts. She is the leader of the Twins.
  • 13 (voiced by Daniel Davies (2006-2008)) – 13 is the twin's cat, with lime green eyes and a straight-line mouth. He can talk. He does not like baths, and is very fond of fish. 13 can do many things humans can do, such as playing the guitar or holding objects with his hands. He has an alter ego, Captain Furball. Sometimes, he seems to not like Eva.

Credits

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Role Crew/Cast
Producer - Television Anne-Sophie Brieger
Creative Lead Aaron Leighton
Interactive Designer Luke Lutman
Server Programmer James Walker
Ashok Modi
Flash Programmer John Park
Lead Animator Les Solis
Animator Lou Solis
Wordsmith Mireille Messier
Audio and Video Editor Kyle Sim

Awards

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  • Webby Award Nomination, Youth Website (2006)[4]
  • Banff World Television Festival Nomination, Interactive Television (2006)
  • Horizon Interactive Awards Silver, Education (2006)
  • HOW Design Annual Outstanding Achievement (2007)
  • The Alliance for Children and Television Awards of Excellent, Best Website or Original New-Platform Content Tied Into a Children's Program (2007)[5]
  • South by Southwest Interactive Awards Nomination, Education (2007)
  • International Interactive Emmy Awards Winner Cannes, Interactive Program (2007)[6]

References

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  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Television Program Logs". Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission. 2016-03-02. Archived from the original on 2016-05-16.
  2. 2.0 2.1 Frey, Jennifer (30 March 2008). "Shows for You, by You". The Washington Post. Retrieved 6 August 2012.
  3. Bill Brioux (2005-03-11). "CANOE - JAM! Television: March Break television fare". Jam.canoe.ca. Retrieved 2013-06-07.
  4. "10th Annual Webby Awards Youth Nominees and Winners". The Webby Awards. Retrieved 6 August 2012.
  5. Castleman, Lana (1 June 2007). "Halifax Film's Poko takes top ACT award". Kidscreen. Retrieved 6 August 2012.
  6. "Awards - Previous Winners". International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Archived from the original on 5 December 2007. Retrieved 6 August 2012.

Other websites

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