Talking Tom & Friends

Talking Tom and Friends (known as Talking Friends until late 2014) is a media franchise created and owned by Outfit7. The franchise focuses on various mobile apps involving anthropomorphic animal characters repeating things said by the user (in fact, they repeat any sound that reaches the device's microphone). The first app, Talking Tom Cat, was launched on 26 June 2010. As of October 2019, the apps have achieved more than 10 billion downloads.

History
After the company was founded in 2009, Outfit7 released their first apps from February to May 2010. However, none of these apps were a success. So Outfit7 decided to make a new app; Samo Login didn't think it was a good idea to make a game because there was too much competition so they decided to make an app that was not directly a game. They went off and found a grey cat model for ninety dollars on a website called Turbosquid. Samo Login bought him and named him Talking Tom and handed him over to the developers, who then created a set number of animations, coded the voice talk-back, and published the app, Talking Tom Cat, in June 2010. Within the first 13 days, one million people downloaded the app. It was so successful that they went on a hunt to find the anonymous designer who created the cat model. After almost two months of searching, they found their man, Andrey Kravchenko, in Ukraine and brought him into the company. In this app, Tom responds to the user's touch and repeats every sound that reaches the device's microphone in a funny voice. It is possible to pet, poke and punch him or grab his tail. Talking Baby Hippo and Talking Larry the Bird were released the following month, and then the month after Talking Harry the Hedgehog was released, then Talking Rex the Dinosaur, Talking Roby the Robot, Talking Santa, and Talking Bacteria. On Febuary 19, 2011, Talking Gina the Giraffe was released, with Talking Lila the Fairy being released the following month. Gina was the most popular of the older Talking Friends apps since it was more like a virtual pet app in which the player has to feed and play with the titular character to increase said character's happiness meter. These apps shared the same basic features as Talking Tom Cat, and were clearly a success, with Talking Santa appearing on NBC’s The Today Show in December 2010, Talking Tom Cat appearing on ABC’s Modern Family in January and becoming the #1 free app on the Apple App Store aside from Facebook and Skype by February and Outfit7 hitting 100 million downloads with Talking Friends apps on April 28, 2011. The very next day, Talking Ben the Dog was released. The user can talk to Ben, poke or tickle him or even have a telephone conversation with him. It is also possible to perform chemistry experiments in his lab. Talking Tom Cat 2 was released a month later with Talking Tom getting a character redesign and being in an apartment instead of an alley. The player can now also dress Tom up. By this time Outfit7 wanted to turn their characters into Saturday-morning cartoons. Talking Tom and Ben News was released on October 15, 2011; in it Talking Tom and Ben have become famous TV news anchors. The player can talk to them and they will repeat what they say in turns. Talking Pierre the Parrot was released on November 29, 2011. When the user talks to Pierre, he doesn't just repeat their words, he remembers what they said previously and repeats it later at random. Talking Santa meets Ginger was released by the end of 2011, introducing Tom‘s nephew Ginger. Outfit7 ended the year with 270 million downloads, and big plans around merchandising. Tom's Love Letters was released on January 28, 2012, introducing Tom's girlfriend Angela. In this app, the user can send Valentine's Day cards featuring Talking Tom and Angela to loved ones. Talking Tom Messenger was released in May 2012; with it the user can send video messages to friends and family as one of the Talking Friends characters. Tom Loves Angela was released on June 6, 2012; it features Tom trying to woo Angela by repeating the user's words to her, singing a song, giving her gifts, or using the chat feature to talk to her. In Summer 2012, Outfit7 collaborated with Disney to produce a short 10-episode Talking Friends animated series on YouTube starring 6 of the many Talking Friends: Tom, Ben, Pierre, Ginger, Gina, and in later episodes Angela. These episodes are now one of the most viewed videos on the Disney YouTube channel, with Angela's debut episode, "Rock the Catsbah", being the most viewed video on said YouTube channel, getting over 100 million views. A music video for a Talking Friends song called "You Get Me" was uploaded on June 12, 2012, getting over 350 million views.

Characters

 * Talking Tom, a grey tabby cat. He is a wisecracking, adventure-seeking cat. He loves vowing his girlfriend Talking Angela and planing inventions with his best friend Ben. Tom, thanks to his totally charming self and his positive outlook on the world, has many friends. He’s very protective of his friends and would do anything to do what’s best for them. His life is full of adventure and happenings, he loves trying out new things and he never says no. Another very important fact about Tom is that he never ever gives up and always looks on the bright side of life.
 * Talking Ben, a brown dog and Tom's best friend. He makes inventions with Talking Tom. For the most part he’s very shy, but that’s just part of his charm. He’s a keen inventor and can spend hours, days, weeks, even months in his lab, working on his latest invention. Most of his inventions work, of course. But some days they just don’t. Have no fear, if something does not work, Talking Ben just puts it down to experience and moves on. Nothing goes to waste!
 * Talking Angela, a white cat who is Tom's girlfriend. She is a music-loving cat who likes to sing her heart out. When she is not singing, she likes fashion.
 * Talking Ginger, a young orange-and-white cat. He is a mischievous, fun-loving kitten. When Ginger is in the mood for some company, he loves to hang out with Talking Hank the most. To Ginger, Hank’s the most interesting person in the whole wide world.
 * Talking Hank, a white dog with a blue spot around his left eye and blue paws. He’s goofy, he’s clumsy, and he’s got a short attention span, but he is still lovable. Hank’s a sweet guy with a ready smile and a big heart. And though this can make him a bit gullible from time to time, he always sees the funny side! Most days you’ll find him happily sitting on the couch (he loves TV with a fiery passion) but he’s always up for an adventure, even if he’s never 100% sure what’s going on!
 * Talking Becca, a black rabbit with purple hair. She is Angela's biggest fan. She doesn't do very well when not singing. She has a crush on Hank.
 * Talking Santa, a human with a red coat with white outlining and red pants with white shoes. Talking Santa is Talking Tom’s good friend and is quite close to Talking Ginger also. He always brings lots of presents and in return only asks for some cookies and milk.

