"I had done a bunch of other talking-food videos previous to Annoying Orange," he says. "I love anthropomorphizing things, putting them in situations and seeing what they would do."
Annoying Orange is based on Boedigheimer's Web phenomenon, a series that has attracted more than 1 billion hits on YouTube (realannoyingorange) in less than three years. And the success has translated to TV, where the 15-minute program has averaged nearly 2.5 million viewers in its first two weeks, doing especially well with boys.
The series features a wisecracking orange, who sits on a kitchen counter teasing his fruit friends and laughing incessantly at his own jokes.
The orange originally was going to be an annoying apple, but Boedigheimer found it easier to superimpose his own facial features on the round fruit .
Boedigheimer started his food experiments with a video called Eggs. He later featured talking chocolate bunnies for Easter in a series for the online animator JibJab. Orange was intended to be just one video, but it caught on with fans.
"A lot of it is that Orange is a fun-loving character. All of his adventures and random things that happen to him come out of that he's bored and wants to have fun," Boedigheimer says. "Some people mistake Orange for a bully. That's not Orange at all."
The TV show is longer and more expansive than the Web episodes, taking the citrus star everywhere from prehistoric times to other planets. He is joined by comrades Apple, Pear, Passion Fruit and Grapefruit, along with non-fruit companion Marshmallow. A human being, Nerville (Toby Turner), has been added to the TV cast, which now operates from a fruit stand.
James Caan has done a guest voice on the Web series, and the TV show features guest performances by Michael Clarke Duncan, Jeffrey Tambor, Tony Hawk and Malcolm McDowell.
The 15-minute program has averaged nearly 2.5 million viewers in its first two weeks, doing especially well with boys.
Oran ge is just the latest Internet series to jump to television. Cartoon Network's Adventure Time, Showtime's Web Therapy (July 2, 11 p.m. ET/PT), Adult Swim's Children's Hospital (August), Syfy's Sanctuary, Comedy Central's Workaholics and Nickelodeon's Fred Figglehorn all started online.
Sometimes, the new-media popularity is lost in translation, as was the case with Twitter phenomenon $#*! My Dad Says, which was canceled after one season by CBS.
But the Internet is fertile ground for new talent, says Rob Sorcher, Cartoon Network's chief content officer.
"There's no more barrier to entry," as there has been with the traditional path to programming, he says. "You don't start with any parameters, any worries or concerns, like, 'How does this fit with the brand?' You're just putting funny stuff out there and seeing what happens."
An online hit has a built-in fan base that can communicate easily with the creator, says Gary Binkow, a partner at Collective Digital Studio, which produces the series.
"We recognized early on that Dane had an amazingly high engagement level with his audience. He was crafting stories based on their responses, and I thought that was remarkable," he says.
Expect more Web programming to expand to TV, Sorcher says. "More and more properties you see on the Internet are going to come over to other types of media at a more rapid pace."
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