Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart is an American animated television series created by Parker Simmons for Cartoon Network. It was co-produced between Cartoon Network Studios and Titmouse, Inc. The series follows the adventures of the titular character, Mao Mao, along with Badgerclops and Adorabat as they protect the citizens of Pure Heart Valley from the forces of evil while finding a way to fix the Ruby Pure Heart to its original state, after accidentally being broken by Mao Mao and Badgerclops.
The show is based on the independent teaser short I Love You Mao Mao, which Simmons had initially produced for the annual Titmouse Inc. "5-Second Day" event in 2014. Following positive feedback from the audience and interest from Chris Prynoski, a 7-minute pilot titled I Love You Mao Mao: BAO BAO's Revenge started its development for the following pitch from the Cartoon Network in 2017, for a full series. It was greenlit for the 95-week deadline for the Television release schedule. Making in time, where it was announced for a full series alongside Tig n' Seek on May 20, 2019.
The show debuted on July 1, 2019; later it was broadcast worldwide in 2019 and 2020. The first 30 episodes were released on HBO Max in September 1, 2020, with the final 10 episodes on January 1, 2021. It was received positively by critics, getting praise for its narrative, storytelling, action, and character dynamics. It received five nominations, one of which was won, for Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program by Parker Simmons for his voice acting performance.
A second season was confirmed to be in production during the Comic-Con at Home event on July 23, 2020. In August 2022, the show was removed from HBO Max, as a result of the Warner Bros. Discovery merger, along with all references to the show from Cartoon Network's official websites, YouTube channels, and Twitter feeds. The show's creator, Parker Simmons, expressed uncertainty and doubt about the show's future after its removal, as he hadn't known whether the show had been officially cancelled or would receive a second season prior.
Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart centers on the title character, Mao Mao, a daring cat who has high intentions for action and adventure. During one of his adventures, he gets stuck in a cute and cuddly town called Pure Heart Valley with his co-hero Badgerclops, a cyborg-armed badger, and meets Adorabat, a cute little bat. Together, the three go on adventures to protect the citizens of Pure Heart Valley from the forces of evil while they find a way to fix the Ruby Pure Heart to its original state.
Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart was created by Parker Simmons, hired at Titmouse, Inc. in 2009 as an animator, doing his first work there for Black Panther for Black Entertainment Television (BET). In the following years, he was involved in other shows and projects, including Metalocalypse, Superjail!, Black Dynamite, Motorcity, OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes, and a couple of animation shorts on the Internet. Following the completion of Turbo Fast, Parker and his work colleagues wanted to do their individual work. When someone asked Parker to make a show, he started drawing and putting ideas together. He was concerned with its concept being limited, so he converted it into a short, screening at the theater on the "5 Second Day" event in 2014, on February 21. The short was also released online on YouTube a day later, and on Newgrounds on March 6.
Parker Simmons voiced Mao Mao, using his low-pitched voice similar to how Batman is portrayed in the media. Griffith Kimmins, who worked with Parker on Titmouse Inc. projects, voiced Bearclops. And Lika Leong, previously a production coordinator on Turbo Fast, voiced Adorabat. The main characters and their personalities were based on them. Doug Vito provided sound editing and later served as a series animatic editor. Brian Pak also animated a brief skit and was later involved as a series board revisionist. Following screening, the short has received positive feedback from the audience and gained interest from the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Founder of Titmouse Inc., Chris Prynoski, who saw potential in the project. Parker pitched to him a 7-minute short serving as a pilot that would be used and sold to the Television network. Prynoski agreed with the pitch, providing budget, resources, schedule for its release, and gave a spare year for the team to expand upon characters and worldbuilding.
Following its screening at the "5 Second Day" event on February 19, 2016, the pilot was pitched in June 2017 to Cartoon Network's then-CEO, Rob Sorcher, to become a full-fledged series. Ultimately the network green-lighted the project, giving the staff a total of 95 weeks (roughly 22 months) to produce the project for the Television Release Schedule. For a single team, each episode took 40 weeks (roughly 9 months) to be produced; many of which were worked on in parallel. For the pre-production it took 4âÂÂ5 months (production in 2âÂÂ3 months) and 2 months in post-production. From 40 to 55 people from the Los Angeles department of Titmouse, Inc. were involved in production, with the support of a Malaysia-based team from Inspidea, to finish the project in time. For helping and speeding up the process, the crew used tweening for the animation frames and symbols (asset reuse), which allowed them to make head turns or a variety of mouth shapes for characters. As of result, many shots, backgrounds and action-related elements were considered to be polished or cut. As well, many retakes of episodes were made by various staff artists to improve the quality of the animation and shots. Which was doable thanks to the openness of Adobe Animate, per episode, over 50 of them were made by Parker himself. After Effects was used for the compositing.
