Image © Hallmark Cards, Inc.
If you’re a parent, and especially if you’re a geek parent, you’ve probably made your share of funny voices. We all do it, whether it’s to make a baby laugh or to sound like a particular character while reading with the family. Now imagine you could earn a living making those goofy voices, and you’ll have an idea of what life is like for Bob Holt and Mike Adair, the men behind Hallmark’s cartoon characters Hoops and Yoyo (styled as hoops&yoyo).
If you’ve been to Hallmark’s website in the past few years, or to the noise-making cards section of one of their bricks-and-mortar stores, you’ve probably encountered hoops&yoyo, a goofy pink cat and green bunny respectively. They speak in high squeaky voices and have wrung humor from such subjects as pirates, love, and working in a cubicle farm.
Bob Holt & Mike Adair; Photo © Hallmark Cards, Inc.
I spoke with Bob and Mike back in September, wanting to know where they got their ideas, how they were able to generate so many different animations on so many different subjects. Talking with them, it was clear they have a great working relationship, and, while what they do is certainly work, it’s easy to envy them for their jobs. It is truly a sign of the age in which we live that goofy e-card cartoons could become popular enough that they would be translated into six foreign languages, their likenesses would be marketed as toys and that their creators would be among the guests at San Diego Comic-Con.
If you’re a fan of hoops&yoyo, I’m sure you’ll enjoy listening to my conversation with Bob and Mike. If you’re not a fan yet, have a look at some of their animations and see what you think. Not all of them are brilliant, of course, but each has at least a few moments likely to make you laugh or smile. One of my favorites is “It’s Sarcastic Wednesday,” viewable via this page.
You can listen to the interview using the embedded player or by downloading the MP3.
