Vancouver’s Slap Happy Cartoons has partnered with Andrews McMeel Entertainment to develop the popular newspaper, web and book-based property Heart of the City. The latter is a division of global media company Andrews McMeel Universal.
The Heart of the City comic strip debuted in newspapers in 1998 and is syndicated by Andrews McMeel Syndication in both newspaper and web format. Today, it appears in 50 newspapers and news sites across USA, Canada and a number of other countries including India, the Netherlands and Trinidad.
“Heart of the City is a cartoon that has established itself as a big favourite with online and newspaper readers since 1998 and has successfully reinvented itself for the 2020s without losing the wit, fun and spirited characters its audience has grown to know and love. Today in the hands of the very talented Steenz it has underlined its promise and is ready to expand its reach,” said Slap Happy Cartoons partner and development director Josh Mepham.
“The positive response to the successful handover of Heart and her story from Mark to Steenz has been enhanced by excellent reviews for Heart Takes the Stage. This is a character and storyline with vast potential in multiple formats. We’re looking forward to working with Slap Happy on taking Heart’s adventures to an even bigger audience,” said Andrews McMeel Entertainment executive producer Bridget McMeel.
Andrews McMeel Publishing released the first Heart of the City book collection, Heart Takes the Stage, in May 2022 to strong reviews. Heart of the City tells the story of Heart, a girl with big dreams and a love of drama, who lives with her mom, Addy, in Philadelphia, and has always had the support of her best friends, Dean and Kat.
According to Slap Happy Cartoons and Andrews McMeel Entertainment, the strip has strong potential in other formats. The target audience for Heart and her adventures is between six- to 11-year olds and families.
The diverse characters are very appealing: kind, funny, a bit chaotic and slightly eccentric, though their day-to-day challenges – maintaining friendships, trying to be popular and occasionally focusing on schoolwork – are highly relatable for most youngsters and their parents.