Hoops & Yoyo - Hallmark's E-Card Hilarious Animated Characters

When feeling a little under the weather, we all know that laughter is good medicine in chasing the temporary blues away. Where to go for the cure? Enter, Hoops and Yoyo.

For the fans, one needs to go no further. You already know what is being referenced to. However, for the remaining reading audience that have never heard of this humorous reality, there's plenty to be shared.

Hallmark E-cards struck it rich with a whole star-studded cast of some very funny animated characters, with the two most popular of the animated cast as Hoops (a pink kitty) and Yoyo (a green bunny). The entire Hallmark "Hoops & Yoyo Cast" is the brainchild of animation-creator and designer Bob Holt (who also provides Yoyo's voice). His colleague Mike Adair assists him and provides the voice of Hoops.

These hilarious animated characters started to gain recognition on the internet back in 2005, though their inception into Hallmark began much earlier. Hallmark E-cards went so far as to even integrate a sub-website just for Hoops and Yoyo alone. And the fan-fare has been rapidly growing by popular demand.

The website features E-cards, animated episodes, an "Ask hoops&yoyo" section, printable stuff, interactive monthly calendars, newsletters, banners, a blog and podcast, CDs, and merchandise available for purchase.

The Animated Characters

Hoops - The emotional pink kitty that has a tendency to scream as he talks. He simply hates Mondays as on the "It's Monday" e-card. His first e-card appearance was on "No Ordinary 'Hi!' ". Utterly hilarious.

Yoyo - The green bunny is slightly more playful and energetic. Though shorter than Yoyo, his tall ears make up the difference. Unlike Hoops, he seems to actually enjoy his current job. He loves his lollipops or "suckers" which Hoops often hides, then blaming the thievery on dingos.

Piddles (f.k.a., Penelope and Sprinkles) - A blue cute "critter-of-some-sort" with a very high-pitched voice fond of singing. Despite her small size, she has hopes of becoming an opera singer.

Marshmallow Monster (a.k.a. Marshy) - An enormous marshmallow-formed monster, randomly appearing to chase or scare Hoops and Yoyo angrily for unknown reasons.

Bear - A brown, wild bear that is seen chasing Hoops and Yoyo on occasion. Unlike "Marshy" he sometimes enjoys being with the two such as surfing or rowing a boat.

Bear can ofen be activated by pressing the "bear button" located in the top-left corner of the animated homepage.

Puck - A purple mouse who is seen running to and fro on the site. He is usually in the background and really never involved directly with the other characters.

Bird - A blue bird that swoops in and about.

Harry Spider - A large black spider with purple spots, "Harry" has only appeared once or twice on the site and is generally seen during Halloween time.

Angry BBQ - When originally on the site, the barbeque grill was seen in the background with no facial features and would only blow smoke when you would run your mouse cursor over it. In later appearances, the BBQ was featured with sharp teeth and a menancing grimace, and would howl loudly when the cursor grazed over it. BBQ is usually shown or portrayed in the summer to early fall animated homepages.

International

Hallmark's "Hoops and Yoyo" site now serves and can be heard in seven different languages: Español ; Italian; Norwegian; Spanish; French; Russian and Czech.

Ofcourse, for the English population, there's "Hoops & Yoyo Anytime", and "Hoops & Yoyo Holiday".

When you care enough to send the very best, send a Hoops and Yoyo E-card from Hallmark. It will brighten someone's day.

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Hoops & Yoyo