Chorion Launches Virtual Storytelling Application

LONDON, November 20:
Chorion, home to classic characters such as Noddy, Mr. Men and Paddington Bear,
has unveiled a new online interactive storytelling application that Microsoft
will offer to its 17-million-plus British users of Windows Live Messenger.

Time for a Story will
allow parents with preschool-aged children to spend quality time telling their
children a story even if separated by long distances. The virtual storytelling
experience connects two different PCs with an interactive, animated story that
can be showcased in real time in two different locations.

The new application
launches today with three classic Noddy stories,
and tales with other characters are expected in the coming months. The
application is wholly owned by Chorion, and was developed by Digital Outlook.

Jeff
Norton, Chorion's director of brand development, said: "Time for a Story
is storytelling for a generation on the move. While communicating online can
never replace that magical connection between parents and children when reading
a story together, this application enables mums, dads and grandparents who are
stuck late at work or perhaps do not live with the child full time to deepen
the emotional bonds and help the child's learning and
development. Naturally, Chorion is delighted to have agreed a long-term
exclusive distribution license with MSN."

The new Time for a Story application is just one of
a number of Chorion's initiatives to kick off a year of celebrations for
Noddy's 60th anniversary.

—By Kristin
Brzoznowski