Parker took inspiration from the media that he grew up with, like ', Akira Toriyama's manga and animated series like Dragon Ball and Dr. Slump, as well as the Super Nintendo roleplay video game, Chrono Trigger (1995), which influenced the show's art style, humor, and worldbuilding. Along with his personal experiences with family and friends, but the one that became more relevant was himself as series development continued.' Tommy Blacha, Christopher McCulloch, and Debra Wilson, who previously voiced characters in shows made by Titmouse Inc. that Parker was involved in, also voiced characters in Mao Mao.
Music for the show was provided by Mint Potion Studios. Robert Altschuler served as an audio engineer and audio mixer, Brian Burwell was a drummer, and Kyle Tormey performed music for the end credits. While Sam Lustig and Tommy Pedrini, respectively, were the composers, along with the lead composer Jake Kaufman, who also provided a score for the series short "I Love You Mao Mao "BAO BAO's Revenge". While for the show's opening theme, "I Love You Mao Mao", Parker Simmons provided lyrics, Kaho Kidoguchi was a vocalist, and Tommy Pedrini and Chiyoko Yamasato were backup vocalists. Kaho Kidoguchi also served as a lead vocalist for "No More Waiting" in the episode "Lonely Kid".
Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart was first announced by Cartoon Network on May 20, 2019, for a full series alongside Tig n' Seek (originally titled Tiggle Winks). Eight new episodes were released on June 28 on the Cartoon Network app, website, and VOD. The show debuted on Cartoon Network, on July 1, 2019. The series also premiered in other countries worldwide, such as in Latin America on August 10, 2019. In Philippines on December 14, Italy on January 13, 2020, Nigeria on January 18, 2020 (at GOtv). Africa on January 27, the Netherlands on March 2, Poland on March 9, Bulgaria on March 16, While in Japan in April. Following the release of episodes 31-40 on July 6-17, 2020, they also premiered in other countries, including Latin America on October 10, and Bulgaria on October 19.
On September 1, 2020, the first 30 episodes of the show were added to HBO Max. The last 10 episodes of the first season were added on January 1, 2021. In August 2022, the show was removed from HBO Max as a result of the Warner Bros. Discovery merger.
The series was well received by critics. Dave Trumbore of Collider saying that he will be "cautiously optimistic with this one. It's got a good start and great heart, it just remains to be seen how much original mythology will make its way into the narrative. Just like Adventure Time, Steven Universe, and OK K.O.! took some time to build up the behind-the-scenes drama, Mao Mao could benefit from a deeper storytelling well in the long run." Nick Valdez of ComicBook.com,ÃÂ stating the "Show has the potential to become a massive success for Cartoon Network."
Dave praised dynamic between Mao Mao and Badgerclops, describing it as "if a comedic duo like Batman and Robin (think LEGO Batman) landed in Care Bear country". Emily Ashby of Common Sense Media praised the sharp writing and dynamic between the protagonists and their personalities, providing appeal across the generations. She also found the series to be more suitable for tweens than younger kids, due to the intensity of the action scenes.
A second season was confirmed to be in production at the Cartoon Network Studios First Look Panel during the Comic-Con at Home event on July 23, 2020; the animatic was shown alongside it. Around June 2021, assets for the second season were leaked online, after being privately available in the artist and show crew's portfolios. The show's creator, Parker Simmons had expressed his frustration about the situation on Twitter, warning fans about the potential danger for the show that could lead to.
In August 2022, the show was removed from HBO Max as a result of the Warner Bros. Discovery merger. Cartoon Network subsequently removed all references to the show from their official websites, YouTube channels, and Twitter feeds (including the animatic from Comic-Con). Along with another show from Cartoon Network, Infinity Train, with only VOD platforms remaining available to access the series. Neither fans nor Parker Simmons had knowledge about the show's state and the announcement of its removal. Due to the long hiatus since the release of the last episode of the show, "Strange Bedfellows", and the series' removal following the merger, fans were led to believe in its quiet cancellation. Simmons expressed uncertainty about the show's future after the merger, adding that it was unclear to him if the series was officially cancelled or could receive another season.