Defunct Characters

 * Talking Pierre, a green bird with a yellow beak who is quite grumpy and annoying. He is a teenager and he loves to act all independent. Having fun is the rule of the game for this parrot and Talking Pierre follows it to the letter. His parties are legendary and one time even the police who intervened for breaking the curfew ended up having a blast! Talking Tom and Talking Ben are always trying to teach him manners but Talking Pierre will have none of that! Talking Pierre also loves computer games and he is always bragging about his latest high score. Some say he cheats but Pierre just laughs and says: “It’s all in the wrist!”


 * Talking Gina, a brown and cream giraffe who is Ginger's best friend. She loves to play patty cake and eat strawberries, carrots and drink lemonade. She is a great listener and always gives out great advice. She is also great at having fun and you can always count on her to know where the party’s at. She loves to dance and you can bet she’s got the legs for it! Her pride and joy is a pack of baby giraffes and she takes them everywhere she goes. Camping, boating, cycling and more! Having fun is Gina’s number one priority, although she also loves to educate her younglings and show them beauties of the world.
 * Talking Larry, a bird with feathers, blue eyes and black feet. He is quite unhappy most of the time, but not when he’s singing – he’s a genius whistler. He craves attention and loves applause.
 * Talking Bacteria John, a tiny bacteria with black eyes and is blue. John is kind but loves to spread germs. John also loves doughnuts, aspirin, multiplying and a good experiment. John seems to be a little bit weird, and has a very hysterical laugh.
 * Talking Lila, a fairy with red hair, and light skin. She is into magic and has a passion for singing. She can make the flowers sing and she’s also very good with lady bugs. At night she can cast spells with magic bubbles and rearrange the stars. But sometimes the spells don’t work the way she wants them too.
 * Talking Rex, a massive dinosaur with rough, dark skin and orange eyes. He loves to play fetch, and eat raw meat. He enjoys scaring people for fun, but he doesn't really hurt them. He will sometimes get into fights, but don’t worry … he is a born winner!
 * Talking Baby Hippo, a purple baby hippo. Hippo is almost always happy and giggles to almost anything. He loves to blow up balloons and chew on his pacifier. He is also a big fan of butterflies.
 * Talking Roby, an orange robot with red eyelids and green eyes. He is a dancing and piano-playing machine! He never misses a beat and can take a punch! He also loves a good soccer game, at least the part where he blows his air horn.
 * Talking Harry, a hedgehog with black spikes and grey skin. He loves peace and quiet but he also loves energy drinks. Harry after drinking becomes very energetic so he either becomes a karate master or a bullet dodger.

Games

 * Talking Tom Cat (2010)
 * Talking Baby Hippo (2010)
 * Talking Harry the Hedgehog (2010)
 * Talking Larry the Bird (2010)
 * Talking Roby the Robot  (2010)
 * Talking Gina the Giraffe (2011)
 * Talking Ben the Dog (2011)
 * Talking Tom 2 (2011)
 * Talking Tom and Ben News (2011)
 * Talking Pierre (2011)
 * Tom's Love Letters (2012)
 * Tom Loves Angela (2012)
 * Talking Ginger (2012)
 * Talking Angela (2012)
 * Talking Ginger 2 (2013)
 * My Talking Tom (2013)
 * My Talking Angela (2014)
 * Talking Tom Jetski (2015)
 * Talking Tom Bubble Shooter (2015)
 * Talking Tom Gold Run (2016)
 * My Talking Hank (2017)
 * Talking Tom Camp (2017)
 * Talking Tom Pool (2017)
 * Talking Tom Jetski 2 (2018)
 * Talking Tom Candy Run (2018)
 * Talking Tom Cake Jump (2018)
 * My Talking Tom 2 (2018)
 * Talking Tom Hero Dash (2019)

Web series

 * Talking Friends (2012)
 * Talking Tom Shorts (2014-2018)
 * Talking Tom and Friends (2014-present)
 * Talking Tom and Friends Minis (2015-2018)
 * Talking Tom Heroes (2019-present)
 * Talking Tom Shorts (2019-present)